Five problems related to windshield wiper/washer switch have been reported for the 1998 GMC Sonoma. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
At first instance of failure windshield wipers would intermitently stop working. It has now progressed to total failure. Got under hood and traced to wiring plug in at wiper motor. If plug is jiggled the wipers will work for a short period of time. Vehicle cannot be driven during possible rain conditions due to safety issues. We are in the process of getting an estimate for repairs from a dealer.
This started as an occasional failure in 2002 when the intermittent wipers would suddenly start wiping at full speed "on their own" and would only go back to intermittent speed after I would turn off the wipers and re-turn them on. In August 2005 this changed to where the intermittent wipers would go to full speed and then just stop. They would not resume wiping when I would turn the switch on and off several times (thus I was driving in the rain with no wipers). However - they would just as suddenly begin wiping. In October 2005 I had the local gm dealer replace the wiper module circuit board which it turned out was cracked. This is the same piece of equipment that GMC did a recall for vehicles between 1994 and 1997. I have registered this issue with the gm claims department - but they will not take any action for a recall nor reimburse the cost of the part.
Windshield wipers run for a while (5 to 15 min) then just stop. After a variable period of time (1min-10 min) they will come back on only to quit again after a short period of time. Last night it was raining hard and the failure caused a serious loss of visibilty, luckly no accident ensued. This was not the first time this failure occurred and I saw two other similar complaints on your web site.
My windshield wipers on my truck will work for a while and then lock up, today I was driving on the interstate and it was raining and the wipers were working fine and then it began pouring suddenly the wipers stopped about halfway almost causing me to lose control.
Wipers broken - work occassionally when wiring harness "jiggled" - then stop again.