1998 Cadillac El Dorado

The blower motor has a resistor that will smoke and smell like burnt plastic when it fails. That is probably the issue with that.

The windshield wiper motor is a delay relay that was a factory recall. I do not know, but you might be able to get it fixed for free depending on how long the recall will be honored, the laws as far as safety issues and the relationship as far as if you bought it new and you still knw the dealer you bought it from.

Other issues that are safety hazards that should be in the same category as far as being fixed at a dealer, but should be addrressed for your safety.

Follow the link below for information.

Date Announced: 5/27/1998; Description of Recall:; VEHICLE DESCRIPTION: ... Action Needed To Fix It:; THE DEALER WILL MODIFY THE WINDSHIELD WIPER MOTOR DELAY RELAY BY REMOVING THE NOISE SUPPRESION CAPACITOR. THIS WILL BE DONE FREE OF CHARGE.



http://www.arfc.org/autos/cadillac/eldorado/recalls.aspx


Problem: VEHICLE DESCRIPTION: PASSENGER VEHICLES, HEARSES AND LIMOUSINES. THE CANISTER PURGE EVAPORATIVE EMISSIONS HARNESS ON THESE VEHICLES WAS MISROUTED

Thank you DrCranknWrench for your timely reply!:) Correct me if im wrong, as far as the wiper motor recall, I did a little browsing online and hadn't found a recall for my 1998 El Dorado? just for the speed control and evaporitive canister. Do you have any idea why I'm not getting power in the wire going to the motor? My fuse is fine. Also, the blower motor resistor is located within the motor correct? Can I bring it in to a electrical shop and have them fix the resistor or do I have to purchase a new motor? Thanks a bunch Doc!

It is hard to track. The delay resistor is actually for the 1997. that is my mistake. However, there is a recall for the wipers, just not the relay. Still the same situation as far as fixing it.
It is replacing a microprocessor, not a relay. That does not mean that the relay is not bad in your car. Relays handle large amp load that are switched on by a small amp circuit. Microprocessors can trigger a relay and in some cases, generally the same function just another name, trigger the large amp circuit and not have an actual relay. I do not have the resources to find out the specs to answer that definitavly.

Below is the link and info for the 1998 wiper recall;



JUN 26, 1998 | Recall ID# 836 Hide Details

Recall Reason VISIBILITY:WINDSHIELD WIPER/WASHER
Recall Date JUN 26, 1998
Model Affected SEVILLE
Potential Units Affected 1059

Recall Summary
VEHICLE DESCRIPTION: PASSENGER VEHICLES. THE WINDSHIELD WIPER MOTOR 'LOW' SPEED FUNCTION CAN BECOME INOPERATIVE WHEN THE MOTOR IS SWITCHED FROM 'HIGH' TO 'LOW' SPEED.

Consequence
IF THIS WERE TO OCCUR WHILE THE VEHICLE WAS IN MOTION, THE DRIVER'S VISIBILITY COULD BE AFFECTED.

Remedy
DEALERS WILL REPLACE THE WINDSHIELD WIPER MOTOR COVER WHICH CONTAINS THE MICROPROCESSOR.

Notes
GENERAL MOTORS CORP.

It is a safety issue, so it might be covered. Due to the age of the vehicle, even if the issue is safety related the dealer can get out of fixing it due to normal wear and tear. Also, when the recall is caught, they retro fit on the production line and you have to go to a dealer to check your VIN number to se if the fix has already been done.
i would suggest going to a dealer to get all the recalls since it is your "Baby" and you intend to keep it.
Also ask for all the SERVICE BULLETINs, as they are not put in the recall category and you have to ask the SERVICE DEPARTMENT at a dealer to find out the infromation.

Good luck and let me know how it goes.

ok you jump theblower motor power to red wire and ground to black or blower motor metal .your wiper switch in the colume most likelyv bad. get another 1 unplug the connector at steering colume wiper connector then try other switch operation u may have to remove bolster to do this.i will monitor this post good luck

As far as resitor location, I forgot to mention. I apologize for not mentionng as it is important.
Reason being is that they are generally in the air duct near the motor. The resistor gets very hot, as you have experienced. The blower motor keeps it cool as the resistorr is generally a coil acting as a heat sinlk that is near the blower motor so it can be cooled even when the heat is turned on because this is before it blows the air throough the heater core.
So, be carefulr jumping it to test it. I would guess the motor is fine and you probably need a resistor and they are not ceap. A simple test is to remove it. It is usually accessible under the dash and the electrical plu is near the blower motor connector. Upon removing it you will easily see if it has failed. I would reccomend doing that before hard jumping it as it can damage microproccessors that are hundreds of dollars to replace. The smeel and smoke you described sounds almost certainly like a resistor failure and it can be visually checked.
I am in a hurry so forgive me as I am not putting the idea of hard jumping the wiper motor as much as I would have concern and reccommend caution with the blower resistor.
So please forgive if I did not make myself clear or have given redundant information. Just wanted to make sure you don't harm anything more expensive when you don't need to.
Let me know how things go.
I will be travelling and cannot check the forum, I will try my best, until Monday.

There is no blower resistor in your system, that went out around 1991. If you have no blower operation, saw smoke from the vents prior to it's departure, and checked and have power and ground at the connector, you need a blower motor. There is three wires at the connector, a large red power, a large black ground, and a small(i believe) gray wire that is digital speed control from the a/c programmer. I would suspect that the used one should have functioned, unless it is failed. Did you have the engine running, and leave it plugged in and on for some time. If the system is cold, and the hvac is requested, there will be some delay before it starts blowing.

On the wipers, there is no bulletin. Does the vehicle have moisture sensing wipers? It may say auto delay on the stalk, have a module up next to the rearview mirror, or have the option code CE1 on the rpo code list that is on the underside of the spare tire cover. This may affect the diagnostic process, as the systems are somewhat different in operation. Also do the wipers operate in any mode, and how about the washers?

gstacy,
I did have the engine running blower on high, but only had the motor plugged in for about 5 minutes or so. The shop said it was in working order!? I'm not sure if I should try another motor or not? I haven't had time to play with the problem until now.

As far as the wipers, There are no speeds and no washers turning on because the washers are located within the wipers themselves. everything was working normally before the blower motor failed on me. Could it be some kind of multi-function switch that is bad? Or just bad luck that everything happened at the same time?

Sorry for the late reply everyone!! It has taken some time to get back to this problem. Thank you for your replies and help!:)

At the three wire blower connector, there is a red, a gray, and a black wire. If you have a test light, check across the red and black wire, and the light should light. If it does not light, the red wire gets it's power from the inadvertent fuse(50A) in left underhood fuse block, I believe it is a maxi fuse. If it does have power and ground, you could have a faulty blower motor, or the spee output from the a/c programmer has a fault. That output can not be measured with a test light, it is a digital pulse width signal. A voltmeter may show you something. Ideally, a scan tool would be able to show you that the control panel is requesting a desired blower speed, and it may also show the commanded speed out of the programmer.

On the wipers, I am showing the washer pump mounted to the reservoir, but that is not important. Everything is controlled out of the windshield wiper module, which is attached to the motor. It looks like the wiper module connector(s) may give you what you need. The first question is, do you have a test light?, and do you know if this vehicle has moisture sensitive wipers? The option code for the latter is CE1, and the RPO sticker should be located under your spare tire cover in the trunk. The schematic, and parts involved, are different in either circumstance. I do not see any relation with a blower going out, and the wipers, I don't see that they share anything.

Thank you for tyhe timely response gstacey! I just picked up a test light on my way home today and found out that my plug going to the blower motor has power in it but no ground with the car off as well as started. Does this mean I have a ground issue and the motor is fine? I checked my 50A fuse as well and both sides light up. Does this mean I have a loose wire behind the 50A fuse which is causing a faulty ground?

As far as the wipers go. I do not have moisture sensative wipers. Hypothetically, If my motor recieves power and ground and is still not running it has to be the wiper switch right? I suppose the only way to check the switch is to disassemble my steering column and pull it off?

Thank you again and in advance for your help!

It all depends on how you checked the ground. In using the test light to check power, of course you have the wire end of the light attached to ground, it lights when you touch power, as in checking the fuse. To check the ground, you would switch the wire over to power and touch the ground(any ground) and the light will light. Pardon me if you had done that, I just need to confirm that you performed a valid check. Coincidentally, If you truly don't have a ground, it could tie the two problems together, as they are both grounded at G204 which is at the left kick panel, at the base of the A pillar(down by your left foot), I have included an illustration. If you have a concern with G204, you should have other problems(power windows, heated mirrors, shift interlock, perhaps), unless you have an open in the wiring.

the wiper switch harness comes out of base of the steering column youll see it runs to a connector.probe the switch harness to check the voltage on orange and pink with the key on.where did the blades stop because the delay cover and park switch controls the ground for wiper oper.?

My mistake gstacey. I'm obviously new to electric system diagnosis. I performed the correct way to check and yes I do have ground on the plug leading to the blower motor. The used blower motor that I tried should have worked right away then correct? I had everything on high when I plugged the new one in at the parts store. I had it plugged in for about a minute or 2 with not even a noise!?

cadieman, I correctly checked the windshield wiper motor plug and I have nothing there! No ground or power on any speed. The blades stopped in the off position. Checked the wire harness at base of steering wheel. There were two types of wires small in diameter and larger in diameter. The larger wires check out they both light up the tester. With the smaller wires there really isn't an orange wire. There's two "white" wires inside an orange sleeve that seems the only possiblility. With the pink wires there's two seperate ones. one on the far left side of the harness and one next to the orange/white wires which I would assume you are talking about. The one next to the orange/white ones did NOT turn my test light on, while the other pink wire did. If those were the correct wires does that diagnose my problem that it's a bad wiper switch?

The only thing that worries me is it might be a wiring issue or "open wire" because of a few things. It all started with my AC. It stopped blowing cold air, it would only blow cold air when I was at top speed. Then the smoke came through the vents as described in earlier posts. Then my wipers went, my compass in the rearview mirror went, and the auxillary mode in the ignition the one where you put in the far back position to get some power went too! I have A hard time believing my luck is that bad... but I've been wrong before.

Thanks again guys for the help!!:)

Electrical diagnosis is hard enough as is. You have done a great job at relaying information...and it took some savvy understanding to get this far.
We are always here and will work together to help customers.

there are 2 sets of wires and the orange one at the base of column.the big set is for the turn signal and the smaller set is for the wiper switch.i use to get a switch from parts and hook it up to test without installing ****.if u wire the neg and poss wires from the battery the blower motor should run.it gets its ground from the a/c programer.