Intermittent Wipers backwards

[Luns]

As far as I can tell, the wiper switch from an '09-'11 Camry (or Corolla, Solara, Tacoma or Tundra for certain years) should be a direct substitute for the switch in our twins, and would make the adjustment consistent with all the Hondas and Toyotas I've had reason to use intermittent wipers on.

part# 84652-02610

There appear to be new replacement switches for under $35 on eBay, which I presume are third-party rather than OEM parts. I don't know if these would behave the same as the Camry, or if they're actually the same as the twins and sold as different-but-usable substitute. They're cheap enough I might just buy one to see.

[Luns]

Originally Posted by Luns

As far as I can tell, the wiper switch from an '09-'11 Camry (or Corolla, Solara, Tacoma or Tundra for certain years) should be a direct substitute for the switch in our twins, and would make the adjustment consistent with all the Hondas and Toyotas I've had reason to use intermittent wipers on.

part# 84652-02610

Apparently the switch used on prior years of these models, part# 84642-04141 behaves the same as the knob on our cars. I've just confirmed, the '07 Camry (and also '04 Camry which uses yet another earlier switch) owners manuals both say:

.... lets you
adjust the wiper time interval when the
wiper lever is in the intermittent position
(position 1). Twist the band upward to
increase the time between sweeps, and
downward to decrease it.

In contrast, the corresponding diagram and text of the 2011 Camry Owner's manual shows the opposite, consistent with what I've come to expect.

Somehow Toyota saw it more appropriate to reverse things around 2009, give or take a year depending on model, but that decision never carried over to our cars.

It looks like there's one more part number in the mix, 84652-02710. The markings on the 02610 stalk are the same as on our cars, with small triangles and a windshield icon to indicate mist/int/low/high. The earlier 04141 part appears to have used text instead of icons. Oddly, the later 02710 part number seems to have reverted to the older markings, with text rather than icons, but reportedly, its knob functions the same as the 02610 part.

For reference, see: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/...switch.241722/

[RZNT4R]

I mean... use the wipers once, see that thicker line equals more delay and not more wiping, map that information to your brain.

Never think of it again.

Problem solved.

???

[Ohio Enthusiast]

Originally Posted by RZNT4R

Never think of it again.

Might work if you have a single car. Both of my other cars work the other (more intuitive*) way so it always takes mental energy in the BRZ...

* more intuitive for me because it follows righty-tighty/lefty-loosy - tighten to get faster wipes, loosen to get slower wipes. The BRZ is the other way around and I struggle to translate that to "tighten to get more delay between wipes, loosen to get less delay".

[Luns]

Originally Posted by Ohio Enthusiast

Might work if you have a single car. Both of my other cars work the other (more intuitive*) way so it always takes mental energy in the BRZ...

I'm sure Wataru Akiyama has something to say about mental energy. LOL

Originally Posted by Ohio Enthusiast

* more intuitive for me because it follows righty-tighty/lefty-loosy - tighten to get faster wipes, loosen to get slower wipes. The BRZ is the other way around and I struggle to translate that to "tighten to get more delay between wipes, loosen to get less delay".

Agree 100%. Apparently, so does Toyota, given they've switched other models of cars to work this way, and not, so far as I'm aware, switched any the other way.

[Luns]

Originally Posted by Luns

part# 84652-02610

There appear to be new replacement switches for under $35 on eBay, which I presume are third-party rather than OEM parts. I don't know if these would behave the same as the Camry, or if they're actually the same as the twins and sold as different-but-usable substitute. They're cheap enough I might just buy one to see.

I ordered one of these switches from Amazon to check out - just under $25. The listing gives the -02610 part number, and the intermittent wipe knob does correspond to what I expect for that part number (opposite what our factory wiper switch is). The wipe intervals seem to be a bit more frequent than our factory switches, but then I found the slowest settings on our factory switches to be too slow to be useful, so this may actually be an improvement.

It is indeed third-party; none of the usual inscriptions are present on the plastic. OEM uses delrin for the housing of the base (where the detents are) but the aftermarket part appears to be some other (probably cheaper, less durable) resin. The circuit board inside is also different, using transistors in a smaller form-factor, and different routing, but the pin connections to the main switch body appear the same as OEM. So my impression is it's probably less durable than OEM, but OTOH, depending on what climate you live in, the switch may get used so infrequently you would never wear it out anyway.

Working the lever and knob a handful of times, it feels identical to OEM, and I think it would fit and function just fine. For anybody not hung up on things being OEM, I think the third-party switch is perfectly serviceable, and a good deal at 1/6th of new OEM price.

Replacement is pretty easy and doesn't require removing the steering wheel.

On further digging, 84652-12a20 appears to be also be appropriate. This is listed for 09-11 Camry, 09-13 Corolla, 08-12 Yaris, 11-12 Scion tC. Or if you want to feel better about what car it's from, it's also used for Lexus 11-13 CT200h, 08-10 ES350 and 10-12 HS250h.

I don't know what's different between -12a20 and -02610; possibly different suppliers, or internal design differences, but it seems like they'd be functionally interchangeable.

[Luns]

Originally Posted by Luns

I don't know what's different between -12a20 and -02610; possibly different suppliers, or internal design differences, but it seems like they'd be functionally interchangeable.

I picked up a used OEM -12A20 switch. The swipe rates seem to be a little different from the aftermarket -02610 switch, but between measuring the same -02610 switch a few weeks ago and doing so again today there was also a comparable difference. However, those differences are small compared to the difference from the Toyobaru wiper switch.

seconds per swipe:

Toyobaru: 4s, 9s, 15s, 20s
Aftermarket-02610: 13.7s, 11.7s, 7.5s, 4s
-12A20: 11s, 9s, 6s, 4s

Basically from each switch to the next, the slowest rate is dropped, and four speeds (intervals) are spread across the remaining range.


I've found the 20s interval to be so slow as to be practically useless. I haven't yet had real rain/mist to try try the -12A20 in to see if I might miss having something less frequent than 11s, but somehow I doubt it.