Hey All,
Quick problem, and then full information below: I changed the front turn signal assemblies on both sides. After completing the installation, the side lamps don't come on, but the rear wiper (!) comes on and will not go off. The front wiper (!) makes one sweep and then stops and will not come back on. What in the world went wrong?

Car: 1993 240 wagon

Explanation
Last night I changed the front turn assemblies on both sides. I used aftermarket Depo assemblies. Since I was just working with insulated wire clips (I don't know what these are called), and just working with the turn signals, I thought I was safe not undoing the battery.
I changed out the passenger side first. I had a bit of a learning curve on that side, and the headlamp assembly was broken on that side and required a bit of extra care. So when I got that side plugged in, I checked to see if it would work. It came on.
I went to the driver side and made that change. It went much smoother. When all was complete, I turned on the ignition and had the problem stated above. Neither light worked, rear wiper came and would not stop, and the front wiper made one sweep and would not come back on.

What I think happened: The ground wire on both sides was connected to another ground wire coming from something else. When I got to the driver side, I thought I heard an electronic sound of some sort when I disconnected the two ground wires. I might be imagining that now, though. Not sure. Could the other ground have been connected to the wiper relay and interrupted the cycle?

Any thoughts?

 

- it sounds like the you did not reattach the ground wires. Did you attach the black wire with the ring terminal on it to a good ground spot on the body? And reattach all that may have been on the same screw?

 

Yes, there were two wires at each terminal--one from the turn signal and one from something else. Both were reattached. I thought I had them pretty snug, but I can check that.

 

Okay, fixed.
You were right. The wires were connected, but the screw had gotten hung up before it was tight. The wires were still hanging loose under the screw. I got it tightened down properly and that fixed the wiper problem.
The lights were a separate problem. The wire harness that came with the new light assembly does not fit exactly right with the male end coming from the car. After working on it for a while, I was able to get it fit well enough that the lights come on.
Cosmetically, these aftermarket light do not look as good as the originals. But now I can get the car inspected and drive legally again!

Thanks, Hoonk, for your help!