Just take a long piece of wire, connect one end to the "-" terminal at the pump harness and the other end to your ohm meter up where you can see it from the driver's seat. Connect the other end of the Ohm meter to a chassis ground and then push the pump switch and see if the resistance goes to 0 (checking both the switch and the wire).

If it does not, then remove the steering column cowling to get access to the wiper stalk and find the wire that goes to the end of the stalk and touch the ohm meter directly to that. If the resistance goes to 0 then you know the wire is good and its the switch that is bad, and vice versa.


Norm

 

This was going to be my basic approach but thanks for laying it out clearly.

 

See the 3-page attachment. The highest probability of failure is at switches and design connection points like plugs. I would proceed as follows:

At the steering column, remove interference to get to large black connector C13.

Unplug C13. Inspect for corrosion.

On connector C13 (wire harness side), short pin 8 (blue/white wire) to pin 16 (white/black wire).

Turn the key to the "On" position (engine not running).

Does the washer motor run? If so, the combination switch (mounted on the steering wheel) is bad.

If the washer motor does not run, look for an open in the white/black wire to ground point IE near the driver's left knee, as shown in the attachment.

[Edit] EBay says this is a 1994 Camry combination switch:

 

See the 3-page attachment. The highest probability of failure is at switches and design connection points like plugs. I would proceed as follows:

At the steering column, remove interference to get to large black connector C13.

Unplug C13. Inspect for corrosion.

On connector C13 (wire harness side), short pin 8 (blue/white wire) to pin 16 (white/black wire).

Turn the key to the "On" position (engine not running).

Does the washer motor run? If so, the combination switch (mounted on the steering wheel) is bad.

If the washer motor does not run, look for an open in the white/black wire to ground point IE near the driver's left knee, as shown in the attachment.

Very helpful diagnostic technique. Hadn't thought about a bad ground to the switch. I hope getting to the wiper/washer switch is fairly easy - just removing the column cover.

 

The 1994 Camry combination switch repair requires complete removal of the airbag, steering wheel, clock spring and switch assembly. The two switch stalks are a pita to replace but it can be done.

 

The 1994 Camry combination switch repair requires complete removal of the airbag, steering wheel, clock spring and switch assembly. The two switch stalks are a pita to replace but it can be done. View attachment 424510
View attachment 424514
View attachment 424513
View attachment 424515
View attachment 424516
View attachment 424512
View attachment 424511

Nice pictures but a hell of a job for an amateur like me without the tools. I hope I can get to the connector without doing all of this disassembly. I hope the problem is a connector or ground connection. Where is the C13 switch connector mounted and can I access it once I remove the steering column covers?
If the switch is bad I may just carry a bottle of windex in the car and forget about the switch. I is much more important that the wipers work.

 

I know that I’ve said it a few times before, but my go-to (98% of the time) piece of electrical test equipment is the Power Probe 4. It has cut down my troubleshooting time by an average of 85% and its 20-30 foot cord can provide +B and a Ground immediately anywhere on the vehicle. It also functions as an ohmmeter, amp meter, noid light and a safe ECM diagnostic tool. I rarely break out any other test equipment for diagnostics these days.

 

Connector (Combination Switch) C13 is mounted underneath the steering column which necessitates the removal of the lower dash panel and plastic connector shields to access. I would advise against tearing this part of the steering column apart unless you’re going in with the full intent of completing the repair. The wiring harnesses in this area are precisely retained in place to prevent fouling of the steering column rotation. My experience in this is that the switches go bad, rarely the wiring or even the grounds. By this age that switch has been activated tens of thousands of times and is simply worn out. That is unless the car has been living in the desert the last 30 years, and even then, that is no guarantee!

 

information - the car was in California for its first 25 years always garaged, so a very easy climate but has now been stored over the winter for 8 months in Massachusetts where it's cold and damp. The car ONLY has 190,000 original miles. It was working last summer before storing it (outside but covered), but not when I started the car this summer. I would think I'd have some intermittent operation before it went bad but that's not always the case. Sometimes things work until they just don't.

Even to connect an external switch I'd still need to get to the connector C13, I assume to splice into the wires underneath the dash or at the connector itself, the blue/white wire for the pump ground.

So it seems the easiest thing to try first would be to check the ground wire at its grounding point IE, if I can figure out where that is exactly where it is.
Then I could try taking apart the steering column cover and lower dash and carefully disconnect the C13 connector to do further testing.

 

information - the car was in California for its first 25 years always garaged, so a very easy climate but has now been stored over the winter for 8 months in Massachusetts where it's cold and damp. The car ONLY has 190,000 original miles. It was working last summer before storing it (outside but covered), but not when I started the car this summer. I would think I'd have some intermittent operation before it went bad but that's not always the case. Sometimes things work until they just don't.

Even to connect an external switch I'd still need to get to the connector C13, I assume to splice into the wires underneath the dash or at the connector itself, the blue/white wire for the pump ground.

So it seems the easiest thing to try first would be to check the ground wire at its grounding point IE, if I can figure out where that is exactly where it is.
Then I could try taking apart the steering column cover and lower dash and carefully disconnect the C13 connector to do further testing.

P

 

You have such incredibly good photos of the disassembled steering column. Thank you. The pictures are indeed worth a thousand words.
My question is, can I get to and disconnect the C13 connector without removing the steering wheel and airbag, only the column covers and dash panel? If not, then I won't even start.

 

My "go to" for preparing for certain dissassemblies is often first, youtube; second, this forum; and third, a U-Pull-It type of salvage yard.

Here's a video that seems to show connector C13 at about 13:00 to 14:00 (among other places?):

www.youtube.com/watch?v=WILNxaqOr6E

(The 1996 Camry is the same generation as the OP's 1994 Camry.) It's possible connector C13 is accessible without fully disassembling.

Here's a thread by "Perkins" (1995 Camry, per other posts?) that might also help some:
www.toyotanation.com/threads/diy-changing-wiper-turn-signal-switch.419201/

For someone new to working with the steering wheel, making sure the battery and airbag are disconnected is the biggest caveat by far. I would say people do this all the time, but they know how the airbag works and the proper safety precautions.

WoolfeMan, what frame number is your Camry? This is for a 1994 Camry, frame number sxv10l-aepdka:

Hmm.

Check back for edits of this post.

 

Well, you all deserve an explanation of the outcome. I went outside this morning and now the wipers didn't work either! What the F! So, I got very frazzled and couldn't understand what was happening. I did test the fuse - had continuity so it is ok. I had a long drive to Costco to think about it. At some point, I looked carefully at the washer lever and I realized that our car in Calif. is a newer Toyota and to activate the washer, you pull the washer "stick" lever toward you. Being here on the east coast with our old 94 Camry after being away 8 months, I was doing the same thing - pulling the lever, not the damn button on the end. Chalk it up to an aging brain but there was nothing ever wrong with the pump circuit/switch to begin with! So, I put the pump back, put the splash guards back on under the car (a pain), and put back the fluid. Squirters work.
Now why weren't the wipers working? It turns out I had disconnected the wiper motor connector yesterday while troubleshooting and forgot to put it back on. Connector on, wipers work. I'm glad I didn't start taking the steering column apart. I even went to Harbor Freight and bought the torx set and 19mm socket for the steering wheel bolt.

There was nothing wrong at all..... except for me. I learned a lot in this process so thanks for the detailed diagrams and explanations and patience. Lesson learned - look at the label on the lever/button you are actuating.

 

Good one! I normally go into quite a bit of detail but since you seemed to know more than most brand new posters (based on your initial post) I made the assumption that you had already handled all the preliminary basics. Like pushing the button.

 

Yes, I generally pride myself on good, logical diagnostic technique even though I don't know automotive specifically. I also have a background in electronics. But it's always important to start with the most basic elements, particularly, is user error involved.

 

You know which wire is ground at the pump. You are allowed to just run a wire from there into the car to a momentary push switch to ground under the dash. $10. And yes the combi switch $$ for the switch and tools $$ to get the steering wheel off plus airbag, that's not rocket science but you need to be careful. Unless that was Grandma's car and it still has the same radio stations she had, run the wire, see better. I worked on cars a long time, had to disconnect the battery on an old Ford to reset the idle, " My father gave that to Rick ( grandson), he never even changed a radio station....." Oops.

 

Bill, see post #15 above yours, OP already solved their issue.

 

Woolfeman, glad to read that you got the problem resolved. I had to chuckle at your resolution, not to laugh at you, but because it reminded me of a similar foible I experienced last April. I went skiing with my daughter and took a car that I hadn't driven in a few months. The shift park interlock was sticky so we got off to a somewhat frazzled start. Then half an hour into the drive I wanted to turn the heat blower on higher. I kept incrementally turning the knob clockwise and I was hearing more blower noise, but the vents didn't seem to be doing jack as far as airflow. I thought, "WTF is wrong with this thing NOW?" Then after 5 minutes, I realized I had been turning the third row heat control up to full and the front heat control was still on "off" (My seating position combined with the column-mounted shift handle in "D" coincidentally put the end of the shift handle exactly blocking the view of the forward heat control blower knob.) OWA TADOO FIAM. (Say it fast...)

 

That was for anyone else with the same issue who does not know how to safely deal with airbags or is on a low budget.