wipers do not go back to its normal position after use

[advocate]

When I use my wipers with or without my sprayers they will go straight up when done rather then going to the bottom of the windshield.

Is this normal? what would cause this.

It has done it since I got it. Only way around it is to turn the washer and wipers on then move the MFS up 1 or more notches. This keeps them going, then turn it off once it is done wiping and waiting in intermittant mode to move it to the bottom of the winshield.

Any ideas?

TIA

 

[Dr. Tweak]

it's the wiper motor, the gear is stripped. simple to replace.

 

[NemoX]

I had the same problem and after replacing the wiper motor and not fixing it, I gave up and took it to the dealer who told me that it was the wiper interval governor or something to that extent. Its under the driver's side dash on the right side, comparitivly far down. I did have htis same problem on my 91 and it was fixed by replacing the motor. So i dont know which to try first.

 

[S_Mazza]

I would suggest that you disconnect the wiper linkage from the arm coming out of the motor. Then pull straight up and down on the motor arm to check for play. If that doesn't work well, try pushing down on the center of the shaft with a ratchet handle or something. If you feel play, or if the shaft pushes downward, then there's a good chance that your motor is too worn and needs replaced.

I fixed a very similar problem on my 89 T-Bird, and it was the motor. There are a few electrical contacts attached to the wiper gear and shaft, so when the shaft develops play, the electrical path is interrupted and the wipers act crazy.

Your wiper motor may differ, so I would test it first. The test above is not foolproof, but I think it'll be easy and help you rule things out. If that test is negative, maybe you should test the interval governor. (Although, if the wipers move at the correct time delays, I would suspect the governor is ok.)

NemoX, did the governor fix your car that you talked about? What year was it?

 

[NemoX]

Yeah, this happened on both my 91 and my 92. On the 91, the solution was to replace the wiper motor. On the 92, which happened after the 91, I tried replacing the wiper motor and after 2 replacement units, I gave up and took it to the dealer who replaced the interval governor and fixed the problem.