i've changed the (front) wiper motor and now i have a problem with the wiper arms not returning to their original position. after the wipers complete their cycle, the wiper arms kick back up about 7 or 8 inches into my sightlines. i was told by a mechanic friend that the circuit board is probably faulty, but i've just changed that, and i still have the same problem. any suggestions on where to look next. could it be that i have a switch problem? anyone have this happen to them? the arm (handle)gets lots of use, doubling as a wiper switch AND a turn signal switch.
thanks for the help. pusher

 

It won't bea switch problem. If the switch was bad, they wouldn't work at all, or delay wouldn't work.
It might be that when you installed the new motor, you didn't install the linkage onto the new motor in the same location that you took it off the old one.
Where did you get the motor from? If it has a warranty, just take it back and exchange it. That would at least let you know that isn't the problem.

 

i bought the motor at LORDCO and it did have a warranty. today i picked up a new motor and i still have the same problem. with my original motor there was NO 8 inch kickback from the bottom of the cycle. i dread the thought of exchanging the motor (my hands are too big for that tuff to get bottom bolt!). i even marked the wiper position like the book said, so i would get the wipers in the correct position when the job was done. any other suggestions would be much appreciated. pusher

 

When they go up, do they go too far (off the window on the driver side)?

 

no, when they go down, they go a bit past the bottom of the window, then spring up 8 inches. i never had this kick back with my original motor.

 

The motor is obviously good, so it has to be the alignment / linkage between the motor and the wiper control arm. You may have to keep trying to adjust that linkage until you get it "just" right.

As an aside, it once took me 8 separate tries to get my distributor shaft back in just the right position, but once it was right, it was right immediately. Patience is the key word here. Good Luck.

 

the good news is.....i have lots of patience. thanks for the help. i'll give it a try (or two, or three) in the morning. dumb question but...this can be done without taking the motor off again? i think i see what you're trying to describe. a bit tricky?

 

I'm fortunate enough to never have a motor burn out on me, but my rear wiper gets stuck under the back window. I'll press the button and hear the *tick* sound of the wiper slamming against the window, and when I turn the wiper off it returns to it's normal position. I took the entire blade off one day and put it back on, and it worked fine for about a month. A few weeks ago it started getting stuck again, but I noticed it manages to work when the wiper is wet enough to slide over the window. It works in the snow, but not always in the rain.

 

problem solved. thanks chris (junkmonkey). it was just the linkeage/motor adjustment. got "er on the 4th try. such a simle solution (i'm embarassed). these forums are great. what did we ever do without the internet. thanks again. pusher

 

Excellent.

Never be embarassed about your trials and tribulations working on cars. Do you honestly think you're the first guy to screw something simple up (and believe me getting the spline alignments correct on motor shafts and linkages is not necessarily a "simple" thing, as you've learned)? Not likely. We all make goofy mistakes, BUT the key is that we learn from those mistakes and we share those experiences so the rest of us can benefit from what we learn along the way (albeit sometimes the hard way).

Share the information, so we can all develop the knowledge (and maybe save some $$$ in the process).

The forums are here to SHARE what we know and learn what we don't.