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Car Forum / Driving, Maintenance, Tuning / Maintenance and Repair / January 2007Wipers won't park properly
The wipers on my '96 Cavalier work fine when it's dry. I can use them to knock the fog off in the morning and they'll park properly against the bottom of the windshield when I turn them off. But when it's actually raining, they'll park way up on the windshield when I drive out of the rain and turn them off. Then, at interstate speeds, they'll blow up right in front of me. I can stop and push them down and feel no resistance at all. Then when I get moving I drive back into the rain, have to turn them back on, drive out of the rain -- well, it gets frustrating. I'm guessing it needs a new wiper motor, but I'd rather get some confirmation before shelling out $100 if that's not the likely culprit. thx > The wipers on my '96 Cavalier work fine when it's dry. I can use them > to knock the fog off in the morning and they'll park properly against [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > > thx If I am reading this correctly, all you are saying is that the wiper arms don't always park where they should when the switch is turned off. This is definitely your wiper motor at fault. Once you turn the wiper switch off it has no control over what the motor does. The motor has a seperate power and ground circuit that it uses to keep the motor running until it's internal switch or pulse generator tells it to shut off. Something internal to the motor has failed in this regard. Toyota MDT in MO Exactly. Sometimes they do; sometimes they don't. In a light rain, they'll start out OK then get worse as it gets wetter. I did notice today that there are some little cracks in the cover that the wiper blade shafts come up through. Is it feasible that water's getting in and shorting something out? > If I am reading this correctly, all you are saying is that the wiper > arms don't always park where they should when the switch is turned off. [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > Toyota MDT in MO > Exactly. Sometimes they do; sometimes they don't. In a light rain, > they'll start out OK then get worse as it gets wetter. I did notice > today that there are some little cracks in the cover that the wiper > blade shafts come up through. Is it feasible that water's getting in > and shorting something out? Maybe I didn't grasp what you were explaining. I think Mike Romain is on the right track. I misunderstood what you meant by "the wipers blow up". If you have a broken pivot point in your wiper linkage the blades won't want to follow in their intended arc. Perhaps the high speed setting is flinging them around with enough force that they appear to work fine, but at low speed (low or intermittant) there isn't sufficient momentum to bring the blades through their full arc. The motor could be broken internally as well. You will need to inspect the linkage for any broken or weak pivot points or mounting points before condemning the motor. I assume that both blades travel in time with each other regardless of how poorly they are working? Or do the blades sometimes operate out of sync with each other as well? If they always work in sync together it is more likely to be a motor problem. If not it is certainly the linkage or stripped stub shaft to wiper arm splines. Toyota MDT in MO > > Exactly. Sometimes they do; sometimes they don't. In a light rain, > > they'll start out OK then get worse as it gets wetter. I did notice [quoted text clipped - 20 lines] > > Toyota MDT in MO They do work in synch with each other on high or low. Even on low there's no hesitation; they work smoothly with no problem. Obviously, I still haven't gotten to repairing them. I've been covered up at work and have cut down several oak trees that I've been cleaning up. I've just been avoiding the rain and driving my truck as necessary. Many thanks for the input. I'm thinking wiper motor, but I'll inspect everything carefully when I've got it apart. You are most likely describing bad linkage. There are bushings and pins in the links that can wear and cause wipers to have too much free play. The parking circuit is electrical inside the motor, the moving around with ' no resistance' at highway speeds is a mechanical issue. It still could be a stripped gear inside the motor, but I would look at the linkage first. Mike 86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's Canadian Off Road Trips Photos: Non members can still view! Jan/06 http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?id=2115147590 (More Off Road album links at bottom of the view page) > The wipers on my '96 Cavalier work fine when it's dry. I can use them > to knock the fog off in the morning and they'll park properly against [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > > thx Mike, The fact that there's no resistance when I push them back down and the wind will push them back up when they don't park has confused me. Also, when on intermittent, they'll stop right in front of my face on each stroke. However, on slow or high they do fine. It would seem like a stripped gear or linkage problem would keep them from functioning properly when in use, but there's a complete stroke with no slop. > You are most likely describing bad linkage. There are bushings and pins > in the links that can wear and cause wipers to have too much free play. [quoted text clipped - 25 lines] > > > > thx I have a bad plastic bushing or pin on my Cherokee's linkage and depending on how wet it is sometimes it works normal, other times it slaps the bottom of the window frame. I also have a bad brass bushing on my CJ's and one blade will 'float' for about 1/4 of it's travel if moved by hand. When under power it usually tracks ok again depending on how wet things are. Mine always have this float though. Mike > Mike, > The fact that there's no resistance when I push them back down and the [quoted text clipped - 34 lines] > > > > > > thx > The wipers on my '96 Cavalier work fine when it's dry. I can use them > to knock the fog off in the morning and they'll park properly against [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > > thx They reverse to park. The catch is worn on the mechanism driven by the wiper motor. I finally found a day that I could work on this and replaced the wiper motor. It parked consistently in the same place every time -- only it was always about 10" from the bottom. I removed the wiper assembly again and rotated the wiper transmission on the motor shaft, and it now parks at the bottom of the windshield, but on intermittent it stops right in front of my face. This is driving me nuts. There has to be an adjustment somewhere, but the Haynes manual I have doesn't say so. >I finally found a day that I could work on this and replaced the wiper > motor. It parked consistently in the same place every time -- only it [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > There has to be an adjustment somewhere, but the Haynes manual I have > doesn't say so. Year, make, model??? > Year, make, model??? '97 Cavalier, although my opening message says '96. I musta fat-fingered the year. I went back out and put them on intermittent, and killed the ignition while they were up, then I took them apart again (I'm getting good at assembly and disassembly). I rotated the wiper transmission on the motor shaft until I thought it was about where they should stop on intermittent and put them back together. I was much improved but still stopped too high, so I did it again (good thing I'm getting good at this, huh?) and rotated the transmission down a little more. Eureka!! They now work well on intermittent, and when I shut them off, the stop a couple of inches above the bottom of the windshield then lower to park positon. I sure appreciate all your help. You got me moving in the right direction, and I'm satisfied I actually needed the motor. I still need to wait until I get it out in the rain to be sure, but I'm very hopeful at this point. While I'm at it, let me explain something I discovered about this thing. I don't know if it's normal in other cars, but on the Cavalier, the wiper transmission has a pin and detent that locks it in place while running. I can kill the ignition while the wipers are on, and there's no slop at all. They're solid. But when they're parked, this pin isn't locked into place, and I could just push them down, and for that matter, pull them right back up if I wanted. I didn't realize how they worked until a local friend suggested I cut the ignition while the wipers were running. |
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