Front wipers not returning to rest position (1 Viewer)

[Teeter]

I'm having this issue with my 2001 where my wipers are not returning to the rest position, they just stop wherever they happen to be when I switch off the wipers. It doesn't seem to matter if I switch off directly from intermittent or from the slow/high speed (which sort of passes through intermittent anyways, so not sure if that matters). The problem seemed to happen overnight, wasn't gradual. The wipers seem to operate normally otherwise.

FWIW, I recently installed a new receiver which I don't think could electrically interfere with the wipers (it was a straightforward install, nothing fancy), but wanted to throw that out there in case there's some odd voodoo I'm unaware of that might mess with the electrical.

Any ideas or similar experience?

Thanks!

 

[nissanh]

Probably you disconneted the full time power line going to the wiper during the headunit installation.

 

[Teeter]

It started recently, in the lat week or so. I can give that a shot, but they stop anywhere in the cycle (so they could be a full 90 degrees off).

 

[nissanh]

Did you install the head unit at the same time?

 

[Teeter]

Yeah, we noticed the wiper issue the same week, did the install last week. My wife noticed the wiper issue so not sure it was working fine for a bit before issues happened or not.

 

[Ayune]

You can test to see if the problem is within the wiper motor with a simple check:

Unplug the connector at the wiper motor and test for continuity between pins 2 & 3 on the motor. These are the pins that would have the solid blue and blue-with-white-stripe wires going to them. Those two pins should be connected together inside the motor when the wipers are at any position except the parked position. For example, if the wipers are stopped in the middle of the windshield and there is no continuity between pins 2 & 3 then the cam switch inside the motor is bad.

If pins 2 & 3 are connected together whenever the wipers are out of ‘parked’ then it’s a wiring issue elsewhere in the truck.

For reference here’s a diagram looking at the face of the wire’s connector (the connector on the motor is reversed):

 

[Teeter]

You can test to see if the problem is within the wiper motor with a simple check:

Unplug the connector at the wiper motor and test for continuity between pins 2 & 3 on the motor. These are the pins that would have the solid blue and blue-with-white-stripe wires going to them. Those two pins should be connected together inside the motor when the wipers are at any position except the parked position. For example, if the wipers are stopped in the middle of the windshield and there is no continuity between pins 2 & 3 then the cam switch inside the motor is bad.

If pins 2 & 3 are connected together whenever the wipers are out of ‘parked’ then it’s a wiring issue elsewhere in the truck.

For reference here’s a diagram looking at the face of the wire’s connector (the connector on the motor is reversed):
View attachment 2161086

Thanks for the advice. I checked it today and I’m getting nothing. For a sanity check, here’s what I did.

left the wipers in about a 90 degree position, tested the two connectors for continuity and got no response. Attached is a pic of the connectors I checked. Based on tour advice, it sounds like the motors to me?

 

[Ayune]

Thanks for the advice. I checked it today and I’m getting nothing. For a sanity check, here’s what I did.

left the wipers in about a 90 degree position, tested the two connectors for continuity and got no response. Attached is a pic of the connectors I checked. Based on tour advice, it sounds like the motors to me?

View attachment 2163404

Looks like you’ve circled pins 1 & 2 on the motor. The diagram in my first post is of connector on the wire side, so the motor connector pin numbers are reversed.

Try checking the pins I’ve circled in yellow below.

 

[Teeter]

Thanks for the clarification, I totally missed that.

I checked again with the right pins and still have nothing.

Interesting enough, last night I got them to skip/hop (really jerky) a couple of times when turned off like they were trying to get to rest, but stopped about half way. Feels like a motor issue.

 

[Mark WV]

I had a similar issue today for the first time - wipers would stop in the up position, and although they worked when on low or hi speed fine, they would sometime not return to the rest position when turned off. Did a replacement motor solve your issue?

 

[Mark WV]

Also - while on the subject, other than removing the three or four bolts holding the motor to the firewall, how do you disconnect the motor from the linkage - seems to be some debate on how to do this on another thread...

 

[Teeter]

Yeah, motor did it for me.
I ended up using the same bracket attached to the linkage vs taking off the ball joint, but that was a mistake since it was hard to get the old bracket aligned with the rest position of the motor.
There’s a few threads on taking off the linkage.

 

[Mark WV]

thanks for the prompt reply - i'll get to work finding a replacement motor

 

[Ayune]

Also - while on the subject, other than removing the three or four bolts holding the motor to the firewall, how do you disconnect the motor from the linkage - seems to be some debate on how to do this on another thread...

The linkage socket detaches from the motor ball by simply pulling apart. However you must be sure to align the socket and ball so the ball will pull straight out of the socket or else the protrusion on the top of the ball will get hung up inside the socket and they won’t separate.

I think that’s the issue when other folks say they can’t get them apart: they have to be straight.

 

[Mark WV]

OK - Installed a salvage yard motor today - a quick 45 minute job thanks to Ayune's note above (thank you!).

Looking through other threads on the subject, I came across the below photos that show how to hook the linkage on the edge of the hole in the firewall - These are being re-posted below (without permission from Ayune, but they are his photos, so full credit to him!).

Note--- to get the linkage to stick out of the hole this far, you need to manually move the wiper blade upwards with your left hand, while holding the motor in your right hand and guiding the linkage end out of the hole, and hooking the linkage onto the firewall. Once it is hooked on the firewall, it is easy to use a large screwdriver to gently pop the motor arm ball out of the wiper linkage. The linkage will remain in place, and the new motor can easily be popped back in. Once it is popped into the socket, then manually lower the wiper blade to get the motor back into position to bolt it into place.

Since my new motor did not include the small arm that attached to the motor, I had to remove it from the old one and reinstall it on the new one (taking extra care to make sure it was in the exact same orientation as on the old one.) Apparently my new motor was removed when the wipers were not in the "rest" position, so I had to un-do the install, cycle the new motor without the arm installed, and then reinstall the arm in the same position that it came off the old motor.

 

[Mark WV]

And yes, the new motor solved the issue of the blades stopping in the up position. I haven't torn apart the old one to determine the failure, but assume it is a bad electrical contact on the plastic cam based on the quick glance into the gear box attached to the motor

 

[Mark WV]

For what it's worth - here is the failure point in my old wiper motor - note the degraded center contact point on both the disk and on the center electrode.

As this plastic cam is held on by a one way push on retainer, I had to break off the plastic shaft to get to this point. Thus, repairing the old one would not be an easy DIY proposition.

 

[BadReligion]

You can test to see if the problem is within the wiper motor with a simple check:

Unplug the connector at the wiper motor and test for continuity between pins 2 & 3 on the motor. These are the pins that would have the solid blue and blue-with-white-stripe wires going to them. Those two pins should be connected together inside the motor when the wipers are at any position except the parked position. For example, if the wipers are stopped in the middle of the windshield and there is no continuity between pins 2 & 3 then the cam switch inside the motor is bad.

If pins 2 & 3 are connected together whenever the wipers are out of ‘parked’ then it’s a wiring issue elsewhere in the truck.

For reference here’s a diagram looking at the face of the wire’s connector (the connector on the motor is reversed):
View attachment 2161086

Nice! I was just trying to figure out why my wipers would get stuck part way through their cycle. I thought it was the switch assembly (not cheap) until I found this thread. I did the continuity test after stopping the wipers in a spot other than the "park" position or where they are getting stuck and the multimeter showed continuity. However, at the position where they wipers get stuck, there was no continuity so it looks like it is the motor. Not exactly cheap at $180 but cheaper than the switch assembly.

I'll report back when I get it installed but I'm confident this will fix my issue.

 

[BadReligion]

I just wanted to give an update. Issue is resolved! New wiper motor did the trick. Thanks to this thread...it was literally a 5 min fix once I had the new motor. I can't believe I put up with dysfunctional wipers for so long. I guess part of that has to do with the minimal amount of rain we see in Reno.

Thanks @Ayune for your contribution! And @Mark WV for the photos showing how to hook the wiper assembly onto the firewall. That was key for easy removal and reinsertion.

 

[pdot]

Just chiming in to say that the wiper motor replacement fixed my issue as well. Intermittent mode had finally died out completely after sputtering for years. I tried replacing the combo switch first, but same behavior existed.