Binding wiper linkage/slow wipers

[Tom Nas]

"Russ Maki" <rinard at execpc.com> wrote:

>I got around to troubleshooting over the weekend and discovered I'd been on
>the wrong track with my voltmeter and jumper wires. The linkage had seized
>up on the driver's side wiper arm shaft --and I do mean SEIZED. I'm
>impressed that the wiper motor managed to push the rig around as long as it
>did. This had to be a long time coming on.
>
>Soooo, I'd sure suggest to those with balky wipers that they make sure the
>mechanical part of the system is working as well as the electrical part.

Yup.

Last year the wipers on my (since departed) '87 80 got noisy. At first it
was only when you switched them on, then it slowly got worse and worse.
First sign that something was badly wrong was the driver's side A-pillar
got scraped by the wiper blade. After a couple of weeks of non-stop
squeaking, the wipers started wiping the driver's side door window also.
I then found a low-mileage car in the local scrapyard which yielded an
excellent play-free mechanism. I greased it well and installed it (which is
a job reminiscent of the '80s Rubik's cube). Worked fine for as long as I
had the car.

Tom