Windshield Wiper Motor acting strange... anyone have this happen to them?

[Achilles99]

When I try to turn on the wipers, the driver's side turns on and stays stuck in the straight-up position. If I cycle it off, and then turn it back on, the blade goes down and then goes back up and stays that way. The passenger side does nothing.

The only way to get the driver's side blade down is to turn off the car, and then turn it back on. The motor then brings the driver's side blade down.

Is this a quick fix? Or possibly a warranty repair?

 

[Tiepilot]

No this is not a quick fix, it's a claim unless you want to fork out $400 for a passenger side wiper motor.

These wiper motors have blade position sensors that indicate the position of the blade to each motor to prevent collisions.
When a motor goes bad it quits sending a signal to the good motor, the good motor tries to operate but can't so it becomes erratic.

The good motor will flail around while the bad motor does nothing, it appears the erratic wiper is the bad one but it's actually the motor doing nothing.

 

[Achilles99]

That's what I was afraid of... oh well, time for a quick trip to see JD and get this covered under warranty. Yet another reason to have the Maxcare warranty... $800 for two wiper motors? Yikes!

 

[RobHook]

Actually there's nothing special about these motors. Mine were acting very strange about a year ago. I removed the motors, disassembled them and cleaned all the extra grease off the sensors. Took maybe an hour. You'll have to cut some silicone sealant to get the sensors out so be sure to seal it back up before putting it back together. This is on a '94. Not sure if the newer cars are any different.

--Rob