wipers stopping at 10 and 2 o'clock

[skog]

My girlfriend has a 99 xj sport. the wiper stop at 10 and 2 o'clock and the normal position depending on when you shut them off. if they are going to the left when turned off or if turned of before the they reach the 10 o clock position. they stop at 2 o clock when turned off between the 10 and 2 oclock position when the wiper is moving to the right. and they stop normally when the wiper is to the right of the 2 o clock position and moving right. when you use the washes they work normal by wiping twice after the fluid stops but stop at the 2 o clock position. took it to the dealer they said just turn them off when they are at the normal position.
any idea
skog

[Matthew Currie]

My girlfriend has a 99 xj sport. the wiper stop at 10 and 2 o'clock and the normal position depending on when you shut them off. if they are going to the left when turned off or if turned of before the they reach the 10 o clock position. they stop at 2 o clock when turned off between the 10 and 2 oclock position when the wiper is moving to the right. and they stop normally when the wiper is to the right of the 2 o clock position and moving right. when you use the washes they work normal by wiping twice after the fluid stops but stop at the 2 o clock position. took it to the dealer they said just turn them off when they are at the normal position.
any idea
skog

That dealer is really ambitious and on the ball, isn't he?

My guess is that the contacts for the park circuit in the motor are bad, possibly just warped or scorched, but not totally toasted. This can happen if you've ever turned off the ignition while the wipers were still on and then had the wipers freeze in place. When that happens people often will shut off the wipers, not realizing that the park circuit is still trying to park the wipers as long as the ignition is on.

I don't know how much the motors have changed over the years, but older XJ motors were pretty easy to fix, or at least to diagnose. You can take off the cover plate over the gear box, and on the inside of the plate you'll see a set of electrical wiper contacts that should contact the copper commutators on the face of the big plastic worm gear. Make sure the wipers are not burned out, charred or curled up, and that the commutators are clean. Sometimes the contacts just curl up from the heat, other times they burn out or pit the commutators.

[Eagle]

If this were an old or high mileage XJ I'd start thinking about the linkage bushings, but they shouldn't be worn out yet on a '99.

The wiper motor (or switch) has a PARK circuit. Sounds like the park circuitry has failed, so in essence you have to park them manually. The dealer is wrong in blowing you off. If they're not willing to open the service manual to read how to fix an obvious problem, I shudder to think what they'd do for (or to) you with a serious problem.

If you have a FSM, read up on the wiper motor diagnosis tree. If you don't have a FSM perhaps someone can scan that page for you. (I can't, unfortunately)

I don't know if you're looking at a new switch, or a new motor, or something as simple as a fuse.

[skog]

thanks now i need to find some one with an FSM.

skog

[WI88XJ]

Mine does that only when I use the washer. Wipers come on and do 3 or4 swipes and then they stick at the 10 or 2 o'clock position (about 90% of the time) I just turn them on and then off and then they park fine. It doesn't do it in the intermitten (sp?) wipe or the slow or fast wipe, just when I use the washer. It's been that way for the last couple of years. Not big enough of a problem for me to bother with it.

Steve

[skog]

this happens every time regardless of type of wiper operation. fast, slow, washer, delay all the same.

skog