wipers slow down then stop

Hey--

The wipers on my 97 work fine for about 45 minutes. Then they slow down for a few cycles before stopping completely. If the Jeep sits for an hour or so they go back on and the same thing repeats. Any thoughts?

It doesn't appear to be an electrical thing because nothing else if affected.

Thank God for Rainex!

i dont have that problem but on my 94 they run real slow. and that is at fast speed any other speed and they dont work.

Now when I put them on intermittant they go fast. Any suggestions?

grounding issue maybe?

intermittent control box on 97?

where is the box for the intermittant control on a 97? can it be bypassed?

Re: intermittent control box on 97?

Jeff C. said:

where is the box for the intermittant control on a 97? can it be bypassed?

Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure my 93 has a module underneath the lower part of the dash with a plug that goes into it. My plug came loose one day and it was being real slow then they stopped working. I would check that then check your grounds and maybe pull the linkage and look through it.

There is also a connection up by the motor under the fresh air vent...
heres a link that shows some pics of the motor and the plug up near the wiper motor.
http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=268354

On the earlier ones (e.g. on 87. 93 and 95) you can bypass the intermittent control. You can remove it and just plug the two connectors of the harness together. It's advised not to use the intermittent setting on the switch when you do this. But unfortunately, if I read my brand spanking new 99 FSM correctly, the intermittent control on the later ones is built into the switch assembly.

Have you opened up the motor yet? I have had problems with motors going dry and bearings seizing or wearing out, and if that happens the motor could be heating up and either binding internally or overloading circuits somewhere else.

Is this intermittent controler the black box behind the lower dash panel on the drivers side. I ask because my wipers only go slow regardless of what position I have the wipers on. Mine also will not auto return to the down position when I turn the wipers off. Is it possible for this device to stop working or just a case of dirty connections, or maybe even hooked up wrong? The column was replaced by the PO and judge by some of his other handywork, I wouldn't put it past him to screw this up too.

Thanks

Pat

Phager said:

Is this intermittent controler the black box behind the lower dash panel on the drivers side. I ask because my wipers only go slow regardless of what position I have the wipers on. Mine also will not auto return to the down position when I turn the wipers off. Is it possible for this device to stop working or just a case of dirty connections, or maybe even hooked up wrong? The column was replaced by the PO and judge by some of his other handywork, I wouldn't put it past him to screw this up too.

Thanks

Pat

Click to expand...

The intermettent controller on the pre-97 is a little black box stuck to the bottom edge of the dash with velcro. You will see that its connectors are a male-female matched pair, so that you can simply plug the wires together without the controller.

If your wipers don't park, it's almost certainly a motor problem. It may or may not be fixable. In the motor itself, on the face of the big crown gear, is an armature, with wiper contacts in the case contacting it. When the ignition is on, there is a live connection regardless of the position of the switch or the condition of the controller, through a pair of these contacts, which will run the motor to the park position, where the armature opens the contact and the motor stops. The mechanism is quite simple. What usually happens is that in bad weather the wipers freeze in a position other than parked, and if you don't then immediately shut off the engine, the wiper contacts in the park circuit will burn out. Sometimes it melts the ends off, and sometimes you get lucky and the wiper contact just sort of curls up and loses contact or scorches the surface of the armature.

Before going too deep, you should get a test light or a meter, and check the plug at the motor. With ignition on and wiper switch off, one of the terminals should be 12 volts + all the time (you don't need the diagram - just probe for the live one). That's the park circuit. Now switch the wiper switch to low, and another one should go on (park circuit will not go off). Switch to high, and that one should go off, and another go on.

If the wipers only go slowly, it may also just be a dry bearing or a worn out motor. It sounds as if you need to open it up and give it some TLC. Check the condition of the park armature and contact wipers, and get some grease into the output bearing of the motor.

edited because using word "wiper" for two different things.