On my 88 Dakota 3.9 V6, I have noticed that I have the multi speed wiper switch but my wiper arms move slow & choppy. Any reason as to why?

 

That can be any of a number of things.

It's not impossible that a almost-30-year-old electric motor is dying; the bushings may be bad; the splines may be worn on the wiper drive shafts; your wiper blades may be dragging too badly.

Time to sort through it and start actually troubleshooting it.

But with what you describe, given the drive shafts are good, you can replace the motor and rebuild the wiper transmission for about an hour or so and a bit under $75 for parts from RockAuto.

RwP

 

Blades are new, I'm going to check out the linkage bushings & may possibly order a wiper motor in. I have to re-connect the passenger side windshield washer fluid nozzle as well.
I have also noticed that my passenger side wiper arm sits down lower on the windshield when I use my wiper blades. Any idea what could be causing that?
Thanks for your information RalphP!

 

That one is easy. The arm is further around on the splined shaft; it usually takes me four or five installs to get my arms back where I want them when I have to take them off.

RwP

 

Thanks! That does make sense, since I did have the windshield replaced earlier this year.

 

I would start by grabbing one of the wiper arms and gently movinging on it normal arc. If it feels solid and the other tried to imitate it pretty closely, you can probably count on the motor having issues. But If one side feels kind of sloppy or loose then that's a simple linkage bushing change. $20 tops at O'Reilly or whatever is close. Doorman make replacement bushings for the linkage in the cowl. Actually just replaced mine this weekend. You will need 2 separate packs. One package has 2 capped bushings, the other pack has 2 open bushings. Pretty simple to change.

 

I need to check that & also reconnect the passenger side windshield washer fluid nozzle. Thanks for the info!