Hey all, as the title states. I have a '98 Dodge Caravan and the wiper system seems to be acting up. It seems to jam when the wiper arms are trying to return to park.

I decided to take the wiper arms off and pop the cowl off to see if the linkages are getting jam. It seems like they are moving freely. I'm not entirely sure if it's some switch or the wiper motor.

Below is a video. (Turn volume a bit down as the jamming sound might be loud)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2luYiEdVkk&


Thanks! Much help appreciated.

 

well to me it sounds like motor. seems like it able to move then seizes and then the internal overload opens the circuit turning off the motor. it could be that the linkage have some binding aswell on the return. i see if possible remove the motor then test it by hand. i think too test motor seperated from linkages.

 

Yeah, I guess I'll have to take the motor out to do a test without the linkage. It seems like a portion of the gear's teeth is worn near the end. If I'm not mistaken from the rotation of the motor,the motor only does one rotation per wiper cycle (ei; Up then park).

Keep the post coming for more suggestions too!

 

Had the same problem with a 96 GC. It's the motor! That's where the park function lives, not the switch.

 

Yeah, just finished replacing the motor. The actual worm gear is fine, the plastic gear wheel was the culprit. The gear was so worn down the worm gear couldn't rotate the wheel. As you can see below in the video, a part of the gear was shaved down and bits of the plastic was all over. Wish I could have gotten the part separately but I guess they sell the unit as whole. it's probably a 10-20 dollar part if the gear wheel itself was sold. Anyway, threw in a new motor and the wiper system works like new!

Well here's a video of the motor disassembled. Along with a few photos.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTXXwHJJ15c&









Thanks everyone for their comments and suggestions!!!