rear wiper motor kills battery

[PeteBrown]

I went to move my car a week ago today and the battery was completely dead, nadda, nothin'. After a night of minimal thought, I came to the conclusion that my stuck rear wiper motor was drawing the whole week after I drove the car in the rain on Sunday.

In the rain storm I tried to use my rear wiper for the first time in at least a year and it stuck in the middle of the window. I presummed it was just a blown fuse but that was not the case.

After pulling the wiper fuse and successfully jumping the car back to life (battery is still alive), I was able to twist the rear wiper motor six or so revolutions to return the blade to its normal position. When I rotated the motor, I noticed it would catch or bind in a certain place. My guess is that the motor is either blown, or has developed corrosion or something to cause the binding.

There's very little in the archives on this. Are these motors rebuildable? Most search results just describe how they removed the whole thing but I'd like to keep it if I can get it to work.

[Paulporsche]

Did you rotate the motor by hand or electrically?

I don't have one, so I'm guessing. Is there some kind of mechanism from the motor to the wiper arm? Is there a relay for this system?

Check the arm/mechanism for binding, and lubricate.

Check to see that the motor shaft is tightly secured to mechanism or wiper arm.

Check to see that the motor and mechanism are bolted in place securely w/ no movement to the motor (other than its rotation).

[PeteBrown]

Thanks. I rotated the motor by hand and that's when I noticed the binding. I'll have to rip it apart this week-end.

[jester911]

Is the rear wiper and the front wipers on the same fuse?

I have a fuse that blows sometimes to the front wipers and I haven't been able to track down the source.

[PeteBrown]

Yes the front and rear wipers are both on a single 25 amp fuse in the front trunk.