Lazy Windshield Wipers??

[patalive]

Need some diagostic help here.
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Yesterday, WashDC finally got some respite from the heat - two hours of downpour. Delightful.
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However, when I turned on my wipers, they moved veeerrry slowly. Swithching up to the higher speed did some good, but still far slower than normal. Fearing them stopping altogether before getting home (a 20 miles run), I used the wipers infrequently, just enough to keep me on the road and not run into the car in front of me durning rush hour traffic. All the time, I am thinking/trying different fixes. Low voltage: nope, new battery; turn off A/C, nope, no change; turn off head lights and A/C, nope, no change; I had adjusted the power mirrors when parking and readjusted them back for driving - they too seemed sluggish. Fiddled with the post switch. No change in wiper speed.
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Tried pulling on the column - wash - Normal very quick swipe, and then only one more cycle at super slow speed.
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Well, about a third of the way home, the wipers appeared to return to normal speed - fortunately because I was moving into lighter traffic and higher speeds. (50 mph).
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So, what I have I got, a wiper motor problem, a ground problem, a wiper arm lubrication problem, what? The A/C and lights worked fine so I don't think I have an overall low voltage condition.
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Your thoughts/suggestions most welcome.
Chuck
83SC



[This message has been edited by patalive (edited 08-11-2001).]

[88911coupe]

I don't know if this will help but I had similar problems when I got my 88 coupe last summer. As ususal, no rain for WEEKS in Dallas so when it did rain wipers very sporadic and slow. I desperately tried rapidly moving the control stalk 15-20 times thru its cycle. They worked perfectly. I think they get gummed up from no use. Can't hurt to try...
Good Luck
Buck Maxey

[patalive]

Sorry for the repost - but I received only one response from the "weekend crowd" - - hoping the "week day bunch" might have some suggestions. Thanks much.
Chuck
83SC

[rstoll]

Rain-X, just in case.

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Robert Stoll
83 SC
83 944

[Zendalar]

Rain X is a good product, but only on side windows. At least in my car when I put it to front window, when I used the wipers, a white film was formed for couple secs on the window.

[FRED/LI]

I don't know about an 83 for sure but on the 84 I had, the wiper relay went and caused similar problems. It's behind the speedometer. It particularly caused problems with the itermittent wiper function.

[joesplace62]

Had the same problem with mine also. Turned out to be corrosion on the fuse. Make sure you get the correct fuse, a PO had done a bit of wire switching into the fuse block and the fuse running the wipers wasn't the one labeled as such. Good Luck, Marty

[roGERK]

You can "access" the wiper linkage from behind the clock and if you have a centrally mounted speaker on the dash, from beneath the speaker (after you've removed the speaker) and/or (a real swine this) from the beneath the dash.

Otherwise, you'll have to get at it from behind the heater plenum chamber in the front luggage compartment. Remove the black intake grill to remove the big box in the middle.

BEWARE! I have a '73, you have an '83, and the heating/ventillation system changed during that time. Use your common sense and a flashlight to work out your best attack plan.

When you can access (hah!) the linkage use plenty of WD40 followed by light oil, followed by general purpose grease on the various moving points - this is NOT a job you want to be repeat too often, or you will torch your car in a fit of rage.

You can also take off the windscreen wipers and squirt WD40 down into the spindles.

Its worth trying all this after you've checked the obvious stuff like wiring/fuse etc for corrosion. After all, the lubricants applied back in 1983 have had nearly 18 years to dry out!

Good luck to you - let us know what what you discover.

- roGER

[patalive]

Thanks everyone for the responses.
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As it turns out, my alternator was crapping out. Only putting out 9.6 volts! I should have picked up the clues - power windows slowing down, power mirrors slowing down, I didn't notice it at the time, but the a/c blower blowing less air, - - and then of course, the lazy wipers. - -
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Well, several days after the orgininal post, the starter started slowing down - engine didn't snap over and fire immediately. - - then it wouldn't start at all - symptoms of a dead battery, dead starter or ground strap - except the batter is only 40 days old.
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New alternator cured all the problems and symptoms. All systems go.
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BTW - in only 6 days, this post dropped down to the 7th pages of postings! Indicates how popular this forum really is!
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Thanks again.
Chuck
83SC

[RWebb]

who else has slow windshield wipers & what fixed the problem?

[c2kid]

had a similar problem on a customers 76. the linkage had seized where the drive shaft (spindle) for the blades had frozen to the threaded tubes on the linkage frame. btw, there's 2 10mm bolts that hold the whole assembly in accesable thru the clock hole. it's hard to lube as there's a seal at the top. I just soaked it in breakaway with good result. cheers, geoff