Winshield wiper troubleshooting

[Beau]

So, last night I was driving when it began raining, so of course I turn on my wipers. I noticed they were moving MUCH more slowly than usual, so I turned them off & on a couple of times. The second time I did, they refused to work at all, on any setting. I had to park my car in a bar's parking lot (so it wouldn't get towed) and have someone pick me up.

When I go to pick up my car today, I immediately try the wipers; still no good. Fuse checks out ok, btw. On the way home however, it begins spitting rain, and out of habit I turn on the wipers...they work! At full speed, no less. I leave them on the rest of the way home, just in case, even after it stopped raining.

Once I get home, I fiddle with the wipers a little more, and they seem to be working fine. So, I pull it in the garage to park it, testing the wipers one last time. Uh-oh, they're moving sluggishly again. Turn them off, then back on, and nothing (again).

What the HELL?

Seems like if the motor is bad, it wouldn't have worked at full speed again the next day, would it? Am I looking at a short, or what? Any tips/advice greatly appreciated. I may also be in the market for a used wiper motor if anyone has one.

[DarylJ]

I had a bad bearing in the wiper motor that did exactly that. It will eventually start to howl.

Picked up a used assembly so I didn't even have to take the motor off (not fun, but will probably work with a hand impact) for about $45.

[zedsn]

Hi, wiper box may be faulty but try to make sure that you have a good ground to windshield wiper box and if you are not sure re ground your wiper box. I had a ford truck and the wipers wouldn't work. Turns out my ground wire was bad.