Sometimes it works - sometimes it doesn't

[the_tool_man]

Hi all:

When I got my '01 Sport last year, the only thing wrong with it was that the rear wiper wouldn't work. About 2 weeks ago, I pulled out the hatch liner and checked everything out. After pulling it out, and straightening the mounting bracket so the blade lined up right when parked, I put it all back in, and it worked! Then, two days later, it stopped.

Since then, it works about 50% of the time. When it doesn't work, I can hear three faint clicks, about 1 second apart, from the wiper motor/gearbox, but the wiper arm doesn't move. No amount of jiggling or slamming of the rear hatch seems to have any effect. It works, or doesn't, seemingly at random.

I guess I'll break out the voltmeter, and start an electrical diagnosis, but before I do that, I thought I'd ask here if there is some common cause for this issue. Anybody have any ideas?

Thanks in advance,
John.

 

[ThunderB]

When I adjusted the arm of my '98 too far, mine did that. I bent it back slightly and it worked fine after that. The wiper was catching on the bottom of the window. I was bending the arm slightly to try and get full coverage of the rear window.

 

[brockli01]

It is very common for the rear wiper motors to fail or only work intermittantly, this is often caused by the wiper arm being slighly bent and catching on the bottom of the glass causing the motor to fail. Typically replacing the wiper motor and arm will take care of your problem