Wipers barley working

[chevyfs]

My wipers will not work at all on low and only on high. but when they are working they make 1 or 2 passes then will freeze and stop in the middle of the windscreen. I can either assist them with my hand for them to continue moving to the off position or sometimes switching them on and off repeatedly will cause them to make a couple more passes. Could it be a ground or something? i've noticed that my ground strap running from the motor to the firewall had been destroyed.

 

[AuroraGirl]

My wipers will not work at all on low and only on high. but when they are working they make 1 or 2 passes then will freeze and stop in the middle of the windscreen. I can either assist them with my hand for them to continue moving to the off position or sometimes switching them on and off repeatedly will cause them to make a couple more passes. Could it be a ground or something? i've noticed that my ground strap running from the motor to the firewall had been destroyed.

You should ensure the wiper motor ground itself which is the mounting legs soemwhere it grounds to the cab. Then the cab should be grounded to the engine like you noticed.(New braid can be brought), then the fenders should have a ground to the battery, which the fender bolts to the cab Then the battery should have a ground to the enginne (alt bracket normally)

Then there is also a ground that I have I presume is stock from the frame to the fender/battery

if youre doing the grounds to the engine, one to each head is a good idea.

 

[SirRobyn0]

What Taylor did said. Check the grounds just like she said, if they are all good replace the motor with a new acdelco if you can find one or wia brand motor which are common. There is a terrible problem with bad Reman units for these trucks. New motors only please!

 

[AuroraGirl]

Also I could be mistaken but a loose/worn pivot assembly I believe is able to trick the electronics on the wiper motor into thinking its in park, I havent experienced that But I thought I rememebr reading that somewhere. If you know if your wiper transmission is not loosey goosey or if it could use lubrication etc etc that might not hurt

 

[SirRobyn0]

Also I could be mistaken but a loose/worn pivot assembly I believe is able to trick the electronics on the wiper motor into thinking its in park, I havent experienced that But I thought I rememebr reading that somewhere. If you know if your wiper transmission is not loosey goosey or if it could use lubrication etc etc that might not hurt

That's not right, what can happen though is if the joints are loose / worn severely it can cause the wipers to park to high on the windshield, or not swipe all the way up or fly off the windshield or all of the above.

Yes, it would be a great idea for anyone with a 40 year old truck to pull the wiper linkage out and lubricate it.

I did a step by step write up a while back on it, and linkage issues could slow the wipers down! https://www.gmsquarebody.com/threads/rebuilding-wiper-linkage-how-to.35509/

 

[R Carnella]

Not sure what year you have, but i fought the same problem for a long time on my 90 suburban until I finally replaced the wiper delay module that's mounted under the steering column.
Fixed the problem completely

 

[SirRobyn0]

Not sure what year you have, but i fought the same problem for a long time on my 90 suburban until I finally replaced the wiper delay module that's mounted under the steering column.
Fixed the problem completely

I have a bad habit of assuming it's a non-delay system if it isn't mentioned otherwise, and you have a good point if the OP has a delay system.

 

[emoze]

What Taylor did said. Check the grounds just like she said, if they are all good replace the motor with a new acdelco if you can find one or wia brand motor which are common. There is a terrible problem with bad Reman units for these trucks. New motors only please!

- had/have similar problem - super SLOW - sometimes stop mid glass when using washer - - blows fuse - have older re-man NAPA motor - per other wiper threads here , ordered a NEW motor per advise on other thread - not yet installed

(all grounds are good, so that's not the problem)

(mea ciulpa - re reply here & below - my ipad screws up ability to enter text, so that's why the ghost reply posts - can't even edit-delete the one below from my PC))

 

[Big _Betsy_Red]

A common place to find this ground and a few others is connected to the top of the parking brake assembly. See photo below. There is a ground block with 6 prongs for various wires to plug into. With the age of these trucks, the mounting hardware of the parking break pedal will corrode and reduce the ability to carry the voltage back to the battery. This is why you see the big green wire that connects directly to the negative side of the battery I am using in place of the pedal hardware to make the ground.

 

[SirRobyn0]

- had/have similar problem - super SLOW - sometimes stop mid glass when using washer - - blows fuse - have older re-man NAPA motor - per other wiper threads here , ordered a NEW motor per advise on other thread - not yet installed

(all grounds are good, so that's not the problem)

(mea ciulpa - re reply here & below - my ipad screws up ability to enter text, so that's why the ghost reply posts - can't even edit-delete the one below from my PC))

IDK who use to make remans for NAPA but they are cardones now. Anyhow I'm sure the new motor will fix your problem.

A common place to find this ground and a few others is connected to the top of the parking brake assembly. See photo below. There is a ground block with 6 prongs for various wires to plug into. With the age of these trucks, the mounting hardware of the parking break pedal will corrode and reduce the ability to carry the voltage back to the battery. This is why you see the big green wire that connects directly to the negative side of the battery I am using in place of the pedal hardware to make the ground.

What ground you are talking about? I mean I know what ground your talking about I don't know how it applies to the wipers though. When I talk about the wiper motor ground I'm talking about the ground tab on the motor that is a metal tab which goes from the body of the wiper motor to one of the wiper motor mounting bolts and grounds though the firewall at the wiper bolt. IDK what part of the wiper system is grounded at the one under the dash your talking about. Maybe the delay modules use that spot, but not the wiper motor. Wiper motor is grounded directly to the firewall on the engine side.

 

[R Carnella]

if your grounds check ok, (simple continuity test with a meter) and your truck has one of these, its probably the problem.
I wound up reinstalling my original wiper motor, replaced the delay module and now they work great.
all power for the wiper motor goes through this module regardless of what setting there on. I don't mean to be redundant it just sounds like the exact problem I had.

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[SirRobyn0]

The possibility of delay module has been mentioned twice now I think. Sure would be nice if the OP would let us know if he had delay or not.... I'm just saying that info would help us better help him....

 

[Soundmound]

I've read that the wiper stalk can be part of the issue by limiting the amount of current able to pass through it. Would this be a possible cause also?

 

[WP29P4A]

Too much barley can make the wipers barely work? I feel so much better knowing I'm not the only one that makes typos.

 

[Soundmound]

Too much barley can make the wipers barely work? I feel so much better knowing I'm not the only one that makes typos.

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