so i live in the seattle area, north of to be exact. and we have had about 12 inches of snow in the past few days and last night the temps got really low. so i woke up this am and was going to hit up costco and my wipers did not work. prior to turning them on, i scraped the ice & snow and the truck had been warmed up for at least 15 min. i can hear the wiper motor turning and click when the wiper should be on but the wipers stay in place. before you ask, the wipers are not frozen onto the windshield and all the ice has been removed. so my question is this. is this a matter of temperatures freezing the wipers, or has my wiper motor broken. it's a 97 flareside 5.4L ext. cab. thanks.

 

I had the same problem last year and let me tell ya.. If you have to change that wiper motor you will be frustrated. (At least I was!)

The black cover over the wiper motor isnt too hard to take off if you can get your wiper arms off. I would recommend taking the caps off the wiper arms, unbolting then using a wiper puller to take both off. Then carefully remove the plastic cover. There is a chance (slim chance) that one of the link arms has come undone from the motor. Or if its anything like mine was, the link arms are seized up.
What I did was remove the wiper arms and cover then unplug the motor and remove the linkages (I just twisted them and they pop off (they are a ball and socket, be careful they have plastic fingers which grab the ball which will break easy if it is really cold)). Then remove the metal holder that holds the motor. What happened with mine was that the links were seized and the part where the arms connect to the tapered shaft was seized. I packed everything with grease and got it all freed up. Reassembly is the reverse of removal but take note that reassembly is wayyyyy more of a pain in the *** than removal.

Note: When you get it apart, if you cant turn the system by hand, then it is seized somewhere (without the blades and arms on)

Best of luck,
Sorry for my run-on story

 

Could also be the linkage has come off the motor and the motor is hitting the linkage as it rotates.

 

The plastic ball joints that connect the wiper transmission wear out and the linkage falls apart from the motor. Dorman sells them. You can get them for about $8.00 on eBay. You will have to remove the wiper transmission from the truck to repair it.

 

Thanks. So what is the part that i would need to search for? Thanks for the help

 

The last time I did this I think they were called them wiper arm bushings

 

thanks for everyones help. it was the bushing. i was told that i should never have had to replace it, but then again, they make the parts so it must be somewhat normal. anyway, now i have to wait for the cowl grommets because i assume it was just clips holding the cowl on and not actual screws/grommets. anywho, thanks for all the help guys.