89 Towncar windshield wiper problem.

[Dibly74]

Ok, so heres another problem that i've had since I had the car. The windshield wipers go to far and come over the side of the car and get stuck. This was a problem for the old man I bought it from he just never did anything about it. I move the wiper arms back over and over again on the studs and they work for a few minutes normally them they go right back over the side. Now its raining alot here and I have to have them fixed before I get in a wreck. I justr need to know if its a problem in the motoror in the linkage somewhere. Tomorrow is my olny day I can go to the junk yard for a little while so If anybody could help me out and say exactly what the problem is I would be very happy because its raining alot here and have had a few close calls.

[joedogg]

My vote's for wiper transmission, or linkage rather. Definately grab one of those.

[nailfoot]

The linkage is almost certainly gone. Do the wipers still park okay?

[Dibly74]

Yes the wipers park fine, just about 2 inches above where they should no matter how many times I take the arm off and move it back down. So its not the motor doing it? Could you tell me the part I would need and a picture would be even niceer so i could pick one up tomorrow from the junk yard from a car with the wipers all the way down.

[98TC-Cartier]

You should get the whole mechanism, including the motor. Sounds like something in yours is worn out.

[nailfoot]

I don't remember how it is setup on an 80s Townie. There may be a cover below the windshield protectign the linkage. I suspect your motor is okay, and the linkage is very bad.

If you can remove the wiper motor, you will see the beginning of the linkage, but I don't really know how to proceed with removing it.

[Dibly74]

So I guess there are some kind of bushing where the linkage connects to each other? And the motor would not have any play in it like the window motors when the nylon bushings go bad?

[nailfoot]

Oh, follow 98TC's advice and get the motor, linkage, and arms...heck every part of it you can get to...just to be sure.

The motor may have an issue where it is "lose", but it is more likely the linkage has a bent or broken part. I bet when you start to take it off, it will be obvious where the deformity is.

[gadget73]

The whole transmission is not that expensve. I think mine was about $35. It included both "pivots" where the wiper arm actually attaches to that spline shaft piece, the tie bar between the two pivots, and the rod connecting down to the motor. It has like 4 or 6 small screws to install it. The only remotely annoying part is getting the linkage to pop off the motor and then to pop back on. I had the whole thing done in maybe an hour and a half. Wipers now work perfectly. Mine had slop in the linkage where the connecting rods attach to the "crank" part on the driver's side, and the plastic mounting part on the driver's side had a crack, allowing the pivot shaft to slop around. The wipers constantly popped off the end of the glass.

**edit** apparently the price has gone up a bit. I just checked teamfordparts.com, and they are a whopping $50.54. Might also check some of the sellers here, someone may be able to get a better price on it for you.

[Obiejuankinobie]

Get a hold of galaxyxl68 he is parting out a Towncar 89 or 87

[87 town]

Ok, so heres another problem that i've had since I had the car. The windshield wipers go to far and come over the side of the car and get stuck. This was a problem for the old man I bought it from he just never did anything about it. I move the wiper arms back over and over again on the studs and they work for a few minutes normally them they go right back over the side. Now its raining alot here and I have to have them fixed before I get in a wreck. I justr need to know if its a problem in the motoror in the linkage somewhere. Tomorrow is my olny day I can go to the junk yard for a little while so If anybody could help me out and say exactly what the problem is I would be very happy because its raining alot here and have had a few close calls.

Motor sounds like it is creating movement of the arms, but I think there is a regulator within the motor or maybe the shift arm on the console that may be wacky???
Just a little note here though from an expensive experience I had about 5 years ago. I burnt out a motor and messed up my linkage and then had a new motor put in. Arms were still stressing though and not running back and forth across the window smoothly and would skip and the new motor was making noise from, what seemed to be stress.....What else could it be?????
TURNED OUT that I had put on these "Winter" wiper blades right before this all started that are covered with rubber over the metal parts and they "stand higher" then the standard blades. As a result of this additional height I was stressing the gears and motor. Spent a lot of money before I figured this out. Took the stupid winter blades off and put in standard blades with the lower/regular height and "problem solved".
Moral of the story.....I would stay away from the higher winter blades. This may not be your problem at all, but I know for sure on my 87 they caused me lots of greif. By the way, at first when I put these winter blades on, they seemed fine...

[Dibly74]

Ok, heres an update. When I took my old motor off the arm that spins would come "umclicked" by hand realy easy so I got one from the junk yard and put it on. It works way better now but when on high it still goes over about two inches, not five or six. Does this sound famaliar to anyone. This motor seemed pretty good I guess when I was inspecting it. What is this other part that could be messed up, Could someone send some pictures please. Also, I can't seem to find any slop in any of the parts. How do I go about testing them. I pull on them in every direction any nothing, I guess I will pink up the whole linkage part tomorrow at the junk yard. Any pictures of the part or parts I will actually need would be highly appreciated by tonight.

[gadget73]

Mine I could see the slop in the parts. The bushings moved around and the linkage would twist visibly when the wipers ran. Unfortunately beyond just saying to watch the parts move, I can't really be more specific. If things look like they're moving around in a strange fashion, they probably are.

[87 town]

Ok, heres an update. When I took my old motor off the arm that spins would come "umclicked" by hand realy easy so I got one from the junk yard and put it on. It works way better now but when on high it still goes over about two inches, not five or six. Does this sound famaliar to anyone. This motor seemed pretty good I guess when I was inspecting it. What is this other part that could be messed up, Could someone send some pictures please. Also, I can't seem to find any slop in any of the parts. How do I go about testing them. I pull on them in every direction any nothing, I guess I will pink up the whole linkage part tomorrow at the junk yard. Any pictures of the part or parts I will actually need would be highly appreciated by tonight.

make sure that the arms are set on the gears at the right position where you won't get an over run on the sweep. may have to experiment some. I think going over a few inches is just that you are not positioning the arms on the gears at the correct point, that is, as long as you dont see the arms slipping off the gear.

[Dibly74]

Ok, I replaced the whole linkage assembly today. I got it off the same car the motor came off of. There is less overshoot now. It only goess off by about half an inch when on high. I think im gonna move them down another grove to where they would come down to far. I know the plastic piece will stop it and as long as it dont hit bottom while running and make a clunking noise its ok with me.

[Dibly74]

Well, I moved the arm down about two to three inches below the stop point then picked it up and pushed it over on top of it. I ran them for a while spraying water on them to make them move their fastest. They come about half an inch from the side of the car and don't seem to want to move back like with the old motor did. If it happend again I guess I will just buy the whole linkage new from teamfordparts link Gadget did. Thanks for the help guys, never would have thought the linkage was a problem especailly not having any movement in the parts.

[87 town]

Well, I moved the arm down about two to three inches below the stop point then picked it up and pushed it over on top of it. I ran them for a while spraying water on them to make them move their fastest. They come about half an inch from the side of the car and don't seem to want to move back like with the old motor did. If it happend again I guess I will just buy the whole linkage new from teamfordparts link Gadget did. Thanks for the help guys, never would have thought the linkage was a problem especailly not having any movement in the parts.

If it is just off by 1/2" while on high, maybe you can live with it.
These are just some of the things that make an older car interesting...
Good Luck and keep us posted.

[Dibly74]

Well, I used the web site that gadget gave me and ordered the whole wiper transmission new. Costs $57.00 with shipping. Hopefully this will fix the problem for good and I can have my wipers in their normal spots.

[Dibly74]

Well I got an e-mail today saying the part is obselete and they have to search dealers around the country for the part. They said it will add at least three days to my order. Hopefully it don't rain soon.

[gadget73]

Boo. I knew they were going to be not avaliable eventually. Glad I got mine when I did.

[Dibly74]

Well the new wiper transmission finally came in today. AND IT HAS MORE PLAY THAN THE OLD ONE! I am very depressed right now. I adjusted it farther back than normal and it sometimes touches the side. I guess I can be happy with it like this......

[Tman70]

Does it have those pot metal spline pieces on it? If so, you can drill and tap it for a small allen set screw. I've done it only once, but it worked. No more play...

[gadget73]

Are the splines worn down inside the wiper arm itself? Maybe thats the source of the play. The slop in mine was obvious, the bushings were cracked and the whole linkage could be observed slushing around.

[Dibly74]

I really don't think they are worn. They are actually a pain in the ass to get off to readjust them. I guess I can grab one from the junk yard next time im there.