Windshield wipers will not park

[96ltc]

On my 96 town car, the wipers will not park. As far as going back and forth across the windshield, they seem to work perfectly and as they should. But when I turn the knob to off, the wipers just stay at the stand-by position and don't go down.

I have done a search and found this great article (http://www.lincolnsonline.com/tech/00177.html) someone here wrote about working on the wipers.

There are a number of threads about wipers, but here were some that seemed to deal with the same issue:
http://www.lincolnsonline.com/forum/showthread.php?t=45471
http://www.lincolnsonline.com/forum/showthread.php?t=48178

One person said something likeMotor runs but does not Park. Bad Ground. Check ground strap...or
Broken wire in Harness or Connection at Plastic Wiper Cover, Check wiring and connector for damage.if this is the case, where do I check? and is it possible to access the wiring harness for the wiper motor without removing it?

And someone else saidyou do not need to replace the whole motor, just the parts under the pin that attaches to the motor. the metal "output arm" and the plastic "wind latch assembly" under it.

Anybody have a good idea of what direction I need to go in? I'm ready to take it all apart if necessary, but also don't really want to do take everything out if I don't need to or I don't know what I'm looking to replace or repair.

Thanks! :)

[Dereck]

Hi 96ltc

You probably have a problem with the parking cam, there is a tech tip that may be of help to you Check it out here (http://www.lincolnsonline.com/tech/00177.html), I know its for a 90 - 94 Town Car but the 96 is very simular.

Regards

Dereck

[96ltc]

Hi 96ltc

You probably have a problem with the parking cam, there is a tech tip that may be of help to you Check it out here (http://www.lincolnsonline.com/tech/00177.html), I know its for a 90 - 94 Town Car but the 96 is very simular.

Regards

Dereck
Thanks for your response. Yes, I had seen that article and I linked to it in the question. But which part is the parking cam? I can't find it in the diagram or the description.

[Dereck]

Thanks for your response. Yes, I had seen that article and I linked to it in the question. But which part is the parking cam? I can't find it in the diagram or the description.

Hi 96ltc

Sorry dude I don't see links on my computer unless they are highlighted :o

Thsi is the parking cam pictured below Ford call it the wind latch assembly I am not sure if it is available separately anymore or whether you have to buy a new wiper motor if that is your problem.

http://www.lincolnsonline.com/tech/00177_5.gif

Regards

Dereck

[96ltc]

For future reference of other people (reference pictures in this if needed: http://www.lincolnsonline.com/tech/00177.html)
I went ahead and removed the Wiper Motor Cover and cleaned all of the debris out.
Then I removed the linkage retaining clip. I then pulled the horizontal bar that connects the Operating Arm of the motor to the wipers off of the Operating Arm.

I cycled through the different settings with the windshield wiper control in the car, and the operating arm spun around like it was supposed to. Somehow it started to do the motion for parking the wipers. So I reattached the bar that links to the wipers, put the linkage retaining clip back on, and they are working fine now.

Not sure what the problem was or why it started working again, but thankfully I didn't have to replace any parts. Hope this helps someone in the future. It was very easy to do.

And thanks for your speedy responses Dereck.

[Dereck]

And thanks for your speedy responses Dereck.

Hi 96ltc

You just got lucky :)

Did you squirt some oil at it while you were in there?

Regards

Dereck

[96ltc]

Hi 96ltc

You just got lucky :)

Did you squirt some oil at it while you were in there?

Regards

Derecknah. didn't use any oil. I have no idea how come it wasn't working or how it started to work again after I disengaged everything and spun it around.

[Chevyguy]

That parking cam whatever they call it jams up and causes the wipers to park in the "full salute"

This is beacuse the wiper motor is upside down!! FOX Mustangs use the same motor but no parking cam. I had to pull this off a rebuilt one, and I had also used some Taurus sourced motors as well that had em.

Anyhoo the cam kicks in when the motor "parks" by moving backwards and pushes the wipers down where they belong.

Just by parking the wipers repeadetly you probably got it loosened it enough but it will likley jam up again without gresing it