jerky wipers

[1992-6.9]

When ihave my wipers on for a while, they start to get really jerky. Motor runs fine, it's just instead of the blades wiping smoothly, they start to grab really bad and then release and grab again, mostly on the return to park. It gets really annoying. When the windshield is squirted with wiper fluid, it goes away, but once it gets cleaned with water again, the wiper blades do it...any ideas??

 

[rubberfish]

I think the first thing to try, would be replace the blades.
Even newer ones can do that. Toss 'em, and see what happens.
It doesn't sound to me like it's motor or linkage.

 

[yARIC008]

You need new wipers with the teflon blade, that'll keep them from grabbing. When my teflon wears off on mine they start to do that. I've figured out though that if i flip them over i can get another few months out of them as the teflon only wears out on one side of the blade at a time.

 

[1992-6.9]

Where can i get teflon ones? I have tried bosch microedge ones and motorcraft ones with no luck...

 

[yARIC008]

I get mine at costco.

 

[1992-6.9]

Hmmm will definately try that next time I am there...thanks! Will let you all know if it works....anyone have an idea why it does this as they wear out?? Bad design??

 

[rubberfish]

why it does this as they wear out??

I've figured that the rubber must get on the hard side
from sitting out there on the window getting beat on
at 75 mph all the time. That and UV rays won't help none.

 

[Dsl_Dog_Treat]

My friend that is a glass installer states that the average lifespan of wiper blades is about 6 months in this area.
I get a summer pair and a winter pair and replace them each year.
Something to keep in mind is that the harder the wiper blades get, you actually start to scratch the glass and overtime will end up with them pitted/scraped windshields.

 

[1992-6.9]

That's good to know...will definately keep that in mind. Got new wipers and my luck, it rains on the drive home. They wiped about 5 times and the jerky thing started happening again!!

 

[Dsl_Dog_Treat]

Something else to consider,
If you have intermittant wipers, make sure the ground wire for the controller on the little black box is attached and connected good.
Reason for saying this is on my current project, the ground wire had broken away from that little black box and the wipers would act just about as you describe.

 

[1992-6.9]

Do yours kind of stop and jerk?? It's kind of hard to explain. Where abouts would the controller be? Is it on the right side along the glovebox?? That ground was fine... They do the jerk on intermittent, slow and high...

 

[IDIeselman]

The controler should be pluged into the switch itself just follow the wires until you find the box, If that's not the problem pick up a bottle of Rainx and they will work smoothly again for a month or so. If no rainx just use some car wax and you'll see clearly once more.

 

[Dsl_Dog_Treat]

Do yours kind of stop and jerk?? It's kind of hard to explain. Where abouts would the controller be? Is it on the right side along the glovebox?? That ground was fine... They do the jerk on intermittent, slow and high...

Yes they would do what you're explaining but only on high speed mode.
There may be a possibility that the wiper motor itself has become weak and has a few "dead spots" and may be your culprit.
Any chances of a spare wiper motor floating around?
It is not an easy swap but might be an option to try.

The little black box as IDIeselman said is right behind the switch and the ground wire is black in color and should terminate somewhere near the fuse block at a metal dash frame piece.

 

[1992-6.9]

How hard is the motor to replace?? It seems strong enough...why would it do the jerk thing occasionally??