Windshield wipers operate, but SLOW

Cusser

Yesterday, some water fell down from the sky. Being in Arizona, I Googled that and found out it is called "rain".

Anyway, I switched on the wipers on my '88 B2200, and the wipers operated, but slow in all speeds (intermittent, low, and high). My first guess is there is just some schmutz in the linkage, and most of that linkage is hidden under the cowl, which I know how to remove. So looks like I'll be removing the cowl and trying to physically clean and lube something before it breaks for real.

I want to know if someone here has come across this before, and what their fix was, as I might need to use the wipers next year. Thanks.

OGMB2K

Unlike us here in the south that get an overabundance of leaves wedged inside these cowls, perhaps yours is full of sand .. lol

Check the ground on the motor as well while you're at it...

Axel-Breaker-Earl

If I come out there on vacation......it will rain. We got hammered with a rain storm (long) when we were out there in May '23.......on the worst road in AZ......I-40.

Cusser

All I've done so far is pull the wiper arms off, and the little rubber covers underneath those, and spray in some genuine silicone lube, and then turn wipers on to let the lube work its way down, to see if that helps. Do you have a photo showing what it looks like under the cowl or the wiper rods/wiper motor area??

I left the B2200 up there and drove back this morning in the 2004 Frontier to spend Easter with family, and I'll be driving back up Sunday afternoon.

Then coming back to Phx Monday afternoon, back up there on Wed., then returning Thursday afternoon for weekend funeral service of a neighbor and my high school reunion. April is a busy month !!!

kz6fittycent

Cusser I actually don't know what would cause that mechanically unless the bushings for the linkages are all dried up. I guess it's feasible to do that, just don't know if that'd be enough to make the wipers be slow in all speeds.

You could pull the plug harness off the wiper motor and check the output to that each circuit to see if there's any change when you move the switch around.

Cusser

Cusser All I've done so far is pull the wiper arms off, and the little rubber covers underneath those, and spray in some genuine silicone lube, and then turn wipers on to let the lube work its way down, to see if that helps.

Back today, that silicone lube has seemed to help. I also took apart the electrical connector at the wiper motor and cleaned the contacts there, just for good measure. The wiper blade inserts are pretty new, so maybe have more "grab" too. So I'll leave this as it is, unless it gets worse....

Mrcrowley

Cusser mine run pretty slow and won't move at all really if it'd not running ? Is your pretty much dead if not running

MazdaMitch

I had that happen before and it was just those worn white plastic bushings on the wiper arm assembly under the cowel.

I also took the wiper motor apart and cleaned it and regreased it. It was fine and the motor bushings had plenty of life left. It was indeed the wiper arm assembly. I later replaced it with complete arm assembly from a junkyard that was in better shape

Cusser

Can someone here do a small favor for me? Like wetting the windshield on their B-truck and counting how many wipes/wiper cycles their windshield wipers make in HIGH speed like for 15 seconds or 30 seconds?

Thanks in advance.

kz6fittycent

Cusser You made me think of this old commercial lol.

OldTrucksRock

My B2200 had been sitting under a tree for a while, and had crazy slow wipers at first then after some use they speeded up.

And that's why I bought some Rain-X.

Cusser

My wipers are slow compared to my 2 Frontiers. That's why I'd like to know if someone can set theirs on high speed and count the wipes per a time period for me (like wipes over 15.0 seconds).

Do I have to bribe with a new photo of Mrs. Cusser/Susan Sarandon????

RRSpikes

Cusser High speed - 12 swipes in 15 seconds with wipers on windshield. 15 swipes with wipers off the windshield.

My wiper motor is the original with the armature rewound, commutator cleaned, brushes replaced, new plastic gear and new grease in the gear box. I haven't been able to source new magnets yet. Ground point was relocated from near the battery to the firewall.

Linkage is new OEM.

The new wiper switch circuit board I installed is Intermotor WP101.

Windshield is aftermarket (Safelite), cleaned with 0000 steel wool and ceramic coated.

Wiper blades are Bosch Icon Premium.

Cusser

RRSpikes High speed - 12 swipes in 15 seconds with wipers on windshield. 15 swipes with wipers off the windshield.

OldTrucksRock Just for shiggles I tested mine, 12 wipes in 15 seconds on high speed.

Thank you. I'm up with my B2200 today. On high speed, I measured about 8.5 wipe cycles (up then down) in 15 seconds on high speed. So if you two got 12 wipe cycles (up then down) in 15 seconds on high speed, then my wipers are definitely slow; I'll start investigating in about 3 weeks when I'm here 6 days a week during the long hot Arizona summer.

Cusser Do I have to bribe with a new photo of Mrs. Cusser/Susan Sarandon????

OldTrucksRock

Just for shiggles I tested mine, also 12 wipes in 15 seconds on high speed.

MazdaMitch

I just did mine and it matches the seconds so in other words for every one second on high the wiper arm goes up and down so it would be 30 wipes in 30 seconds or it would be 15 wipes in 15 seconds

Cusser

Like I said, I'll investigate in a few weeks. The wiper motor seems straightforward to remove, guess I'll figure out how to get the linkage out once I remove the cowl. All I have is pages S-12 and S-13 in the service manual.

Thanks to all. I imagine that the linkage will just need cleaning and lubing.

Cusser

Cusser I'll investigate in a few weeks. The wiper motor seems straightforward to remove, guess I'll figure out how to get the linkage out once I remove the cowl. All I have is pages S-12 and S-13 in the service manual.

By chance, does anyone know if removing the wiper linkage needs any specialty tools like my gear pullers?

MazdaMitch

I've never deep dived into this, but now I'm wondering if it's written in any manual about the speed.

Cusser

I haven't checked the voltages at the motor, but will.

MazdaMitch

After having this truck since 1988 I will say that I have noticed the intermittent wipers have sped up they're not as slow or specifically timed as they once were and I have a feeling it's a capacitor that is slowly going bad over time.

If it's not a capacitor it's something else that slowly charges and then dissipates it's losing its luster causing it to have a faster response than it should on intermittent.

MazdaMitch

Cusser no it just unbolts and you can pull the wiper arm assembly out from the cowl area.

Now as far as taking the joints apart I don't know.