Hi guys, I replaced the wiper motor in my 2000 Jeep Cherokee. Somewhere along the way I goofed up, and now my windshield wipers only function in the up or 12 o clock position. I tried to pull them off and just run the motors without the arm on it to see if it would re set itself, but that didn’t work. I also thought maybe I had left a bolt loose, so I made sure everything was snug again. Any ideas? It also seems like when the wiper motors stop, the splined pieces on the linkage do not stop in the correct place.

 

There should be power on the "park" wire to the wiper motor when the wiper switch is turned off. There is a switch inside the motor that connects this wire to the motor if the wipers are up and not in the parked position. That's also how the intermittent wipers work - the wiper module just power them long enough to get them moving and then they re-park themselves. So check the fuses and wiring. It's possible your new motor is bad out of the box (the odds are much higher if you bought it from autozone).

 

Did you have to bolt on the arm to the wiper motor ? you could have put it on 180 off that's why it stops in the up position .

 

Yes I did have to unbolt it and re bolt it! I will take a look at it in the morning. The wiper motor itself works fine, just stops the wiper arms sitting straight up haha.

 

I just did this last week! First try my wipers were in the park position and tried to go backwards when I turned them on. Oops! Then I realized I must have messed up the wiper linkage (I did). After repositioning the wiper linkage they worked but parked at 12 o'clock because the only way I could get them to work was to install them in that position. Finally, I pulled the panel off of my other XJ and used it to put the linkage in the proper position. Wish I'd taken a picture.

 

Ah that makes sense. I was thinking they just stopped where ever they were instead of properly parking themselves.