[dforty]

While clearing two week's of accumulated snow and ice from my 2000 Taurus, I think I detached whatever links the wiper motor to the front wipers. The motor runs but the wipers won't move. Any suggestions for fix? My regular mechanic will not be available for a few days and we have wet weather coming.

 

[steelstr45]

It's probably more likely the wiper arms got stripped from trying to lift the snow. If you remove the wiper arms (one bolt each and some 'pushing while pulling' they pop right off), see if the little cogs underneath move.

If they do, the arms probably got stripped (they're made of a softer material on purpose so they're the thing that strips first).

Sometimes you can get it to work again by cleaning all the metal debris from the gear underneath.

If the gears under the arm don't turn with the motor, then you need to take the cowl off where the wiper motor is and see what's going on with the linkages.

 

[sheila]

On 99s, the nuts holding the wiper arms to their respective posts are 15mm. Sometimes they can loosen. If they still turn with the arms removed, you can try to resnug, but i usually slip a thin lock washer under the nut before tightening. Others have used blue loc-tite with some success. If the stud posts dont move with the arms removed and wipers activated, time to look at the linkage and motor under the cowling as stated above. I just finished earlier today replacing a broken white linkage bushing on an 04 pontiac grand am. If this turns out to be your issue, arm linkage bushings are available in assortment packs in the Help! section of most parts stores.

 

[Taurus2001]

I had the same problem on my driver side wiper the other day. I took off the plastic cap and the nut was completely loose. Wouldn't you know it I couldn't find a 15mm socket anywhere in three different sets, all were missing, so I had to pick one up at the hardware store. I tighted it down and good to go. I was worried that I had stripped the gears or something because of trying to run them when ice has built up over the years. The wiper was broken from hitting the passenger side wiper arm so I had to replace that. An easy fix that only cost a few dollars. I was happy. If it happens again, I'm going to use some blue loctite in case I have to replace the wiper arm someday. If I used red loctite I'm sure I'd never get it off.