I have a 1982 f-100 short flare side. 4.9 l. Windshield wipers will not reset to rest position. The truck is in the restoration process and has not been on the road since 1997. Any suggestions to correct this is appreciated..

 

Do they come to a stop or do they keep going? If they keep going, do you have the wiper blades on it and the windshield in place?

 

Do you mean the wipers just stop immediately (without continuing to the park position) when switched off? If so, the most likely culprit is the park switch inside the wiper gearbox. The switch cycles with every sweep, so it gets a lot of abuse. After removing the wiper motor/gearbox, it's not too hard to disassemble and clean those contacts. I've had to do this a couple of times on my truck.

If that's no help, then the dash switch could be at fault. However, I think the gearbox park switch is much more likely due to how it is in constant motion.

Here's an '82 wiring diagram:

Windshield Wiper/Washer - ???Gary's Garagemahal


Here's a tip to improve access to the wiper motor/gearbox:

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...or-change.html

 

Looking at the wiring diagram, it would be simple to test the gearbox park switch and the dash switch, all done at the plug at the motor.

Run the wipers and then switch them off mid travel. If the wipers happen to stop in the park position, cycle them and try again. You need to duplicate the fault with the dash switch off.

Pull the connector from the motor. On the motor side of the plug (not the harness), look for continuity between the terminals for wire 63 (red) and wire 28 (black with diagonal pink hash marks). If no continuity, the gearbox park switch is bad.

To test the dash switch, make sure it is still in the off position. On the harness side of the connector, check for continuity between wire 28 (black with diagonal pink hash marks) and wire 58 (white). If no continuity, the dash switch (or wire 28, less likely) is bad.
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I think he might be referring to the same problem I have with my wipers, when you turn the wipers off they stop a bit from the bottom of the windshield. Recently mine decided to stop about 2 inches higher on the drivers side, and about 4 inches on the passenger side.

I'll be tuning in to see.

 

One higher than the other all of a sudden points to a bushing in one of the linkage arms in the cowl.

If the original poster does not have any wiper arms on it, just the posts sticking up, they usually will not stop. There is a "dead zone" where the wiper motor parks, and if there is no drag from the wipers on the windshield, the gearbox will just coast on through the dead zone and then keep going.