I was warming my truck up this morning and I turned my wipers on to get the bit of snow on my windshield off. The wipers moved a few inches, stopped, and a mechanical buzzing noise is coming from under the wipers. I can move the wipers with my hand and they'll go all the way up and return to the bottom, but do the exact same thing when they move again.

I searched the forum but can't find anything about the wiper problem I'm having.

I also see a lot of discussion about GEM in relation to wipers, but I have no idea what that is.

 

Please include year,body style ect with your post
you will get a better response
thanks

 

You stripped a cog or broke a link bushing . Depends on what you have ,easy fix or hard .

 

did that once. pop the cap off, tighten the nut and you should be OK.

 

Sorry about that. I thought I had it in my signature block, but I guess I don't. I have a 2003 F-150 XLT.

Pop which cap off?

 

on the wiper arm.

 

Oh, that sounds simple. Thanks. I'll try that tomorrow.

 

hell, i even put tin foil under mine when one side was stripped....6 years later it still works LOL.

 

I tried tightening the nut on both sides and it still did the same thing. I took the wipers off and nothing seems to be stripped. All the spines on the arm that hold the wipers are intact, so I don't know what else to look at.

 

You need to get down to the wiper linkage assy. Ck the motor attachment and bushings . That is , if your motor is working . If it is working a splined shaft attachment has stripped or a bushing has broke loose . If motor runs and wipers do not work you have a mechanical problem . If you get acces to the linkage assy the problem should be obvious .

 

The motor works because it will move a few inches and stop. I can hear the motor working when it stops, then when I move the wiper arm just a bit with my hand it will make the full revolution and return back to the bottom.

 

Do the wiper arms move When It "works" ? Or is only the motor running ?

 

They move a few inches when I turn them on then stop. When I move them a little manually they move the rest of the way to the top and all the way back to the bottom.

 

Sounds like a bad motor . Ck for battery voltage and proper ground . If it "tries" to work , but does not . You either have a bad motor or power/ground problem . Switch , relay ,ground ect.