MY OWN DANG FAULT!!!
I'm up in Dorrington Big Trees for the weekend, in the Sierra Mts- Tons of snow!!! I cleared a foot of wet stuff off the hood and windows and went into town 7 miles away for some shear bolts for the sno-blower. While in town, while braking, all 12" of snow from the roof of my FX4 Scab came crashing forward over the windshield. The wipers were on "high" at the time, but there was no way to reach the stalk in time to turn them off. They stopped immediately under the avalanche, and made a weird sound. After clearing the snow, I can hear a sickening high speed whiring/spinning sound when I turn them back on. I obviously overstressed the motor shaft, or set something off kilter. The garage in town is closed, so I came slowly back up the 7 mile hill to the cabin with my head sticking out the window. Yea, it's still snowing; what are dogs thinking when they do that? ;-)
Ford Roadside assistance offered to send a tow to a dealer (closed service/parts dept till Monday) in Sonora, but that would leave me stranded there 'till at least Monday. I just fiddled with the truck a bit; Funny thing is, if I use my hand to nudge the wiper a bit, it re-engages and gives me one clean wipe before it returns to the parked position and starts whiring again. So now I have a thin rope tied to the wiper. When I want to clear the windshield, I quickly turn on the wiper and tug the rope for a quick cleaning. Hopefully tomorrow the storms will give me a break to sneak back down the hill toward home. (The problem seems hidden under the vent cowl; I doubt if I can open it myself and set things right).
FWIW: This is the 6th time I have this truck up here in winter conditions. I can't say enough good things about the 4WD system. This truck is amazing, and has proven itself over and over. I just wish the wipers had a visible "shear pin" like the one I'm about to replace on the sno-blower. Ah, well; life's an adventure. Time to throw another log on the stove!
Larry
not in SF, CA

 

I gotta tell ya, when I lived where it snowed I always thought poorly of those folks who didn't clean the snow off their roofs. I had an Excursion then and ALWAYS cleaned my truck off completely. I had a "Sno-Brum" to do it with.

I had a 4' square sheet of ice come off a truck in front of me only to land squarely on my windshield at 65mph. I didn't wreck but I picked glass out of my face for days...

I'm not bashing you or anything of that sort but I hope you learned your lesson about not cleaning the snow off your roof. Not only is it dangerous to others but to YOU as well...just ask you windshield wiper motor.

 

Thanks, Ken, rub it in! Lesson learned! Look at the title: "Caution, keep deep snow off roof" (Why would I bother posting this advice to others if I hadn't learned by my mistake?)
Larry

 

I feel for you bro but I gotta say - if I saw some dude in a brand new truck (or reasonably close to it anyway) pulling on a string to wipe his windshield I'd friggen (SNIP) myself....lol.Good luck

 

Sorry Larry. Yeah...I figured by your title that you "learned".

 

No apology necessary. Between the busted wiper motor and the snowblower shear pin being busted, I was a bit "testy". Now I'm laughing again. ;-) The only reason I came up here alone was to clear the decks and driveway. I busted the shear bolt on a buried fallen branch the first 10 minutes of snow blowing. Now the decks are cleared; still snowing like mad (4-6 inches per hour), so I'll be here for the night anyway. Beer in the fridge, ribs in the oven, and my wife agreed to drive up 2 1/2 hours to meet me tomorrow in Sonora. Not a bad deal at all, in the overall scheme of things. Later!
Larry

 

Learned that lesson the hard way too. By the way, when you slide her off in the ditch and a tree limb and/or whatever is over the windshield and blocking the wipers - turn the wipers off before trying to figure out what to do next. Those motors do burn themselves out and I don't think it takes very long. One more of those lessons learned the hard way in snow country. And, another problem too - now with interval wipers on everything - don't forget to turn them off when you get home at night. They sure take a beating in the morning when the engine is turned on and they try to swish in frozen ice/slush. Wish Ford could figure that one out and cancel the function when the engine is turned off. Doesn't seem to burn out the motor, but sure takes a toll on the blades.

 

Well, I have to admit I did the same yesterday. I was a bit more fortunate because my wipers were not on and I did no damage. However, the snow pack from the roof came tumbling down blocking my vision. Luckly I was only at the end of my driveway. Skeered the shnip outta me tho... Anyway, great advice to everyone living in the snow zones. I wish I would have read this yesterday! From now on the roof gets cleaned along with the windshield. Lesson learned..