My windshield wiper arms just started operating really slow. Barely move.

Is this a switch issue or motor issue??

Can the switch relay cause this?

Thanks....

 

When the wipers move slowly is this w/the windshield dry? If so, then do they operate at the proper speed if the windshield is wet. If they are slow to move w/a wet windshield then one thing you can check is the motor. At the motor there will be a plug w/5 wires (6 on a turbo). Blue supplies voltage to the motor. Blue/Red and Blue White turn on the motor. If you jumper a ground to the Blue/Red wire then the wiper should move and most likely at the slow speed. If so, L/W should then make the wipers move at the fast speed when it has a ground. The Black wire in the plug is a constant ground and can be used to jumper the ground to the desired wire.

 

Check the linkage as well, you may have a mechanical issue rather than electrical.

 

Thanks for the info. I'll try jumping the wires to see what happens. To answer your question, the wipers are really slow with windshield dry and wet.

 

Undo the four mounting bolts and pop the motor off the linkage.
Now you've isolated the motor from any mechanical friction and can see what it does.

At the very least, you could also remove the wipers from the mount bosses and drizzle some DeepCreep or something into the pivot area. From a mechanical aspect, the wiper/linkage is about as low rent as you can get and ANY maintenance is a good thing.
Might not be the root issue but sure won't hurt and doesn't take long.

 

Thanks for the info. I did what was recommended and seems like the motor is ok:

-Harness side had 12.15V
-Continuity check on harness side =0
-Ran + wire and (-) from battery to motor side connector (sprayed window with water):
-Got slow speed - looked normal
-Center spade on connector got high speed (a little slower than I remember but it was faster than the first check)

So I'm guessing it has to do something with the switch. Anyone still rebuild these???