Windshield Wipers Randomly failing

Info: 2000 Tundra SRT AC.

My wipers have never really worked great (lower speed than expected). I thought that it was a worn/failing motor so I replaced it about a year ago. The old motor and new motor generally work about the same so there wasn't really a change there. I don't drive the truck that much (bought it 3 years ago and put 3K on the clock).

My wife drove it a week ago and said the wipers died on her on her way home from work. When she got in the house, I went out and started the truck and the wipers were working about as good as they normally do. I drove it once with no issue but this morning, my wife was driving again and the wipers died. She brought it home for another car we have and the wipers were in fact, not working. I checked/changed the fuse and they still weren't working.

I let the car sit for about an hour while I searched the internet. I went back out to the truck and the wipers are working again.

Thoughts?

 

Do you live in the salt/rust belt?

Have you ever replaced the windshield?

Did you check the wiper linkage to ensure all joints are moving freely? (this requires removing the cowl, which ... I'd probably avoid unless you have backup fasteners... but it's a great time to fix the infamous cowl fastener leak!)

I'm curious if the stalk could be going bad. You'd need to look at the EWDs linked near the top of this thread to review whether or not there's a relay on the wiper circuit. I'm not familiar with that, so I won't comment on it.

 

No to the salt/rust belt and no to the windshield. I didn't check the wiper transmission today but I did (and a mechanic did) check it when I replaced the motor a year ago. I did read about resistance in the wiper transmission burning out the motor. I'm not an expert but I would have to assume that wouldn't make the wipers intermittently stop working and then start working again.

I will check out the thread and maybe the stalk is what it is.

 

Right - Intermittent suggests electrical/wiring. Unless there's a thermal shutoff in the motor, which kicks in if it encounters resistance. Thermal protection is built into a lot of motors built in the last couple decades.

The question is: Where in the circuit is it borked?

It's not unheard of for leaks via the driver's side of windshield and even potentially the A-pillar to lead to water getting into the integration relay (aka 'dash fuse box) and causing a corroded green and copper mess. That would cause it, I'm guessing. But if there's nothing else acting haywire in the truck, I'm more keen to blame an issue within the stalk itself.

My next step, if I were you, would be to replace the stalk with an OEM part, and avoid buying it brand-new on fleaBay or scAmazon or WallyWorld's site, you're liable to get a counterfeit part. It's probably going to be spendy, north of $125-200 but I may be wrong. IIRC, the stalk is on the dash side of the clockspring, so hopefully install is only as difficult as removing the column plastics, popping out a couple screws, plug-and-play, then button up again. If it's on the airbag side of the clockspring ... then there's also a chance the clockspring is bad.

I'm not usually one for throwing parts at stuff. This is one of those times when I'd just pony up for the new stalk to rule it out, and know if that's NOT the problem, I'll at least get another 15-20yrs out of the new part, and count my blessings, and potentially sell the old part used on fleaBay for a couple Hamiltons. or something to recoup some expense.

 

There are no other issues (electrical) with the truck. I don't have an issue ponying up dough for real parts, especially if it will fix it. My wipers sucked before the issue and based on how little I drive it, then factoring how rarely it is raining when I do, it could have been failing for years and I simply wouldn't have known.

 

Seems that my motor died after a years use and the wiper transmission is also toast. If I were a betting man, the issues with the transmission stressed the motor and killed it. Thank you for the replies.

 

I'd suspect you're right on the xmission.

If you didn't buy OEM parts before, I'd consider it on the next go-round. It's something we see pretty often on here, you spend 1/3 as much on non-OEM, then replace it 5x more often, or spend 3x as much on OEM and get another 10-15 years out of it.

Not always the case, but often the case.

 

I did order OEM this time. Appreciate the help.