I have a 1996 Sunfire.Last winter, my boyfriend was scraping ice off of the windshield so he could take my car to work. and I have no idea what he did to them, but after that, when you shut them off after using them, they stop in the upright position, so they‘re just hanging out in the middle of the windshield. They work fine, but they just stop in the wrong place. Does anyone know why they‘re doing this and how to fix them?Any ideas are appreciated. Thanks!!
Sounds like what happened when he cleaned the ice off the window was pulled the wipers up and moved the gears or at least the stop. If they travel all the way, then most likely its where the stop is set at.
You're blaming your boyfriend for something he did not cause. My Grand Prix does the same thing every time there is an ice storm. On GM vehicles there is a metal piece about 3/8thx3/4th inch in size that is mounted on the wiper assembly that is supposed to move and is spring loaded. It is what catches on the tab to activate the spring loaded park mechanism. When the metal piece is frozen from rain freezing or lack of lubrication, it does not catch on the tab to park the blades and when the motor shuts off they will be in the upright position. I've sprayed mine down with penetrating oil and worked the metal piece back and forth until it was free again. Coat the complete metal piece with a light grease and if you are lucky it won't happen again for a couple of years. You will need to remove the wiper arms, the cowl under the arms and the plastic cover on the top of the wiper assembly to gain access to the metal piece which is frozen. Sometimes the tab needs to be repositioned if it was bent. Any dealer mechanic will probably be aware of this design flaw. You don't need to buy anything, just pay 1 to 1.5 hours labor.
There is a park switch and lever in the wiper motor gear housing which controls where the wipers stop. Your boyfriend might have forced the wiper arms and damaged the park switch control lever. I suggest you replace the wiper motor assembly.
