OK, Click and Clack (the Tappet Brothers) made you wait a week for the reveal, so here it is.

Main symptom: Wipers don't sweep the glass but they are reportedly making the sound they make when working. The wiper arms are independently loose. Cause: The pulley on the right hand drive worked its way off of its shaft.

Secondary note: The sound continues even when the wipers are shut off. Cause: A pre-existing poor contact in the motor brake unrelated to the pulley, except that the brake is most needed when the load to the motor is light.

Week later development: The sound is no longer made and the wiper motor is very hot to the touch. Cause: With the pulley off of its shaft, the arm from the motor crank jammed against the heater box, stalling the motor.

Fix: Pulley and shaft rejoined, and motor brake contact cleaned. For those with a "perfectly good hour" to waste looking at detail and photos, here's a link http://cleanflametrap.com/wiper93.html

--
Art Benstein near Baltimore

Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish, and he will sit in a boat and drink beer all day.

"My first look, the wiper arms are independently free to rotate (shafts and all)..."

"independently" means I can pick up either wiper arm and freely sweep it across the windshield without the other moving.

"First look" means I spent 15 minutes of my lunch break. Nothing was taken apart or tested for current drain beyond the quick swap of the plug to a spare motor.
--
Art Benstein near Baltimore

“He who is not contented with what he has, would not be contented with what he would like to have.” -Socrates

Art,

question(s) are:

1) why does/did owners motor continue to operate when turned off, when yours clearly didn't as stated in your post.

2) did the motor continue to be warm with the car turned off and the key out of the ignition? If so, how was the battery?

3) What did the big plastic gear look like inside the motor once you took it apart.

My guess is that something inside the motor exploded and would not let it turn off even though clearly the wiring was working, thus the "hot" to the touch motor and the ability for the stalks to move freely by hand, though everything was still attached.

Looking forward to pictures and an explanation.

Matt
--
1989 - 245, 1990 - 245, 1991 - 245, and 1993 - 245

Art
How about amp readings of both motors not attached to the wiper arms?
Dan

Hello Art,

Bet the hot motor is a clue. As a partswapping fool, I'd guess that replacement motor might come in handy.

Marty

OK, I'll bite. I'm fairly certain that the wiper arms should not be able to move freely. If the nut fell off the arm under the dash, you could move the arms freely, but that won't explain the motor not shutting off. If, however, the gears in the little transmission got ground up/off, then you could move the arms freely, but the motor could continue to run waiting for the "park" position to be reached.
Never heard of this happening, but just a guess for fun.
I'm sure that you will let us know. :-)