I'm having some really weird issues with my wipers...

Sometimes they work, and sometimes they don't. they're litterally intermittent.
If I leave them turned on, every now and then (every other drive or so) they'll go up, or down once or twice. Sometimes, the fluid washer even shoots, but if it's not, it (washer pump) makes a "click" sound, as if it's not getting sufficent power, kind of like trying to start the car with a low batt...

Also, I can hear the click sound make a pop that comes through my speakers.
On the wiper motor cable, there's what looks to be like a tiny capacitor connecting two of the cables together... leaving the cable itself connected, the capacitor gets hot as all hell, so lately i've been leaving it disconnected. Any idea what that is? Should i try get some pics?

I've checked all of the things that are out in the open, i pulled off the wiper motor case, and everything (as far as i can see) seems fine.. all the cables are secure, none are burned, damaged or anything... what would be the first thing i'd check? It just occured to me that i didn't check the ground in the stereo itself, which i'll do when i get home, but that won't resolve my wiper issue...

I've got a multimeter, though i'm not even sure where to start... I'll assume that there's a bad ground somewhere in the system?

Also, i'll be eventually routing my battery to the back, am i going to need 2x the cable? long one to the starter, and an even longer to the alternator? or can i just ground the negative, and alt to the frame?

Thanks for any replies in advance. I know I'm an idiot with electrical junk, but i'm learning... heh.

 

Maybe a bad ground on the motor itself. My 82 had a metal strap that went from the case to one of the bolts and it broke. You may want to check that.

 

hmm, you know where i'd find the motor ground?

 

Screw a buch of "finding" the ground.

All it is, is a little brass strap, that goes across one of the rubber bushings. What happens is, as the rubber gets old, it shrinks; the pressure holding the strap touching the chinesium motor housing goes away; the chinesium corrodes from the current flowing through the bad connection; and before you know it, it becomes ... like yours.

Screw all that. That's pure unvarnished "get it through the warranty period as cheep as possible and to hell with whatever happens afterwards" BS. Just add a piece of wire between a convenient screw on the motor itself, to a convenient screw on the firewall.

 

Haha.. Easy enough - worked like a charm.