Wiper Arm Position
 

I noticed the other day that my wipers don't go all the way down when I shut them off. Even with the ignition off they sit about 2 inches from the stopped position. If I turn the wipers on they go all the way down but they don't stop in the down position.. Any idea what this could be?

Maybe a loose nut? I'm not sure if the X is like that but some wiper asssemblies are attached by a nut that sometimes comes loose. Usually there's some kind of cap you have to remove to get to it. Maybe you just need to tighten them.

Could also be the wiper motor... it has stop position switches built into it. When the internal switch gets funky I've seen the wipers operate fully normally, but when you turn them off stop right in the middle of the windshield! If they have normal swipe path but stop up from the bottom, odds are this is what it is...

So what do you do if this happens? A new wiper motor?

I have a feeling it might be the motor - I took the wind screen off last night and all the bolts are tight. It is almost as if I have them turned on and they are waiting for rain - they stop about 2 inches from the buttom and just sit there, if I push the arm they go fully down.. Any have any idea how much a wiper motor is?

Mine was doing exactly the same. I took the linkage off the motor and repositioned by a couple on notches. Havent had a days bother since.

Guess it depends on if the whole swipe path is off or just the "park position".

I have the same problem with my passenger wiper. It just doesn't go all the way down but it operates normally.

If it is just the passengers side then it might just need to be adjusted at the nut where it meets the linkage.

The wipers work fine - it is just the stop position - the drivers one ins about 2 inches from where it should be and the passenger one about 4 inches - very strange, I just noticed it last week

Add me to the list.

I think my "park position" is messed up. The wipers operate fine when continuously wiping, but when they are wiping intermittently, they wipe twice then stop. When they stop, they go all the way down, then back up a few inches. Then after the windshield is completely full of rain, they'll wipe twice again and park in the same spot.

Here's the new park position:

I had to replace the wiper motor on my mothers E39 for that... the park position switch is in the motor. I should have kept the old motor and pulled it apart to see if it was a fixable problem, but we didn't have the time for that and simply threw in the new motor.

This is the same problem I was having. It turned out to be a $20 relay, which was located in the box on the passenger side of the firewall. Give it a shot. I replaced mine almost a year ago and it has been working fine since.