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      Home / Symptoms / Windshield Wipers Dont Work
      Four common causes for bad windshield wipers in a vehicle and their related parts.
      If you are short on time and want to fast-track the process to professional help, clickYes

      Are Your Windshield Wipers Not Working?

      The windshield wipers aren't working because the wiper motor is damaged. Alternatively, this might happen if the wiper transmission, control module, or switch gets internally damaged.

      To avoid this, pay attention to any strange behaviors from your windscreen wipers. If they're not clearing the windshield properly, making weird noises, or getting stuck, it's time to take action. Once you know the problem, don't hesitate to take your car to your trusted auto shop. 

      Watch out: Your car's windshield wipers are essential for keeping your windshield clear when it's raining or snowing. If they're not working correctly, it's like driving with impaired vision, and that's not safe at all!

      Let's Get To The Bottom Of It!

      Are the wipers creating streaks on the window or shuddering when working?

      The window wiper blades are made of a metal frame on top of a rubber blade. The rubber blade wears out as you use the wipers; it becomes stiff and may crack or break apart. When the rubber in the wiper blade gets stiff, the wipers won't move smoothly across the windshield. Instead, they will shake or shudder, sometimes even making loud noises at that. If this continues, the rubber blade might fall apart, leading to streaks on your windshield, and the wipers won't be able to clean properly.

      Is the wiper not working regardless of its speed setting?

      The wiper motor is an electric motor that commands the windshield wipers. It uses a gear reduction system to slow down the motor according to the speed setting. Over time, the electric motor eventually wears out. At a certain point, it stops working altogether, and as a result, the windshield wipers won't move at any speed, making them inoperable.

      Are the wipers doing jerky back-and-forth movements against the windscreen and loud clunking noises?

      The wiper motor has its own transmission system. The transmission has arms and odd-shaped mechanisms. When the wiper motor rotates in a circular pattern, the transmission makes the wiper arms move back and forth across the front windshield. Over time, the windshield wiper transmission wears out. Then, the arms can detach and start making clunking sounds as the wiper motor rotates them. It's like they're drumming around instead of moving as smoothly as they should.

      Is there only one windshield wiper working?

      The wiper arms are connected to the wiper through a special metal pin. The knurls on the pin and arm work together to keep the arm in the correct position and timing. If the pin holding the wiper arm is loose, the arm can slip and degrade the knurls. The wiper stud is made of steel, while the wiper arm is made of aluminum. Since aluminum is softer than steel, the wiper arm damages more quickly than the metal pin. This might happen faster with one of the wipers, making it stop moving and stay in one place while the other works normally.

      Are the wipers still running after you set them to stop?

      The wiper control module is like a small electronic brain controlling the different speeds of your windshield wipers and the pause between swipes. Since it's an electronic part, it can eventually wear out or develop internal issues. It might experience a short or an open circuit when it wears out. When the module shorts, it means there's a wiring problem, and as a result, the wipers may keep running even after you turn the wiper switch off. It's like the module gets confused and doesn't respond correctly, causing the wipers to keep going when they shouldn't.

      Are the wipers only working at one speed?

      The wiper switch is where you set the speed of your wipers. The switch has tiny electrical contacts under the hood, which can wear out over time. At this point, the switch can start acting up and cause issues. A common issue from this is that only certain speeds of the windshield wipers might work, while other speeds won't respond properly. It's like the switch gets a bit tired and doesn't work as smoothly as it used to.

      The most common causes for a vehicle’s windshield wipers not working

      The most common causes for the car’s windshield wipers not working:

      • Worn Wiper Blades: The wiper blades are the things actually rubbing on the windshield and scraping water away from it. These blades need to be changed after a while otherwise they can get noisy, stop working, and even damage the windshield. If they wear out excessively the wipers might not work.

      • Faulty Wiper Transmission: The wiper transmission is a module that receives the information that the driver wants to activate the wipers and passes it on to the wiper motor, activating the wiper blades. The transmission works considering the speed at which the driver wants the wiper blades to move. However, if the transmission is faulty, this communication between the driver and wiper blades might fail, making the wipers not work.

      • Faulty Wiper Motor: This wiper motor is what actually draws power from the vehicle’s electrical system to make the wiper blades move around the windshield. However, if the motor is faulty, it might become electrically unstable, resulting in no power to move the wiper blades.

      • Detached Wiper Arm: The wiper arm is what holds the wiper blades, which are the things that rub against the windshield, removing whatever is on it. If the wiper arm is faulty or detached, it won’t be able to wave the wiper blades around, resulting in unresponsive wipers.

      • Faulty Wiper Control Module: The wiper control module is where the wiper system’s “brains” are. The module is common on vehicles with automatic wipers, using sensors to understand if it’s raining outside, and if it is, how intense. Then, the module prompts the wipers to clean efficiently the windshield. However, if the wiper control module is faulty, this process doesn’t happen, resulting in malfunctioning wipers.

      • Faulty Wiper Switch: The wiper switch is the circuit that actually “activates” when you flip the wiper button to engage it. If the switch is faulty, no matter how much you try to engage the wipers, they won’t get any signal.

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      Frequently Asked Questions

      • Are the wipers creating streaks on the window or shuddering when working?

        The window wiper blades are made of a metal frame on top of a rubber blade. The rubber blade wears out as you use the wipers; it becomes stiff and may crack or break apart. When the rubber in the wiper blade gets stiff, the wipers won't move smoothly across the windshield. Instead, they will shake or shudder, sometimes even making loud noises at that. If this continues, the rubber blade might fall apart, leading to streaks on your windshield, and the wipers won't be able to clean properly.

      • Is the wiper not working regardless of its speed setting?

      • Are the wipers doing jerky back-and-forth movements against the windscreen and loud clunking noises?

      • Is there only one windshield wiper working?

      • Are the wipers still running after you set them to stop?

      • Are the wipers only working at one speed?

      Typical fixes to address the cause(s)

      These are typical processes and repair services that fix a check engine light issue

      The most common cause: Faulty wiper motor

      The most common reason for a car’s windshield wipers not working is due to a faulty wiper motor. The wiper motor is the “muscle” in the wiper system that actually draws force (electricity) from charging components like the battery or alternator to make the wiper blades move around the windshield. The motor is exactly a motor, so imagine a car running without an engine; it doesn’t work, correct? The same goes for the wipers, if they don’t have a working motor, they won’t work.

      • Symptoms it causes: Apart from the wipers not working you might notice clicking sounds, wipers working intermittently, etc.

      • Medium risk of priority: The windshield wipers are essential for your vision when driving under harsh weather. You’ll be at high risk of driving into places you can’t see clearly if you go around a heavy storm with unresponsive windshield wipers.

      How exactly does the wiper motor go faulty?

      The wiper motor is made to last for much of a vehicle’s lifetime. However, as with any other car component, it can wear out over time. Additionally, this component might also suffer from electrical issues related to the battery, alternator, wiring, drive belt, etc. Also, physical stress like driving through bumpy roads constantly or getting into an accident can result in enough impact to wear out the motor.

      Go safe: Ask for a mechanic to inspect your vehicle’s wiper system to investigate if the wiper motor is faulty due to surrounding components and if there’s further damage to check out. Many shops do transparent vehicle inspections and lay out your options after investigating your vehicle’s conditions.

      What’s a vehicle inspection? It’s “detective work” on your vehicle, checking its systems to see if anything prevents the car from working as expected. In this case, mechanics examine different parts of your vehicle to track if anything is causing the wiper motor to wear out. They’ll also check the condition of components during their inspection, noting which are causing the problem and which got affected by it, recommending to replace them in order of priority.

      Transparency example in a faulty wiper motor service

      A wiper system inspection is the most transparent process to understand why your vehicle’s wiper motor is faulty. This is because many components surrounding the wiper motor, wiper transmission, and wiper switch can have a say in the issue, indicating the real culprits that caused it all.

      Let’s read an example of how this kind of inspection helps to service a faulty wiper motor.

      A customer brought their vehicle in because the windshield wipers were not working. So, the technician took the car for a test drive and confirmed the malfunctioning of the wipers.

      During the vehicle health inspection, the technician found no cause for the wiper problem. To further diagnose the issue, the customer authorized additional diagnostics.

      Firstly, the technician checked the wiper fuses to see if they were blown, but they had good power and were working fine. Next, the technician referred to the shop manual containing wiring diagrams to understand the wiper system better.

      To access the wiper motor for further testing, the technician went under the front cowl of the vehicle. The technician verified the power and ground of the wiper motor using a digital voltmeter and back-probing. Strangely, despite having power and ground, the wiper motor was still not functioning, indicating internal damage, so it needed to be replaced.

      Bad Motor

      In this case, the mechanic put the “Immediate Action” tag on the wiper motor.