1997 jeep cherokee wipers stopped working

This morning, I started my car and turned on my windshield wipers to clear off the water. They stopped midway up the windshield and did not move. As I started driving, I started smelling an electrical burning smell that got worse as I drover further on the interstate. It came through the air vents when I had the fan blowing.



I called my dad, who consulted our trusty mechanic. The mechanic said that a clip on the wiper motor has broken off and that is where the burning smell is coming from.



I’m looking for a second opinion on this, to see if anyone else has gone through the same thing. Thanks.

Did this mechanic actually look at the car? Or was this just a guess over the phone? If no one has inspected the car then you don’t really even have a “first” opinion, so you can’t really get a second here.

Here are your most likely basic options if the wipers stop working: 1) fuse; 2) bad connection at motor plug; 3) motor died; 4) linkage came undone.

It sounds like the mechanic guessed # 4, but that is unlikely to produce any burning smell. #2 & 3 would most likely give some smell. As for #1 - the fuse is supposed to burn out if there’s a problem that might involve any burning.

Anyway - you must get this sorted out as you really don’t want an electrical fire or a possible simple electrical problem turning into a much bigger one. Someone needs to actually inspect the wiper system. These are not that complicated, and the only part that might get a little expensive would be if the motor burned out.

It doesn’t really matter whether this over-the-phone diagnosis is correct or not. The wipers are VERY important, and you have to have them repaired ASAP for safety reasons. Take the vehicle to the mechanic today and let him fix the wipers, regardless of what’s actually wrong with them.

I would suspect the motor got jammed somehow and that caused it to burn up since it couldn’t get back to the Park position. Don’t be surprised if you now need to replace the wiper motor.

Yep. Took it to the shop. Said the motor was completely fried. Gonna need a new one. $300.

I asked what burned up the motor. The mechanic said the bolts that held the motor in place came out. One of them got jammed in the one of the arms of the wipers, thus preventing the wiper blades to move back to the park position. The motor kept running and burned itself out.