wipers up and quit !!!!!!

in a rain storm and the wipers of my 1998 just died, (front wipers).
It doesn't appear to be electrical as it sounds like the wiper motor is still operating ,both both wipres fail to operate. Got the feeling its a problem with the linkage between the mottor and the blade assembly, unsure how to proceed and can't figure out how to access motor or assembly - not interested in trial by error method, because after all the error could prove costly. HELP!!!

[Gilly]

Sounds like the nut loosened up that holds the linkage to the motor shaft.
The black heater intake panel needs to be removed, it's kind of hard to do it.

Gilly

Thanks for the reply ...I'm pretty handy and would like to give it a shot ... could you provide me with details as to how I can acess the bolt, Thanks

[Gilly]

It's a real bear, I'l tell ya that. Sometimes you want/need the hood up in the vertical position, sometimes you want it in the normal open position. Harder to get back on correctly than to take off.
Open the hood and pull the rubber strip off back on the front of the panel. Remove all the stainless steel retainer clips (that the rubber channel was hiding. Be careful, they have real sharp barbs on them that help hold the rubber strip in place). Squeeze the black tabs that hold the washer jets to the panel.
Look on each side in the "D" shaped holes and you'll see a 10mm plastic nut way down in there, remove those. I think it's only 2, make sure there isn't a 3rd one though. Sometimes the D shaped holes have a foam-rubber insert inside, just pull this out by hand to get to the nuts. What I recommend doing now is mixing a little dish soap into water and put into an empty spray bottle (available at home and garden centers) and spray this onto the bottom of the windshield area. You need to simulataneously (sp?) pick up on the front edge of the panel while sliding the panel towards the rear (like you're trying to slide it up the windshild. There are about 5 long thin "fingers" that engage into the plastic intake plenum. It's a real puzzle, especially putting it back together again. Like I said you'll find yourself repositioning the hood quite a bit. The only advice I can give on reinstalling it is if you have a long thin screwdriver you can use that to try getting the long thin fingers put back where they belong. use lots of the soapy water to reinstall it also. Also when reinstalling make sure you have the washer nozzles and hoses someplace where you can get to them, not down in the bottom of the plenum. The most frustrating part is getting all of those 5 or so fingers started back into their slots. You'll get one reinstalled, then another, then another, oh shoot, the first one came out, and so forth. The wiper repair will seem easy, just use a little Red Loctite and torque it back up.

Gilly