Wiper burning smell
 

My wife is driving my car (and is in Atlanta) and in heavy rain the wipers quit working and she noticed a burning smell (and saw some smoke).

My first guess would be the wiper motor, but I just replaced the motor several months ago and have had no problems since then. The only problem I have had is a non-functioning wiper delay (which I assumed was due to a faulty combination relay).

I have searched the forum, but not seen this problem.

Does anyone have any suggestions??

Thanks!

Was the burning smell/ smoke inside the car or from under the hood??

The smell was inside and out and the smoke was from under the hood (near the windshield).

Sounds like your new wiper motor is overloaded. maybe due to siezed wiper arm/pivot. you will need to remove motor and then check wiper sweep by hand, should be smooth with no tight spots if you feel resistance you will need to replace arm/pivot. Why was the motor replaced??

Since my wife was out of town when this happened, I had no choice but to have her take it into the dealer to be repaired. Apparently the problem with the first wiper motor (and the new one) was the wiper gearing mechanism. It was putting too much strain on the motor and causing it to overheat. Both parts were given back to me and I will check to see if the motor is covered under warranty and whether I can get my money back or at least a new motor that I can turn around and sell.

An expensive lesson, but next time I will look more into the cause instead of just fixing the symptom.

Thank goodness a fire did not occur, or a crash result from not being able to see out of the glass.

Was the "new" motor replaced my a shop initially?