So I was on my way down to the local meet and greet gathering of car guys 'n gals, 2 days after running a complete electrical test routine on my cruise control system ('86 560SL). I stopped for a coffee, and turned on the wipers, as it started to sprinkle, and ...oh oh, they moved 2 inches and stopped.

I frigged with the switch, nothing. When I got to the meet, I checked the fuses (all OK), popped the hood...the cruise actuator was hot to the touch and making a 'click click click...' sound. So I unplugged the actuator, checked the wiper motor connection (tight), and tried the wipers again. As before, about 2 inches and stopped. I pushed the arms down (didn't look nice on display), went home later, and then got involved in another project that tied up the garage, plus it rained for days and I didn't get around to looking into the situation until today.

Of course, during all that time I read up on wiper motor and linkage tales here, gradually convincing myself that I'd probably have to pull the dash out to fix this, since the problem 'felt' to me to be mechanical, not electrical.

.....So when I was testing the cruise control, I had unplugged the amplifier and removed it. After, rather than bolt the thing back in, I just shoved it up over the handbrake bracket, easy to take out later. This position was perfect for jambing up the wiper eccentric arm, which had come around and punched a big dent in the cruise amp casing, shorting the circuit board and making the actuator go nuts!
The moral here is...well I'm not sure, but I sure do feel great. (except the cruise still doesn't work, but that's another post)

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1986 560SL
2002 Toyota Camry
1993 Lexus