M.B.Doc: Mission accomplished, and, MANY THANKS !!!
One bolt holding the bellcrank pivot must have fallen out(the one closest to the front of the car), leaving all the stress on the aft bolt. What I found was the ear sheared off at the aft bolt hole and the bellcrank pivot floating in midair. I fabricated two notched washers to retain the existing bellcrank pivot so I didn't have to deal with trying to introduce a new part into that mechanical mess. How would one get to the actuator location if trouble ever developed there?
There is a relay? flasher? sitting under the transfer arm leading to the wiper actuator mechanism. It must have been hit during the last few cycles before failure. Does this thing have anything to do with the cruise control? My cruise control was knocked out of commission as I was driving along, prior to the wiper failure. Also, I have a 8" black insulated wire that is grounded but I don't know where it came from. The wire can be seen in the area in front of the hood release lever, near the footbrake arm.
A little bit of possible wisdom to share - my Dad always stressed to me that a piece of machinery usually gives a warning before it fails. Not always, and not necessarily a major announcement, but a warning, nonetheless. A drop of fluid, a noise, a smell, heat etc. ... Well, altho I couldn't decipher it as a warning - the wipers were parking BELOW the windshield/body line when I took posession of the car. The dealer told me that I would probably have to take the wiper arms off and remount them to re-position them. Sounded plausible to me. What the "wrong parking position" was telling us was that the bell crank pivot was wandering aimlessly during its fateful journey to failure. Hopefully this will be of help to some of you. It is NO FUN working under there. Any time you have the instrument cluster out you may want to check those bolts.
Thanks, again to M.B.Doc and those of you who took the trouble to share your views on my plight. I am still wondering how to troubleshoot the CruiseControl problem. Worked fine at 75 mph and it just decided to quit and has not shown up for work ever since.
