Sunfire wiper problems fixed!!!

My former problem (seen a few times on other posts): Wiper won't park. They work fine otherwise; high, low, and delay all work as they should. However, when switch is turned off, the wipers return to the up position, go down about 2 inches and stop. Very distracting while driving.

The fix: I removed the whole wiper mechanism--motor, motor bracket and all. Remove the motor and set it aside. The part that caught my attention was a little tab on the bracket and a little catch that is obviously supposed to catch that bracket. The catch apparently had a spring or something on it to push it out, but it didn't. I fashioned a spring to hold the catch out and reassembled the whole thing. If you want to check it before going through the whole process (or after the fix), turn the wipers on low and listen at the bottom of the windshield. After putting my "new" spring on, I can hear a faint click when the wipers reach the bottom of the cycle. That's the catch running over the tab. Now when the switch is turned off, the wiper motor apparently runs backward to open a contact on the circuit board inside the motor housing and the catch catches on the tab as it should and parks the wipers. Before my fix, the wiper motor ran backward to open the contact, but the wipers continued to go with it until the up position.

Thanks to everyone else's posts that gave me ideas on what to check.

thanks for the info, my 95 sunfire has the same problem. i took the motor out the other day, and noticed the black tab on the bracket, and also noticed the metal clip arm thing that would catch the black tab. what spring do i need to fix this? is it something bought at the counter of an autoparts store? or do i have to rig a spring to work? thanks for the help.

I had to rig a spring to work. I found a little black clip laying at the bottom of the space where the motor fits, but never could figure out where it went. I should have taken pictures but didn't think about it till I put it all back together. Just fix a spring that will hold the little catch out. It doesn't need to be too strong (mine is and I can hear it clicking over the tab in a strong rain, inside the car with the radio on) just enough to hold the catch out so it will catch on the tab. Good luck.

ok well after looking at it for a while i just said the heck with it and went up to the junk yard and got the whole wiper motor assembly with arms and everything for $45. the dealership wanted $33 for just the center part and i would have to disassemble everything. now i have an extra wiper motor and assembly that works fine except the park that someone can fix. if anyone wants to buy it off me let me know.