Wipers are slow

My windscreen wipers sometimes take ages to start wiping and then they seem lethargic.

What can cause this and where should I start fixing the problem??

David

Clean and check your earths, and make sure that the arms are tight onto the spindles.

Oh right, potentially that simple. Thanks

D

Why start with replacing the motor and spindles, when it might be something really simple?
Also try lifting the blades off the screen and see if that makes any difference to the speed.

Thanks. I did Ponder the Blade drag and it does make a difference. But that must be indicative of something more surely.

If you don't have a good electrickery circuit, which needs a clean feed from the switch and a good, clean return to the battery, then things don't work efficiently.
The reason fro taking the resistance of the wipers from the screen is so that we can isolate where the problem is.
The next stage it to check the condition of where the earth is connected to the body.
On mine the earth from the motor is a black wire with a ring connector, which shares a motor mounting bolt for the strap. It has been known to be a bit fiddly, but make sure that all the components are cleaned up before you put them back together.
Then come back and let us know how you've got on.

A bit of oil on the spindels can help and the bottom plain bearing in the wiper motor is known for going dry and stiff.