Good morning. I am the original owner of a 96 850 Turbo Wagon, and have used this forum in the past to learn more about the car.

Here is my issue: I just had the front windshield replaced, and now the front wipers on the car will only sweep about 50% of the way before coming to a complete stop in intermittent mode. When I use the other two wiper speeds, the blades do sweep normally, but when you turn them off, they stay right where they are, instead of retracting to their original position at the bottom of the windshield.

I have no problem ordering/installing parts for this problem, but am not sure how to diagnose whether this is a switch, relay, wiper motor, or some other issue. The windshield replacement company claims they did not touch or damage the wipers, and it appears they are tracking normally, so maybe it is a coincidence that this problem happened the same day they replaced the windshield.

If anyone has had this problem, or can shed some light on the likely cause, I would appreciate it. I would hate to have the car in the Volvo shop for a day (plus the cost) for what must be a fairly straight forward repair.

Doesn't sound like a motor problem to me. Switch is probably good because you can turn them on and off. I would start with the relay first and go from there.

Thanks for the insight. I just ordered the intermittent wiper relay and will see if that solves the problem.

I tried replacing the relay ($60), and still have the same problem. At this point, I think I am going to go buy a used wiper motor ($75), unless there is something else that I am missing??

This is a third car, and gets less than 6K miles/year, so I am not looking to get a new motor from Volvo for $250+ installation.

Can you open the plastic cowl at the base of the windscreen? You have to access it from the outside. Pop the hood and remove the whole assembly.

Then switch the stalk on (push up or down) and OBSERVE the metal rods working. (Careful to ensure that the hood or anything else is not blocking its way and placed right). Do you see anything wrong?