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Wipers worked kind of OK this spring (May). Low speed was kind of jerky, high speed was ok.
Going on a cruise out of town, (Fri) followed by a show car show (Sat).
Went to check things over tonite, and NO wipers. The move about an inch, and stop.
Engine idle changes with switch on and off. Sounds/acts like a vacuum leak. Checked the hose, steel line, and can't see anything wrong.
Is there an easy solution to fixing this, or ???
I have been caught in the rain before and the Rain-X i put on in May has always done a great job at keeping it clear.
There is possible rain for Fri, so thats why i checked them.
Yay vacuum wipers.
Thanks for any tips or tricks.

After all these years I strongly suspect the gaskets in the motor have dried and the paddle seal has worn. You could try to lube the motor following the Service Counselor article on page 52 only using vacuum pump oil instead of the Trico oil. That may help short term but chances are the motor will need to be rebuilt before you will get dependable wipers again. I believe Ficken Wiper Service bought all the old Trico parts and I think they have some repro'd but no motor repair parts are sold direct to customers. As far as I know they are the only place that does rebuilds. Their price is not horrible and turnaround is usually good too.

Edit: I have been corrected in that the parts stock was not bought out by Ficken Wipers but rather the owner was a long time Trico dealer. However he comes by the parts, other than an occasional NOS item that finds its way to Ebay or a swap meet, Trico rebuild parts are all but extinct. About the only option if new parts are needed for the motor is to have them installed when the motor is rebuilt by Ficken Wiper Service..

Thank you for the info, and the service link !
I will give it a try tomorrow, and see what happens.
Worst outcome, still no wipers.
Best outcome, they work somewhat.

Also make sure the rubber hoses at the pump and wiper motor are in good shape and one didn't crack at a hose connection. Don't know what year you have but if there is a vacuum antenna or windshield washer or you have a 55-6 with the aux crankcase pump and balance valve make sure no vacuum leaks are in any of that plumbing either.

The vacuum lines on the range switch are not swappable, if you have them backwards they will leak slightly. Would not cause this issue but something to keep in mind when working on it.

I would....

1. Ensure you have no vacuum leaks in the system. (Hoses and switch.)
2. Lube your motor.
3. Make sure your engine is producing reasonable vacuum.

If you lube the motor and that perks it up, then to me that would indicate the seals are dry or worn out. Has it ever been lubricated that you're aware of? If seals are dry, lubing it and waiting for a day may producer better results than what you see right away. Vacuum wipers are like other things on our cars, people complain that they're no good, but it may be that they just need some maintenance.

It could also be the switch on top of your motor has a bad seal and is leaking. Maybe the vacuum pump on your fuel pump, if you have, is bad.

So i lubed it up, and did not get great results, better, but not great.
I get four inches of easy travel at the start, then a very slow crawl to about three inches of the return point. Three inches back from return point, slow crawl, then the last four inches go just fine.
Windshield wet, engine at idle. Plenty of vacuum.
Windshield dry is way worse, up three inches from the start and thats it.
The park function seems to work great, every time, so thats a bonus.

I am going to pull it this winter, open it up, see how nasty it is inside, then go from there.
Thanks for the advice and tips.

If your vacuum lines are in poor condition you can potentially have "vacuum drop" where air is getting sucked in, not enough to disrupt engine operation severely, but enough that there is reduced vacuum by the time the lines route to the actual device.

If you can't bend the lines, or there is obvious cracking when you bend them, you need new lines. Remind me and I can get Amazon links for the tubing I used.