Wipers completely powered down

[tdrawbridge]

I have a 2000 Intrigue, and it has been giving me a headache since I put it on the road! But most recently I was driving in the rain, and my passenger windshield wiper totally died. It was fine, then started making a loud thumping noise every time it came down to the bottom of the windshield. It continued doing this, and then slowly seemed to "lose power." It would go the whole way, then a little less, and a little less, and so on and so on until the wiper didnt even lift to wipe the windshield. I thought it was no biggie until my driver wiper did the exact same thing less than 24 hours later!! I dont know what to do! I literally couldn't wipe the windshield.
I recently fixed the hazards/turn signal, but installing a new switch in the center dashboard, could I have somehow messed up the electrical wiring?? If anyone could help, I would really really appreciate it! Thank you!!!

[LittleHoov]

I take it you cant hear the wiper motors running?

You should check the wiper relays, and any associated fuses, Im not exactly sure where they are, I think the relays are in the underhood box, and the fuses are in the passenger side fusebox.

[SkinCarver33]

Also check to see if the wiper arms themselves aren't stripped. I've read that excessive load (snow, ice, hail, or even running them dry) can cause the shafts to strip or have the nut back off. The arms have plastic caps that cover a single bolt...a 13mm I believe. You could try realigning the wipers and then giving the nuts a crank. That should work for a while until you get replacement wiper arms.

IMHO, it would be odd for only 1 wiper to fail incremently like that and then have the other go if it was the arm assembly or motor. The arm assembly is pretty tough and the motors rarely go bad. I've been having problems with my '02 GX, but it turned out to be the pulse board (electronics module attached to the wiper motor).