well, my wipers are not functioning. so i start the test in the fsm to determine what the issue is. turns out the manual suggest it is the wiper motor that has failed. before i replace this expensive part, should i look for what might have caused the motor to go out, or is that something that just happens?

more than likely just your motor blew. no fuse as far as i know. it can happen at times when the wipers are always set on high or are used very often. i had to replace the ones on my van not to long ago but i got mine from the JY.