wiring on wiper motor(72 super)

[72blacksuper]

I have a 72' super beetle and theres an extra wire its brown just hanging off the conector on the wiring harness thing for my wipers, its not hooked up and my wiper motor doesnt turn on, im thinking its this wire maybe. Would it most hurt it if i tried to hook it up to a positive source to see if it works? I grounded it and tryed to turn on the wipers and i got nothing so would it be postive or is there just an extra wire on all of em? How much should a new/used wiper motor be, because i want working wipers not just ones that sit there. Thanks for any help.

Peace,
Wil