Hello,
I am working on a project that involves controlling the speed of a windsheild wiper motor with an arduino and ardumoto motor sheild. https://www.sparkfun.com/products/9815
I hooked everything up and uploaded my code, and it worked for a minute or so. I noticed a decrease in power and then felt the IC (L298P), and it was very hot to the touch.
I am not entirely sure what would have caused this, but any help is GREATLY appreciated.
Attached, is a copy of the code I used and a URL to my wiring schematic for my motor sheild.
Thanks 
/* Ardumoto Example Sketch
by: Jim Lindblom
date: November 8, 2013
license: Public domain. Please use, reuse, and modify this
sketch!
Three useful functions are defined:
setupArdumoto() -- Setup the Ardumoto Shield pins
driveArdumoto([motor], [direction], [speed]) -- Drive [motor]
(0 for A, 1 for B) in [direction] (0 or 1) at a [speed]
between 0 and 255. It will spin until told to stop.
stopArdumoto([motor]) -- Stop driving [motor] (0 or 1).
setupArdumoto() is called in the setup().
The loop() demonstrates use of the motor driving functions.
*/
// Clockwise and counter-clockwise definitions.
// Depending on how you wired your motors, you may need to swap.
#define CW 0
#define CCW 1
// Motor definitions to make life easier:
#define MOTOR_A 0
//#define MOTOR_B 1
// Pin Assignments //
// Don't change these! These pins are statically defined by shield layout
const byte PWMA = 3; // PWM control (speed) for motor A
//const byte PWMB = 11; // PWM control (speed) for motor B
const byte DIRA = 12; // Direction control for motor A
//const byte DIRB = 13; // Direction control for motor B
void setup()
{
setupArdumoto(); // Set all pins as outputs
}
void loop()
{
// Drive motor A (and only motor A) at various speeds, then stop.
driveArdumoto(MOTOR_A, CCW, 255); // Set motor A to CCW at max
delay(1000); // Motor A will spin as set for 1 second
driveArdumoto(MOTOR_A, CW, 127); // Set motor A to CW at half
delay(1000); // Motor A will keep trucking for 1 second
stopArdumoto(MOTOR_A); // STOP motor A
// Drive motor B (and only motor B) at various speeds, then stop.
//driveArdumoto(MOTOR_B, CCW, 255); // Set motor B to CCW at max
//delay(1000); // Motor B will spin as set for 1 second
//driveArdumoto(MOTOR_B, CW, 127); // Set motor B to CW at half
//delay(1000); // Motor B will keep trucking for 1 second
//stopArdumoto(MOTOR_B); // STOP motor B
// Now spin both!
//driveArdumoto(MOTOR_A, CW, 255); // Motor A at max speed.
//driveArdumoto(MOTOR_B, CW, 255); // Motor B at max speed.
//delay(1000); // Drive forward for a second
// Now go backwards at half that speed:
//driveArdumoto(MOTOR_A, CCW, 127); // Motor A at max speed.
//driveArdumoto(MOTOR_B, CCW, 127); // Motor B at max speed.
}
/*
// driveArdumoto drives 'motor' in 'dir' direction at 'spd' speed
void driveArdumoto(byte motor, byte dir, byte spd)
{
if (motor == MOTOR_A)
{
digitalWrite(DIRA, dir);
analogWrite(PWMA, spd);
}
else if (motor == MOTOR_B)
{
digitalWrite(DIRB, dir);
analogWrite(PWMB, spd);
}
}
// stopArdumoto makes a motor stop
void stopArdumoto(byte motor)
{
driveArdumoto(motor, 0, 0);
}
*/
// setupArdumoto initialize all pins
void setupArdumoto()
{
// All pins should be setup as outputs:
pinMode(PWMA, OUTPUT);
pinMode(PWMB, OUTPUT);
pinMode(DIRA, OUTPUT);
pinMode(DIRB, OUTPUT);
// Initialize all pins as low:
digitalWrite(PWMA, LOW);
digitalWrite(PWMB, LOW);
digitalWrite(DIRA, LOW);
digitalWrite(DIRB, LOW);
}