oops (knackered wipers)

prelude91 · Post by **prelude91** » Sat Feb 21, 2015 9:27 pm

Went out briefly tonight in my 3g, ran out of Ribena. We've had a cold snap this evening on the South Coast. Defrosted screen and turned wipers on briefly to clear the screen. Regrettably, the drives side wiper moved across the screen, slowly, due to being slightly frozen still, but the passengers side did not move at all!! Despite driving for several miles, and getting the car thoroughly warm, the passenger side wiper still doesn't move at all, the drivers side now sweeps normally. I'll check out the mechanism tomorrow when its daylight. Several issues may arise: 1. The wipers and mechanisms have both defrosted and are both working fine. 2. The frosted up passenger wiper has popped off the splined shaft.( easy to rectify)3. The wiper arm has stripped the thread on the arm splined shaft. 4. The wiper mechanism from the motor to the splined shaft has broken. If any of issues 3 or 4 are reality, anyone got any 3g wiper assembly spares, please?

Post by **Thebusofwoe** » Sat Feb 21, 2015 11:13 pm

I bet the nut has come loose and the spindal is spinning inside the arm.

prelude91 · Post by **prelude91** » Sat Feb 21, 2015 11:45 pm

Hi, Chris, yeh, hopefully that's the case, i.e. the wiper arm and the wiper spindle, both of which are splined, have parted company. Will check in the morning. I'm also starting to have problems with the engine 'hunting' when still cold. She's O.K. on positive throttle, but there seems to be an intermediate phase between hot and cold when she seems to 'hunt' when at tickover. I think Wayne had a similar problem , although permanent on his, even when warm, whereas, mine only seems to be problematic during the warm up period

89 UKDM BA4 4WS (resto job!) · Post by **wurlycorner** » Sun Feb 22, 2015 12:16 am

Paying a visit to a 3g breaker tomorrow.
Let us know when you've checked things out on your one and if you need the mechanism, drop me a pm and we'll pick it up for you.

prelude91 · Post by **prelude91** » Sun Feb 22, 2015 12:25 am

Wurly, chris, thanks for your input, will check the mechanism tomorrow, and advise you accordingly.

prelude91 · Post by **prelude91** » Sun Feb 22, 2015 12:12 pm

Guys, checked my 'arm this morning. As Chris says, the top nut was spinning which meant the arm had come loose on the spindle. However, rather than just tightening it up, I decided to take the arm off first to see what was going on. When I took the nut off, the arm came away from the spindle with no resistance, unusual, in my experience, as the arm normally has quite a lot of resistance on the spindle spline. I noticed that there was no internal thread on the arm itself for it to locate on the spindle. The spindle itself had only a very small amount of thread showing, with some plastic apparent around the main body of the spindle. My conclusion is that the internal thread in the arm has broken away and is now captive on the spindle. Short-term, I have put the existing arm back on and tightened the nut, the arm now sweeps as normal. However, I think that I'll need a spare arm to eventually replace the existing one, as I'm not sure how long the existing one will last. Anyone got a spare hanging around, or are they available new?

mercutio · Post by **mercutio** » Sun Feb 22, 2015 12:16 pm

get some loctite on it until you can get a new linkage

prelude91 · Post by **prelude91** » Sun Feb 22, 2015 12:22 pm

Thanks mercy, either Loctite, non setting, or some plumbers tape or such like. I also tried to prise the plastic insert which is now captive on the spline with a screwdriver, but it's pretty much stuck in place. Will try and acquire a replacement 'arm first before going any further, in the hope that the tightened top bolt holds for now. She's my only means of transport so best to have all necessary for repair to hand.

89 UKDM BA4 4WS (resto job!) · Post by **wurlycorner** » Mon Feb 23, 2015 8:37 am

We could have got the whole mechanism yesterday afternoon if you'd pm'd.

If the car is still there on Friday, @4thgenphil might be able to get this for you if you ask nicely

prelude91 · Post by **prelude91** » Mon Feb 23, 2015 11:39 am

Thanks, wurly. I have discovered that the internal splined thread on the 'arm itself has stripped, as when I removed the top nut the arm came away from the spigot without any resistance, normally they need a bit of persuasion. I could not get a purchase on the plastic internal stripped thread, now attached to the spindle itself, so for now, I have replaced the 'arm and tightened the top nut back down. Having gone out briefly last night, it seems to be working for now, but I'm sure that over time the top nut will loosen off and I'll be back to having a non -functioning arm. At this stage, yes, it would be appreciated if @4thgenphil could acquire a replacement for me from the local scrappy, that'd give me an alternative to supergluing or loctite'ing the existing 'arm in to place. I've never pm'd him before, so not sure of the protocol in that respect.