Bouncing Wipers

[Red-Eye]

Whenever I hit a decent bump in my '71, my wipers will pop up several inches, the worse the bump, the more they move. Anyone have a quick fix for this? Thanks...Robert

[Fun_in_my_z]

mine come on when i hit bumps.

[Bambikiller240]

WOW, they bounce up "several inches"??

The wiper arms have springs built into them to create tension and keep the assemblies firmly pressed to your windshield. Sounds like (maybe) something is wrong with this tensioning device. How easy is it for you to manually lift the wipers from the windshield? There should be a fair amount of resistance until the wipers are quite far from the glass.

[Red-Eye]

I just happen to have the car at work today...There is a good amount of tension/spring when lifting the wipers. When I said pop up, I meant that they slide up the window several inches.

[EScanlon]

...snip...they slide up the window several inches.

Which means that either you have the world's loosest set of Z wipers, or that they are somehow disconnected from the wiper motor itself, or with so much slack that they allow that bounce.

Do the wipers work now? That is, wipe properly, and return to off position. If so, then I would check why you have so much play in the linkages.

Enrique

[Bambikiller240]

Oh, that's different. Do both wipers move up the windshield or just one? Are the wiper arms "securely" mounted to the pivot posts? The S/S nut(s) isn't/aren't loose?

If both move up the windshield, it sounds similar to a problem a friend had where his wipers would randomly "park" themselves (when turning them OFF) in different places.

The wiper motor is designed to make the wipers park in one place (the bottom of the windshield). This function is adjustable, but it (park location) should be consistant. IOf they park consistantly in the right place it shouldn't be a wiper MOTOR problem.

When the wipers are parked, they should not be able to be moved up (or down) the windshield. Can yours be moved manually up the windshield?

My friends car had a spring in part of the connection TO the wiper motor that was broken and it allowed the wipers to randomly park in different places. They could also be moved by hand up the windshield. IF the spring is broken in you wiper operating system, you'd need to find a replacement spring to install. Disassembly and reassembly of the motor connection containing this spring must be done exactly correct or the wipers may operate incorrectly.

[Red-Eye]

Yes, the wipers do work, and return to the off position, although they are pretty slow, and don't seem to have as wide a wipe as I would expect.

Yes, they operate as a pair. And yes, I have to park them myself, they don't automatically go to the bottom of the windshield. But, I can't move them manually up the windshield.

[Bambikiller240]

Sounds from your latest info that he whole wiper system need to be refurbished. Slow operation usually means the pivots are binding up (lack of grease, corrosion inside). Enrique has posted some info that would be extremely helpful to you if you choose to do this job. Try a search on "Windshield wiper Tip" and/or "Howto Diagnose Wipers?" and/or "wipers stopped working". All 3 threads have some good information.

[Red-Eye]

Thanks for the help...Robert

[240znz]

It is easy to refurb the wiper system, just take you time and as Carl says, use Enrique's info as a reference. You may have to make up some new gaskets though for where the arm pivot brackets met the under cowl metal. Just use the old ones a pattern on some suitable rubber.

I used water-proof grease on the pivots as an extra over the top extra. I don't want to have to do it again. I also pulled every link ball joint out and cleaned everything in a parts washer and then put it all back using oddles of water-proof grease. I even re-sprayed the arms with cold galv then matt black to really nail the job. Hell the more I write the more I think that I was a little keen. Yikes.

While your there, check to see if you have the white foam on the underside of the outer edge of the cowl. These are there to stop vibration of the cowl at high speed. They are also very apt at holding water....and we know what forms when we have water and metal. Again use the old ones a pattern and use contact adhesive to put the new ones in. Clean that area up and re-spray the bottom of the cowl. Then you shouldn't need to get that cowl off again, or at least for another 20 years (if the wiper motor doesn't crap out that is)

Hope that helps.

James

[Bambikiller240]

It is easy to refurb the wiper system, just take you time and as Carl says, use Enrique's info as a reference. You may have to make up some new gaskets though for where the arm pivot brackets met the under cowl metal. Just use the old ones a pattern on some suitable rubber.

If you decide to do this job, I have sets of the rubber gaskets and the felt washers that I created when i did this job last summer. I sold a bunch of them on eBay but still have some left. If anyone is interested, PM me and for a few bucks I can save you some time and effort sourcing materials and making your own.

[Red-Eye]

Carl, thanks for the quick delivery of the wiper gaskets...Robert