Windshield Wiper disassembly

[boosd]

I took the windshield wipers out and now im trying to take them apart to clean the bushings, how do i go about this? it looks like there may be some kind of retaining clip but i dont want to force something and break it, any help would be great.

Thanks

[cbuczesk]

There's a clip there. I think I popped it off with a small screwdriver.

Chuck

[EScanlon]

The shaft of the wiper pivot has a circle ring holding it in place in the pivot body. Remove the rubber boot (on the outside) and just above the pivot body you should see a ring, gently push a flat blade screwdriver between the ring and the pivot body and work your way around the shaft until the ring moves out of the depression in the shaft.

Then just remove the ring, and push the shaft out of the body.

Inside the body shaft, look closely and you should see a slightly wider bore hole, that's where a "pocket" of grease should be to keep things moving smoothly. By now the original grease in yours is probably rock hard. You may have to use a bent nail or some such to pry that grease out.

Grease and lube well and the wipers will show dramatic improvement.

The other connections on the wiper pivot arms are ball type and function fine with a simple oiling.

FWIW

E

[Mike W]

I am right in the middle of doing this exact same thing and EScanlon is 100% correct on the ring clip that holds the assembly together. I found it to be a bit of a PITA in terms of initially getting a small screwdriver between the ring and the pivot body, but in the end it wasn't a problem.

In addition to the "grease pocket" my assemblies also had felt washers on them which I believe had been impregnated with grease when initially manufactured. On mine, some of the washers were completely missing and others were so hard that they cracked when touched. I purchased some sheet felt from McMaster Carr and plan to fabricate some new washers and will impregnate them with grease before re-stalling so there should be an ample supply of lubricant to this mechanism for an extended period of time.

I have pictures of the dis-assembly and some of the re-assembly if you need them. If you remove the arm that attaches to the motor, there is a specific order in which the parts need to go back together and having pictures of the unit before dis-assembly really helped.

Hope that helps.

Mike.

[TomoHawk]

When I did mine, the ring was stretched a little too wide and was loose, but you can squeeze it together. It would be better to get some new ones; does anyone know the type and size of it?

Mike-

Is there anyrhing else that would work in place f the felt washers? Teflon washers maybe?

Edited August 22, 2012 by TomoHawk

[Mike W]

I was successful in re-using the old C clips in one of the areas but had problems in the others. I ended up using 1/4" E clips. They were a tight fit but did the job nicely and were easier to use than the old C clips. Very easy to source as well.

On the washers. I think they used felt mainly to provide a source of lubrication to the pivot arms over an extended time period as opposed to actually needing a washer in this configuration. If I were not going to try and replace with felt / grease, then I probably wouldn't use a washer at all. If I did, I'm sure that teflon would work well.

Finally, if you do decide to go the felt washer route, the 1/8 " material I purchased worked OK on the drivers end where there was only one felt washer, but it was way too thick for the middle joint. I had to source a 1/16 inch felt to make this work.

Mike.

[Namerow]

This is an old thread, but it came in handy when I started taking my wiper linkage apart yesterday evening.  It wasn't immediately obvious to me how to remove the circlips on the intermediate and end shafts.  None of my circlip removal tools would work.  Here's what I came up with, after a bit of experimentation.  Hope it saves someone else some head-scratching when they get to this point:

 

The circlip that holds each pivot shaft inside its alloy casing is made from hardened steel.  It has no 'ears' to assist with removal.  To remove without damaging clip or retaining groove:

 

1) Clamp the alloy casing in a vise (use jaw pads)

 

2) Find two medium-size flat blade screwdrivers (tips should be 3/16' - 1/4" in width)

 

3) Insert the tip of screwdriver #1 between the circlip ends.  Hold it steady against one of the circlip ends so as to keep the clip from rotating as you...

 

4) Insert the tip of screwdriver #2 next to that of screwdriver #1 and then push outward against the other circlip end.  Expand the clip and lift the end out of the retaining groove.

 

5) Now relocate the tip of screwdriver #2 to sit in the shaft's retaining groove under the lifted-out circlip end.

 

6) Using screwdriver #1, push against the circlip's still-seated end to rotate the clip so that it progressively rides up over the tip of screwdriver #1 and out of the retaining groove.

 

You should be able to re-use this clip.

 

The circlip that retains each of the intermediate pivot shafts in its eyeball joint does have 'ears'.. but they have no holes and are therefore not of much use in the removal process.  What won't be immediately obvious, however, is that these circlips are made out of soft, deformable metal.  You can use the same removal technique as that described above for the circlips on the alloy-housing shafts.  However, these clips will actually stay deformed as you expand them to lift an end out of the retaining groove.  It doesn't seem like it would be a good idea to try to re-use these soft clips -- they'll probably be ready to fracture or pop out of place at some point shortly after you've put everything back inside the cowling.  For reference when sourcing a replacement, the diameter of the retaining groove is 6.9mm / 0.27".

 

The OE felt washers measure 21mm OD x 17mm ID x ~ 3.5mm thick.  There is one washer fitted to each of the (four) compliant pivot points in the linkage assembly.  Hard to say whether they were grease-packed or oil-soaked when new.  Whatever was used, I think it was done to prolong the life of the washer rather than to serve as a source of backup lubricant for the mechanical part of the pivot.

[TomoHawk]

Has anyone thought of a good way to tighten up the ball-joints on the ends?

[Namerow]

You could perhaps try an application of regular-duty epoxy to inside surfaces of both bushing shell halves before re-assembling with the bushing in place.  If you smear the spherical outer surface of the bushing with grease or oil before re-assembling the retaining shells, it should break free of the epoxy bond after the epoxy has set up.  You'll end up with an epoxy liner inside the bushing shells.  Warning:  I haven't tried this, but I think it would work.  If it doesn't turn out satisfactory, you can probably remove the epoxy from the bushing shells with a Dremel rotary tool and then try something else.

[bvolken]

When I took apart my wipers for powder coating, I carefully laid out the parts in the order of (dis)assembly.  Not sure if it helps, but here it is anyway: