wiper problem

[zamog]

Read the thread about the slow wiper fix, however, mine on the '72 is completely stripped on the driver's side.

Is this repairable? or do I need to find another assembly somewhere and replace.

Thanks in advance,

Shawn

[EScanlon]

If you are referring to the splines in the Wiper ARM as opposed to the Wiper SHAFT, then the only solution is to buy a new Arm, or drill and tap to accept a screw to lock it onto the shaft. The shaft is hardened steel and I would be very surprised to find that it's stripped.

E

[TomoHawk]

You can replace the entire pivot, if that's what you mean, but finding one is the hard part.

[zamog]

the blade spins on the shaft

or, the shaft turns but blade doesnt move.

make sense?

[EScanlon]

You need to remove the wiper arm to determine the problem.

Both of your statements are correct for EITHER of the two items, Arm or Shaft being stripped. You need to determine which one it is, THEN you can take corrective action. The only thing that you have noted is that it isn't the CONNECTION to the pivot shaft from the wiper motor. Since the arm isn't falling off the shaft, I presume that the wiper nut is still on the shaft and that the threads are not stripped.

To get the arm off the car you need to remove the cap nut that's holding it onto the shaft. Once you remove the nut, lift on the arm base in parallel to the shaft. Once off take a look at the hole the shaft goes through the arm and the shaft.

There should be some grooves (lines) going up and down the shaft and the hole in the arm. (Kind of looks like the end of a radio tuning shaft without the slot in the middle.) One of the items, either the arm of the shaft does NOT have the grooves. This allows the shaft to rotate within the hole in the arm.

The shaft on the Z, unlike many U.S. cars that had a beveled shaft, is a true splined shaft (think of the end of your driveshaft where it enters the transmission). The diameter of it does not increase top to bottom. U.S. automaker splined wiper shafts (not all), increase in diameter (coned shaft). This is so that as you TIGHTEN the nut on the wiper arm, you force the arm deeper onto the shaft to attain new "bite". This was a "sacrificial" joint. If the wiper arm met resistance enough to cause it to stop completely, you needed a "breaking" point to avoid having to replace the whole wiper motor and linkages due to the stoppage. The Z's sacrificial joint IS the arm base's metal, which is softer than the steel on the shaft.

A sacrificial link is needed because of the torque of the motor...at least on U.S. cars. Sadly the Z's wiper motor's torque ......sniff....just is NOT there.

Hope this helps.

Enrique