Wiper Motor Packed Up... Or Has It?

[GSMGuy]

Went out today, in the torrentials - noticed wipers were very slow.. After 5 mins they had virtually stopped - If you put them i=on they rose about 8 inches and stopped, then if you turned off they parked..

 

Got the multimeter out, and measured the current draw (easiest way is to remove the wiper fuse and push the probes in there)

 

Current was 24A, BUT if I "helped" the wipers, it dropped to a much more reasonable 6A.... So a bit of investigation required... Especialy as new motors ain't cheap!!!

 

After carefully watching the system "in operation" as it were - the NS wiper shaft seemed to be "flexing" a lot... Putting my hand on the shaft, I found it to be getting V hot... indicating friction....

 

So, I whipped the NS wiper off and squirted the shaft with some Plusgas.... put it back together..... Result??

 

Perfect, and back to full speed....

 

So at the weekend I am gonna strip and grease the whole assy, as it would appear to be a simple lube prob.... PHEW!!!

 

Hope this helps others...

 

Mike

[Rallim]

That's exactly what mine did, 1 day before the MOT. :D I managed to get them going again doing exaxtly the same as you squirting the shaft with WD40, knowing as others have posted it could do with being dismantled and greased. They worked for about a week and then started to slow up again, so I knew the job needing done properly. Feeling pleased with myself at getting the mechanism out I then snapped the cast whilst trying to remove the shaft. The moral of the story, make sure the cast is well supported as you 'work' the shaft out.

 

In the end I put it back together with one wiper (luckily the drivers side) while I figured out what to do to replace it. In the end I managed to free the shaft from the broken cast and grease it all. I then metal glued and stapped it together again. Its held up for the last 2 weeks, in fact the wipers seem positively 'frisky' compared to before, but I'm reserving judgement to how long they'll hold together... captain. :)

 

Gordon

[seatkid]

GSMGuy. Do you mean the splined shaft that the wiper arm is connected to? You know the bit that sticks out...I'm wondering if some sort of regular maintenance (squirt of WD40) is called for. Sounds like the shaft is corroding....

[Rallim]

When I eventually managed to remove the splined shaft it was indeed corroded - at the bottom, there are 2 brass sleeves inserted at either end of the cast but rubbish had built up between them inside the cast. I cleaned it up and packed it full of grease.

 

I'm wondering if some sort of regular maintenance (squirt of WD40) is called for.

 

My only reservation would be squirtting WD40 may tend to wash away the grease inside, what do you think?

 

Gordon

[Guest Scott]

My only reservation would be squirtting WD40 may tend to wash away the grease inside, what do you think?

 

Gordon

I think you're right. When I finally got mine apart (after the same problem) it looked like dried out grease inside. I wonder if the wrong grease was specified? My thought is to just add re-greasing to the maintenance schedule - yearly? Mine are still working smoothly after 6 months - I used a high temp clear Teflon grease. ~ Scott

[Guest harko]

hi guys

am having the same probem , could someone give me an idiot guide as to fix this problem

cheers

harko

[Mauser]

Here's what I used to remove mine if you cannot remove the arms :unsure:.

http://www.fordgalaxy.org.uk/ford/index.ph...t=0entry39465

Someone else has posted removal of the arm etc :).

Good luck its not to bad.

Simon

[Guest harko]

thanks guys sorted