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Front Wiper Linkage and motor removal


philevo

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Hi People. My wipers recently give up the ghost and I looked on the site for a guide on how to remove and free up the linkage, I couldn't find a

step by step detail guide so here goes.

1. Open bonnet, remove plastic cap from bottom of wipers at the point of connection to the linkage.

2. Remove bolts from Wipers and remove wiper arms.

3. Remove rubber strip from bottom of Scuttle plate (this is a rubber strip just below the wipers that run the width of the car to support the top of the bonnet and form a seal)

3. remove black plastic covers that attach to the bottom of the windscreen. (scuttle panels) this is where I came into problems as I didn't know how to get them off.

Basically you are best lifting the bottom (closet to front of car) of the scuttle plate until its fee of the car body , Put a flat screw driver behind the rubber seal along the top of the scuttle plate and prise the top away from the screen (you will need to go in behind the rubber seal and push the screw driver down about 1.5cm) The scuttle plate has a small ridge along the top that fits into a valley along the screen) Remove driver side first, also remember to disconnect you washers. You may find it easier to remove the scuttle plates by opening and supporting the bonnet about half open. (I broke one of my scuttle panels but hopefully with this guide you wont) Remove rubber piece from wiper spindle.

4. Remove 3No screws that hold linkage to car, these are Torx screws.

5. remove linkage from housing, you will need to fiddle about a bit but its quite easy, remember to disconnect electrical connection.

6. Put the linkage on the floor and take a pic so you remember how it goes back together for later.

7. At the end of the linkage you will see 2 spindles within a cylinder where the wipers connect, the spindle is connected to an arm that runs to the centre of the mechanism, these arms are connected to the spindles using a simple ball joint, I used the open end of a spanner to separate this joint, easy. At this point i noticed one of the spindles on mine was moving freely and the other was solid. If your are moving freely then your problem is probably the motor.

8. If it is the spindle part that is seized, you need to remove the spindle (male) from the female cylinder part of the linkage. Look at the top of the cylinder looking down at the thread, you will see a very small horse shoe shaped clip, this sits within a groove round the top of the spindle. use a flat head screw driver to remove this by pushing on one side of the clip away from the spindle (Keep you hand ready to catch the clip as it will probably fly off when you get it so far.. Remove the washer from the top spindle. Spray lots of WD 40 on the spindle, If it has seized this is where the hard work starts. Put the linkage in a vice (Or use a strong dad) I then used some mole grips, tight as I could get them, onto the right angle section of the spindle. I then worked the spindle loose by moving side to side and at the same time pushing down on the spindle, This took a long time 20 minutes, but it got it out in the end. (I Accidentally removed a guide from the female cylinder part that came out with the spindle, if this happens to you, get your mole grips on the guide and use the same process (Side to side etc) to get it off, put the guide back in the female part.) You should now have 2No spindles in front of you, one or both will probably be covered with rust.

9. Use some wet and dry sand paper of wire wool to clean the spindle. Grease the spindle up, you should use copper grease, but I used multi purpose stuff. also put some inside the female cylinder.

10. Put back together in reverse, use your picture you took earlier to get the parts in the right place. Tip, when you put the linkage back in the car, before you put your wipers on, operate the wiper from inside the car, this will ensure they are in the reset position. then put your wipers in.

This took me about an hour to do, but I didn't know how to get the scuttle plates off. Its actually quite an easy job, as long as you are confident taking stuff apart you should be fine, no skill required.

Hope this helps someone.

Phil

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  • 2 years later...

I was going to make a guide for this but I see there is one already so I will just add my 2p worth.

 

I've rebuilt two sets of wiper linkages now and I reckon its worth your time to clean and regrease both sides of the linkage. The hard part is getting the scuttle panel out and then getting the wiper mechanism out/back in. 

 

When you rebuild the spindles you will find 3 washers, 2 o-rings and 1 circlip. You'll find at the very bottom of the spindle is a very, very thin washer. I found if you remove this the spindle will move much more freely and won't wobble. The o-rings being clamped into place by the circlip help to put a small amount of tension on the whole assembly. I've had a set of wipers rebuilt like this for almost a year now and they still work fine.

 

 

One more word of advice...for the love of god don't undo the motor from the linkage. It's a bitch to get re-centred properly. 

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  • 2 years later...

Thanks for this!

Had mine virtually stop last night as I was about to set out on a 150 mile trip south!

got them working enough to get here then spent today mainly watching my step-dad follow your guide to get them working properly again  :clap:

Now to see if there is a guide to free the seized centre seat belt reel.....

 

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  • 11 months later...

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