WIPER ISSUE

O had the offside wiper fail to operate when switching on the wipers and thought "Oh no... Back to the dealers again"!

I investigated a little myself, only to discover the linkage that joins the offside wiper to the nearside one had came adrift.  I dismantled the wiper are and plastic scuttle in order to get to it properly and refitted it but it came off again a few days later.

I then checked with the dealers to see if they fail often and although they don't seem to, they do sell the short link arm separately. I ordered this and it is quite a simple job to fit, along with taking off the necessary parts again and on fitting the new one, it was clear the old one had worn out the plastic retaining plug (Bit like ball joint and socket). I had to gently prise off the old bar and squeeze on the new one with mole grips and now it is fine. its a job anyone who can change say, brake pads and discs and other relatively  simple mechanical tasks could do without too much difficulty.

I am mentioning this as the link only costs around £3 so a bodge is not even worth trying, and a dealer will most likely charge around an hour to an hour and a half to strip, repair and replace the bits n bobs that are really quite simple. £100 to do a £3 job anyone? 

The most difficult part was removal of the wiper arms as they are fixed on a tapered spline. remove the nuts that fix them on, add a lube of your choice (WD40) And give it ten, lift arm up so they are away from the screen as they pop off easier then and gently tap the spline with a wooden or rubber mallet. I would advise against a metal hammer as you might burr the spline or damage the wiper mechanism.

They go on easy as once you line them up and push fit them, they'll re-bed when bolted back up.