I want to remove the plastic scuttle panel around the wipers and below the windscreen to make sure the mechanism is clean and free of dirt. Recently the wipers have been a bit reluctant to start moving on a dry screen when friction is highest but fine when it's soaking wet. As the wiper blades aren't too old I reckon a spot of WD40 should sort things out.

Anyway , I popped the plastic covers off at the base of the wiper arms and removed the 13mm nuts underneath but the arms didn't want to budge. Is it just friction holding them on the splined shaft at this point or is there something else holding them in place that I need to undo?

It's not easy to apply a lot of force without risking damaging the scuttle panel.

all you need to do is waggle the wiper arms a bit to release them from the splined shaft and once there off then you can remove the scuttle panel which is clipped into the bottom of the screen but its usually very tight and as the plastic it very brittle then you have to be careful with it to avoid breaking the panel or cracking the screen so i would carefully prize it up a little bit at a time until it comes off,then you can remove the full wiper mechanism completely by removing a few bolts and undoing the plug off the motor and once the mechanisms out if you remove the circlips on the bottom of the pivot points you can remove the shaft and re grease them,did mine a couple of month ago and there good as new:thumbup:

Cheers. I'll wait till a slightly warmer day so the plastic is a bit less brittle and give it a second go with more time for some WD40 to soak in round the shaft.

Warm the scuttle with a hairdryer to make it easier to remove and less prone to breaking. (This tip comes to members courtesy of big k.) I bought a windscreen wiper arm removal tool recently to remove the wipers arms, but they came off easily last week with a little wiggling and without the need for that tool.

Wiper arms are a pain to remove, don't use brute force. There was a thread on a seat forum about removing them. You have to stop them in the straight up position, then fold them up and wiggle them back and forth if you are standing from the side of the car. Lots of wiggling should do the trick.

Best trick is to remove the covers and nuts then place your palm of you hand over where the hinge/pivot is for the arm. Now push down towards the screen, then pull up and wiggle this way. Guranteed the arm will work loose alot quicker as your not tunring against the splines but up and down them.