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#1
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Windshield wiper not working
My drivers side windshield wiper stopped working today. Being in a hurry
I didn't bother removing all the snow and ice from the windshield before driving away, and then when I tried using the wipers only the one on the passenger side worked. After stopping I realized the one on the drivers side was frozen to the windshield. After pulling it loose it still didn't work, in fact it was like it wasn't connected at all and I could move it around without any effort. The car is a '86 BMW 3-series. I'd really want it to work especially now that it's so much snow and road grime on the roads, but it's 20F outside and I don't have much time before Christmas. I'm thinking of repositioning the passenger wiper to cover the driver side too, but only as a last resort. Any ideas? Thanks, Ulf |
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#2
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It is most likely that you have just broken the friction that holds the
wiper blade to the motor. If you undo the nut to free the wiper you can check the motor still works. If it does you need only clean up the wiper and "bolt" from motor and retighten. Never start your wipers whilst they are stuck to the windscreen ! You will shorten the life of the blades and can burn out the motor which will stop both. Regards Richard "Ulf" > wrote in message ... > My drivers side windshield wiper stopped working today. Being in a hurry I > didn't bother removing all the snow and ice from the windshield before > driving away, and then when I tried using the wipers only the one on the > passenger side worked. After stopping I realized the one on the drivers > side was frozen to the windshield. After pulling it loose it still didn't > work, in fact it was like it wasn't connected at all and I could move it > around without any effort. The car is a '86 BMW 3-series. I'd really want > it to work especially now that it's so much snow and road grime on the > roads, but it's 20F outside and I don't have much time before Christmas. > I'm thinking of repositioning the passenger wiper to cover the driver side > too, but only as a last resort. Any ideas? > > Thanks, > > Ulf |
#3
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Richard Wall wrote:
> It is most likely that you have just broken the friction that holds the > wiper blade to the motor. If you undo the nut to free the wiper you can > check the motor still works. If it does you need only clean up the wiper > and "bolt" from motor and retighten. Never start your wipers whilst they > are stuck to the windscreen ! You will shorten the life of the blades and > can burn out the motor which will stop both. > Regards Richard > "Ulf" > wrote in message > ... > >>My drivers side windshield wiper stopped working today. Being in a hurry I >>didn't bother removing all the snow and ice from the windshield before >>driving away, and then when I tried using the wipers only the one on the >>passenger side worked. After stopping I realized the one on the drivers >>side was frozen to the windshield. After pulling it loose it still didn't >>work, in fact it was like it wasn't connected at all and I could move it >>around without any effort. The car is a '86 BMW 3-series. I'd really want >>it to work especially now that it's so much snow and road grime on the >>roads, but it's 20F outside and I don't have much time before Christmas. >>I'm thinking of repositioning the passenger wiper to cover the driver side >>too, but only as a last resort. Any ideas? >> >>Thanks, >> >>Ulf > > yeah, what he said. I can't remember if BMWs are the same but on a VW there is a tapered spline to match the little pivot thing to the wiper arm, and it's held on by a 6mm (I think?) nut. When you start the wipers when they're frozen to the windshield you strip the crap out of the little potmetal end of the wiper arm, tightening the nut won't work, you need to disassemble it, take your pocketknife and clean all the pot metal out of the splines in the pivot shaft, and reassemble. Also might not be a bad idea to drip a little oil down the pivot assembly while the wiper arm is off as PM. nate -- replace "fly" with "com" to reply. http://home.comcast.net/~njnagel |
#4
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It sounds like you broke the linkage. This can be anywhere from really easy
to a complete pain in the ass to fix. "Ulf" > wrote in message ... > My drivers side windshield wiper stopped working today. Being in a hurry > I didn't bother removing all the snow and ice from the windshield before > driving away, and then when I tried using the wipers only the one on the > passenger side worked. After stopping I realized the one on the drivers > side was frozen to the windshield. After pulling it loose it still > didn't work, in fact it was like it wasn't connected at all and I could > move it around without any effort. The car is a '86 BMW 3-series. I'd > really want it to work especially now that it's so much snow and road > grime on the roads, but it's 20F outside and I don't have much time > before Christmas. I'm thinking of repositioning the passenger wiper to > cover the driver side too, but only as a last resort. Any ideas? > > Thanks, > > Ulf |
#5
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Nate Nagel wrote:
> Richard Wall wrote: > >> It is most likely that you have just broken the friction that holds >> the wiper blade to the motor. If you undo the nut to free the wiper >> you can check the motor still works. If it does you need only clean >> up the wiper and "bolt" from motor and retighten. Never start your >> wipers whilst they are stuck to the windscreen ! You will shorten the >> life of the blades and can burn out the motor which will stop both. >> Regards Richard > yeah, what he said. I can't remember if BMWs are the same but on a VW > there is a tapered spline to match the little pivot thing to the wiper > arm, and it's held on by a 6mm (I think?) nut. When you start the > wipers when they're frozen to the windshield you strip the crap out of > the little potmetal end of the wiper arm, tightening the nut won't work, > you need to disassemble it, take your pocketknife and clean all the pot > metal out of the splines in the pivot shaft, and reassemble. Also might > not be a bad idea to drip a little oil down the pivot assembly while the > wiper arm is off as PM. Yay, I can see again! Thanks, that was exactly the problem. I took less than 5 minutes to fix, and now it's working flawlessly. Just to make sure I tried the wipers with 1/2 inch of wet snow on the windshield, no problems. :-) http://members.roadfly.com/ulf/IMG_1051.JPG > > nate > > Ulf |
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