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Tips
Tips

Wiper evaluation??

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N

Norton47

Jedi Warrior
Offline
While I have the dash out and the heater out, it would seem a good time to do any maintenance or repair on the wipers and wheel boxes.
The wipers have been working, they don't return well to the at rest position when the windshield is a bit dry. There is some play in the wheel box shaft or more like back lash.
How does one evaluate how worn they are and if the wheel boxes should be replaced or other things done.
Should everything be taken apart cleaned, and greased.
What should I look for in regards to wear and tear?
 
Wheel boxes inexpensive. do it,you'll never want to go back in there again.
About the wine, Paris sucks for wine purchasing,need to go to the regions. Just enjoy the city.
 
Norton47 said:
How does one evaluate how worn they are and if the wheel boxes should be replaced or other things done.
Click to expand...
The ony way to see if the wheelbox gears are worn is to take them out and have a good look at them. If you have the dash and dashtop out this is not a big deal. Fiddly to get at.

Cleaning and greasing the wheelbox gears and shooting a little light oil down the shafts wouldn't hurt. If the gears are badly worn you'll see it. As Andrew notes, the gears wear on one side, so if you can get them flipped around they're good again. I have found it easier said than done though, because when you feed the rack back through its tube and into the wheelbox its hard to exactly locate where the gear will wind up.

The rack can wear also, and you'll see that when you pull it. Usually they are pretty hardy. Cleaning and lubricating the rack is a good idea. If you have a spring gauge, measure the effort needed to pull the rack before you take it out. Should be 5-6 lbs or less. If its more, then the rack and/or wheelboxes may be binding.

The other area of wear and drag is the gearbox. If you open it up you may find it has got gummy from old grease etc. Clean and lube. Check for wear on the teeth of the main gear. This is a plastic gear. Also check the brushes in the motor itself. The motor is pretty rugged, but the brushes do wear and can result in poorer performance.
 
Aloha,

Another place to check for wear is on the shaft inside the wiper motor gearbox. The brass bushing on the end that is attached to the rotating gear can wear into an oval shape over time. You need to remove the self parking brush and then lift the shaft off to clean and inspect it. The wear can cause erratic moment of the wipers and binding inside the motor gear box.
 
Well, I took these all apart. I found a different article on the web and it mentioned, prior to dissembling, to mark the shaft in relation to the wheelbox housing. I did this.
I then removed the wiper motor and the rack to gather. I removed the wheel boxes and cleaned all the old grease out and then re-greased and dribbled light oil where I could to lube the shafts. I cleaned the rack and took of the rack gearbox cover, I cleaned and re-lubed the all sliding and rotating parts. I also rotated the rack. I check the shaft gear and the plastic gear both seemed in good shape.
While I had the rack off I, tried something, I rotated the shaft so the mark was 180 degrees off. I then inserted the rack and the shafts went through several rotations but ended up about 180 degrees from the mark. So now the gears and the rack are all fresh to each other. My outer bezels were cracked so I am awaiting parts to finish this project.
Thanks for the tips and ideas.
 
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