Wiper arm troubles

[jgerock]

Here is something I cannot figure out on my 73:

Both wiper arms scrape against the windshield gasket molding, ruining the "chrome" trim. Both arms seem to be positioned closer to the cowl than others I examined at this year's V@V event. I've looked at the under cowl linkage arm arrangements, but they match the Mobile Tradition diagram (not sure about the quantity of washers though).

Both arms snap into place onto the shafts, but the shafts seem too short. Another 02 owner thought my windshield gasket wasn't installed correctly, but the inside gasket lip is close to the dashboard.

One of the linkage arms rubs against the cowl directly above the wiper motor, creating a crescent-shaped wear mark.

The wipers (and washer) were not used since 2002 when a PO redid the car. Any assistance would be appreciated!

[Guest Anonymous]

Hey Jim, I took your photos and compared them to my car. It appears the clearance between the six-sided nut and the plug on part of the wiper may be a little shy. Mine is a good 1/4 inch. But the other thing that struck me was the angle of the arm seems pulled in greater than mine creating less clearance for you. You might want to try swapping on another wiper arm to determine if that's the problem. Good luck.

Roger

'72 Malaga

[jgerock]

Thanks for the quick reply Roger.

I don't have any spare arms to try out (new ones are crazy $$$!). Can you post a pic of your driver's side wiper?

[omarcenaro]

I am not sure about none square tail cars, but your widow gaskets looks different. On mine the chrome trim hads more gasket between the arm and chrome and its flater. From your pic it looks like the gasket is sticking out and not flat. The wiper arm looks fine.

[Guest Anonymous]

Jim. My arm connection is identical to "Ozzy's driver side wiper" photo. Studying your connection (your last photo), it appears that the six sided nut does not have the same washer under it as mine or Ozzy . Also again studying my wiper arm, it's now clear that the height of the actual wiper blade mechanism plays a role in the clearance of the wiper arm over the gasket. Could your blade holder be too short? Good luck... again.

Roger

[H_Krix]

The wiper arms sit on a threaded rod, and the arm rotates within that rod. The 6-sided nut you see on the top is one of two, the other is on the bottom. There are a few washers on either side of these as well.

It looks to me like you need to loosen the nut on the underside and bring the threaded rods further out. After you've adjusted this, tighten the upper nut and you should be set.

You may need to remove the entire mechanism in order to do this, I've only adjusted them outside of the car.

[jgerock]

Thanks for the suggestions. Will look thru my PO records to see where the gasket was purchased.

Seems like if I adjust the shafts so they stick out farther, then the linkage arms will interfere with the body even more (than they already do). Notice how close the passenger side top arm is to the cowl.

Hopefully, I don't have too many problems pulling the arms. I'm used to dealing with the all-in-one wiper assembly on my VW (they also have the adjustable pivot shafts).

[jgerock]

Reviewed my old receipts. Windshield gasket # 1-817-764 came from Maximillian (4/29/02). I'll look into the wiper shafts ATP.

[2002haus]

Here is something I cannot figure out on my 73:

Both wiper arms scrape against the windshield gasket molding, ruining the "chrome" trim. Both arms seem to be positioned closer to the cowl than others I examined at this year's V@V event. I've looked at the under cowl linkage arm arrangements, but they match the Mobile Tradition diagram (not sure about the quantity of washers though).

Both arms snap into place onto the shafts, but the shafts seem too short. Another 02 owner thought my windshield gasket wasn't installed correctly, but the inside gasket lip is close to the dashboard.

One of the linkage arms rubs against the cowl directly above the wiper motor, creating a crescent-shaped wear mark.

The wipers (and washer) were not used since 2002 when a PO redid the car. Any assistance would be appreciated!

Jim,

Very likely that the rubber grommet is worn down (and too thin) or has disintegrated due to age. That part was not available as of a few years ago. It is needed along with the washers and caps to provide the correct height.

Rob

[jgerock]

Thanks to all.

I'll pull off one side to check the grommit appearance. Currently waiting on hardware to arrive for intake system.

[autobon7]

Dusting off this old thread.....did you ever figure this out? My pass side rides low creating the same cresent shape on the windshield gasket strip. Driver side is ok.....no touching.

[Guest Anonymous]

Hi Jim, Remember all those spare arms I had? My wiper arms have a clearance of 1/8" between the edge where it approaches the chrome bead. I notice that if you bend the arm up a little it will provide more clearance and hopefully not affect the wiping performance. I still have that spare wiper transmission assembly if you need to experiment.

[c.d.iesel]

2 things:

a.) look at omars blue car above - his rubber seal looks

correct, and not puffy like the initial thread starter -

whos seal looks 'wrong'

b.) and the condition, or missing, or incorrect

assembly order of the wiper pivot is causing

the wiper arm to sit too low, also.... so here's

a parts diagram of all the bits that should be there

[Scott Sislane]

I played the gasket game the last two years. The gasket should be flattened out more. (pushed in/down more) And the lock strip should be set into the gasket so it is flush. Getting the lower section of the gasket pushed all the way onto the metal lip will allow it to sit flatter than it is. Then you have proper clearance. I installed my my glass 3 times to figure this out. And OEM gasket works better.

Jim's pic shows his gasket bumped out, that is not sitting flat like you want it to. IMO anyway.

That's my take anyway, I'm no expert by any means.

Scott

Jims Pic:

Here is my gasket (not bumped out):

[jgerock]

Sorry for not following up on this sooner...

Windshield gasket was replaced with factory BMW part which made the seal sit flatter and I filed some aluminum from the bottom edges of the wiper arms. Those two things fixed the wiper arms.

I still have the scraping issue with the wiper motor (armature) hitting the cowl even after rebuilding the assembly. I'm betting the wiper frame itself is tweaked. I even added a washer to space the motor lower on the frame.