19 replies to this topic

[FleetAdmiralJ]

Hi. The other day I was trying to use my windshield wipers to clear snow, etc off my windshield, and well, apparently my driver's side wiper blade was frozen to the windshield. The Result: Passenger sice wiper ran, drivers side didn't.

Ever since then my driver's side wiper wont run (it kinda rises an inch or two, then drops again, while the passenger side runs fine), and if you grab it from the outside, you can pretty much move it anywhere across the windshield you want (instead of it being locked.)

So my question is first, does this mean I have to replace the wiper motor, or is there an easier way to fix this (or is it even more complex than just fixing the motor), and is it something I could do myself, or something that I better let the Subaru dealer fix? Thanks.

[FleetAdmiralJ]

Oh yeah, my car is a 1998 Subaru Forester if you needed that information.

[frag]

I dont think it's a motor problem (the other wiper would'nt move either).
I looks like the wiper has broken or stripped the mooring to his shaft.
Remove the faulty wiper from the shaft and have a look: it's maybe only a question of replacing and retightening, maybe a bushing needs to be replaced.

[FleetAdmiralJ]

Umm...ok, as you may have already noticed, I'm not that great at cars?

How would I get the wiper arm off? Just yank it off or is there some special thing I have to do to get them off. Sorry for being car-stupid lol.

[frag]

Sorry, never had to do this. I think there is a nut holding the wiper arm to the pivot shaft. There is maybe a cap over this bolt or nut. If you have a close look or buy a Haynes manual for your car you'll find a way.
This said, i remember someone on the board having a similar problem a while back.
This person will possibly chime in and give you the rest of the help you need.
Good luck!

[FleetAdmiralJ]

thanks. I also had the brilliant idea of actually looking in the car manual to see if it says how to do it lol. Hopefully I only need to spend like $20 on a blade instead of like $75 on the motor + labor and the hassle.

[mattocs]

A wiper blade should be like $4.

[FleetAdmiralJ]

sorry, i meant wiper arm not blade lol

[Commuter]

I'd say that the odds are that it is simply slipping between the shaft and the blade. This is a tapered shaft with a bit or knurling where the 2 come together IIRC. It's meant to be the weak point so that one doesn't burn out the motor or fubaru the linkage etc.

Last year, I discovered that my driver's side was a bit loose. It hadn't slipped, but would have in the near future. It was just a case of tightening the nut down. I believe there is a plastice cap over the nut as frag mentioned, but I'm not 100% sure without looking.

If you have run your wipers like this with the one slipping, you 'may' have smoothed off the knurling, or gummed it up a bit. Still, it may be fine. Just clean up the contact surfaces and tighten things up. See what happens. No cost to trying.

Commuter

[FleetAdmiralJ]

Ok. I guess my main problem is still trying to get my wiper arm off. Where the arm attaches to to the car, it looks like there is a button like thing I can indent, but it doesn't seem to do anything, pulling gently doesn't seem to make it budge, and i dont see any tabs or anything else to get it off. I dont want to break it off or anything, so.....how do you get the darn thing off? lol Or do i have to like, unscrew it or something? Thanks for all of your suggestions!

[FleetAdmiralJ]

Ok, i found some nut i have to unscrew to get the thing off, so I think i can take that part from there. thanks! may be back if i have more questions though haha.

[FleetAdmiralJ]

Yes, i know you are annoyed because of me by now but here it is...

I have the wiper arm in my hand. I was able to unscrew the nut easily with my hand (if that means anything). Also, when I freely moved the wiper across the windshield with my hand, the nut moved along with the wiper (again if that means anything). The center part did not move when i moved the wiper. I didn't try running the wipers to see how much that piece moved, however.

Now, I am trying to tell if this thing is worn or not. on the wide part where it connects, its very smooth, so it doesn't look like this really part was supposed to be rough in the first place.

where it is narrower, I can barely make out some grooves, and I'm gussing this is where the problem is. I'm not sure how big these grooves are supposed to be, but they sure dont look that big. If these are almost completely worn down...I am guessing that means I need to buy a new arm, correct?

[forester2002s]

Try taking the other (the one that works) wiper arm off. Then compare the two drive shafts. That should give you an idea whether one is worn more than the other.

Also, try operating the wipers with both wiper arms removed. It won't do any harm, and you should be able to see what moves and what doesn't.

Good luck.

[Commuter]

I still say it was simply loose and there is probably nothing wrong with it. The fact that you could undo the nut with your hand tells you it was loose.

The shaft is knurled (I believe). The arm hole is not. The knurling is just a slight grooving, nothing more. The arm is made of a softer metal than the shaft. It will take on a slight 'impression' from the knurled shaft. This impression is probably gone from the slippage. But it doesn't mean that anything is necessarily damaged. Reattach the wiper arm to the shaft. Tighten the nut (but don't overdo it). Test it by pulling on it slightly (trying to turn it that is). If it slips, then reposition and tighten a bit more. Put the plastic cap back on and you are done.

Commuter

[howards11]

I'm missing the plastic cap on one side of my wipers. Anyone know where to get another one ?

~Howard

[ejlain]

I'm missing the plastic cap on one side of my wipers. Anyone know where to get another one ?

Umm, the car next to you at the mall?

Just kidding, maybe subaruparts.com or a local junkyard.

[brus brother]

Commuter is probably on the right track. Reread his posts and tighten the nut down! If as you said, you were able to loosen the nut by hand, it was too losse and allowing the arm to slip. The system is designed to prevent a stuck wiper from burning out the wiper motor. I had the same situation this past winter after pushing heavy snow. Tigthened the nut (as per Commuter's suggestion) and I've been happy since.

[frag]

Peculiar thing about my wipers.
On at least two occasions this winter i started the car with the wiper switch still on and the wiper blades frozen to the the windshield.
Each time the motor, after a brief attempt to move the wipers, sort of tripped itself shut without any damage to the wipers mechanism.
Is this built in or am I just lucky?
One of my friend who owns a Mazda broke something in the mechanism each time the same thing happened to him.

[kevinsUBARU]

FleetAdmiral: Check your email for info on a Syracuse meet TODAY AT NOON!!!!!!!

http://forums.nasioc...25&pagenumber=1

Kevin

[kevinsUBARU]

Guess you didnt get the email or you were busy...Ill post a seperate topic next time around (few weeks). It was good...1 SVX (from rockland county no less...just north of NYC), my L, a handful of 98-01 Impreza RS's, about 4-5 WRX's, and a STi.

Kevin