Wiper Transmission Arm Bind

[TonyC]

Okay, one of these days I can move on from fixing these wipers. Like I posted before, I did the 2 speed wiper w/delay upgrade, and everything worked great...as far as when the windshield was dry I now find out. It was rainy the other day, and I was all psyched to use my upgraded wipers for real. But, they worked great for a few wipes and then they got stuck when they were all the way to the left. I reached under the dash and pulled down on the right side transmission arm where it connects to the pivot and they freed up. But only to return, wipe and get stuck again.

The transmission arm bushings (on both ends/both arms) seem like they are in good shape, and fit on the pivot arm (and motor arm) nice without any wiggle room or slop. The bind comes when the wipers themselves are at the far left wipe, and the transmission arm and the pivot are both to the right, almost parallel to each other. Like I said, If I give it a little tug down, they free up. Now I see why the PO of Alan McClennan's truck put this spring on his wiper arm. That slight bit of pressure from the spring would free them up easily. But, before resorting to such tactics (and finally getting me past the freaking wipers, and onto another area of needed repair) does anyone have any ideas on what causes this and how to fix it? Could the pivot arms be bent a little? The arms twisted a little?

[William-in-St George]

Thr transmission arms are not the same length. I have also found that sometimes the binding arm can be tweaked a bit (bent) to alighn it better. Remove the wiper arms and run the system observing where it is hanging up. Sometimes just switching position of the arms on the motor pivot helps. Sometimes I have added those tiny washers and made the transmission arms to tight on the pivots. A little loosnes is OK. Kind of adds to the old truck feeling when you are going down a rainy road with the wipers slapping time.

[TonyC]

Ah yes, we meet again!

Going to check it out, and give it a try. Thanks!

[Blackwaterforge]

I had a 65 do that 30 years ago.
I could put my hand out the window and let the wiper bump against my fingers on the windshield and they would return.
Otherwise they would stop at extreme left.
The little plastic gear in the motor had worn down until it did not mesh well.
Replaced the gear and never had any more problems.

[TonyC]

Thanks for the input. I ended up taking off both arms last night to check them out. (They are both the same length) The passenger side arm is the the problem. The angle of one of the end was off , and needed a little tweaking to stop it from binding. It works now, but I did notice that one of the bushings are a little worn on one end as well. So I will be ordering a pair.

[William-in-St George]

Order a pair from Carpenter. He sells the correct length 12 1/2 inches Right (black) and 12 1/4 left (silver). The change in length solves he premature wear out issue. Lube the new ones before you install them! Whileyour at this check the condition of the pivots. Sloppyness here will cause noisy wipers and proper parking issues. AS I might add will using equal length transmission arms. IMHO!

[TonyC]

...The change in length solves he premature wear out issue. Lube the new ones before you install them! Whileyour at this check the condition of the pivots. Sloppyness here will cause noisy wipers and proper parking issues. AS I might add will using equal length transmission arms. IMHO!

This brings up a good point, as the ones on my are both the same length. Why do you think that equal length arms cause more wear?

As for the pivots, they were loose, so I had to peen the ends to tighten them. Nice and tight now, but I may end up putting a spot weld on them if they loosen again. New ones are way to expensive.