Hello all,
my wipers stopped working this week. On inspection a ball and socket connector had come undone on the linkage mechanism. I re-attatched it but it came off again after about 5 wipes. On searching the forum it seems that the spindles corroding are the culprit and so it was, they were really stiff and quite hard to get apart. So I stripped down the whole mechanism and cleaned and greased everything.
The parts department of the local dealers wasn't open when I went on Saturday morning even though on the Fiat website they are listed as being open from 8.15 to 12.00, so that was a wasted 16 mile round trip. My son called today with this picture

only to be told that they couldn't possibly identify a part from that and anyway they can only supply a whole mechanism which will be £55 + VAT.

Now to me that seems a bit ridiculous. Why would I want to spend £55 and replace the whole mechanism when all that is wrong is a little plastic part that I am told can be replaced in about two minutes.
So my question is does anyone know if I can get one of these from anywhere and if so do you have a part number please? I don't need the whole arm but I will get that if I need to. It's the little arm that fastens onto the wiper motor by the way.
Otherwise is there a RELIABLE way of bodging it please?

Hope all that makes sense!

The dealer was Rayrigg Motors in Lancaster and my son reckons the storeman was a right narky old so and so who was as unhelpful as he could be.

Cheers,
Ian.

2 cable ties and a bit of grease will effect a temporary repair that will last for a while

there should be a little plasic bit on that with a pin. when you fit it into the hole you turn it a little and the pin locates into a hole. mine has snapped off to.
just fit it and araldite it in place.
make sure cup is smooth on the ball. (grease it up a bit)

craigb244 said:

there should be a little plasic bit on that with a pin. when you fit it into the hole you turn it a little and the pin locates into a hole. mine has snapped off to.
just fit it and araldite it in place.
make sure cup is smooth on the ball. (grease it up a bit)

Click to expand...

The plastic bit with the pin fell to pieces. That's why I'm having a problem. Ball is greased and smooth but there is nothing to hold the linkage on any more, it kind of works but I'm not sure how long it will last.

Cheers,
Ian.

thats why i said spread on a bit of araldite. it would need to be broken to come off after that!. mine broke when converting to single wiper and mines still holding even tho the stress on that lot is MUCH higher in mine.

craigb244 said:

thats why i said spread on a bit of araldite. it would need to be broken to come off after that!. mine broke when converting to single wiper and mines still holding even tho the stress on that lot is MUCH higher in mine.

Click to expand...

Ah, right yes, I see what you mean. I might have to have a go at that. I was hoping really that I could get the proper part. It would only take a few moments to fit it and I have stripped and greased everything else up ready. It's all back in and working at the moment but looks like it will fall to pieces any moment.
Cheers,
Ian.

Found a picture. Part number 5 is what I need.




Ian.

GrumpyOldMan said:

Found a picture. Part number 5 is what I need.

Ian.

Click to expand...

Part number 5 is indeed what you want. I was told it wasn't available as a part.

Get the Araldite out.

Cheers

SPD

this is my problem, too.
as of today.
but on a '93 cinq.
sorry, but i can't understand the answer.
i have a small rubber boot (intact) and a ball joint type thing which won't hold.
i didn't notice a plastic part fall out.

what bit do i araldite?
or, how do i use a cable tie?

in idiot terms, please.

ta.

First of all you need to dismantle the two spindles that the wiper arms are on, free them up and lubricate before reassembly.

The ball on the wiper motor arm snaps into a socket on the long arm that goes to the central wiper arm.

The socket has come off because of the increased resistance of the wiper spindles due to corrosion.

It is possible that your plastic socket has worn considerably which is why it now won't snap on, but it does take a good shove, or preferably a pair of pipe grips to help snap it on.

Cheers

SPD

cheers.
i twigged the seized spindle.
sprayed some penetrating oil on.
perhaps i should strip and grease it. hmm..

there is an odd thing with the driver's wiper spindle.
maybe peculiar to my particular car.
the panel around it sort of 'wobbles'

anyway, i'll try some extra force on the ball joint.

perhaps a cable tie through the grille above?
to, sort of, hang the linkage?

again, thanks

loserscar said:

cheers.
i twigged the seized spindle.
sprayed some penetrating oil on.
perhaps i should strip and grease it. hmm..

Click to expand...

Yup, see below

loserscar said:

there is an odd thing with the driver's wiper spindle.
maybe peculiar to my particular car.
the panel around it sort of 'wobbles'

Click to expand...

Yup, its because the spindle is seized/seizing

loserscar said:

anyway, i'll try some extra force on the ball joint.

Click to expand...

Yup, skweeze the parts with something. Angled pliers or pipe grips

loserscar said:

perhaps a cable tie through the grille above?
to, sort of, hang the linkage?

Click to expand...

Nope, that won't work. The tie wrap round the ball joint idea doesn't work properly either, in my experience

The one I have done, is to drill and tap the ball, then drill a hole in the cup and insert a bolt with washer and locking fluid into it.

loserscar said:

again, thanks

Click to expand...

You're welcome

Cheers

SPD

like the clutch cable... Our italian friends dod a poo job of converting the car to our side of the road. its shocking that the drivers wiper is only held on by 1mm of steel.

i think i'm down to half a mill of steel.
better get busy with the grease.

britain should have changed to LHD while traffic was light.
sweden did it in 1967.

this car's let me down 4 times
2 clutch cables & 2 clutch linkages.
stupid.

otherwise for a 16 year old product of an italian-polish unholy union, it's not that bad at all.

GrumpyOldMan said:

Otherwise is there a RELIABLE way of bodging it please?

Click to expand...

Not if its collapsed like that, no.

GrumpyOldMan said:

The dealer was Rayrigg Motors in Lancaster and my son reckons the storeman was a right narky old so and so who was as unhelpful as he could be.

Click to expand...

Sounds about right for Rayrigg's. Service with a smile isnt the way it goes there - I always found EK's Motor Factors on the Lansil Industrial Estate in the city centre a better bet for non-'specialist' parts.

loserscar said:

this car's let me down 4 times
2 clutch cables & 2 clutch linkages.
stupid.

Click to expand...

The bushes in the gearbox tend to clag up, and that can contribute to that.

loserscar said:

perhaps a cable tie through the grille above?
to, sort of, hang the linkage?

again, thanks

Click to expand...

rallycinq said:

Nope, that won't work. The tie wrap round the ball joint idea doesn't work properly either, in my experience

Click to expand...

Actually as a roadside bodge that works really well and my car has just passed an mot with that. trick is big ties and lots of grease

So my (possibly dumb) question is, bearing in mind I'm no mechanic, how do I get in there to clean and grease the spindles (assuming that the spindles are the bits that the wipers attach onto)? I have tried to get the bulkhead carpet off, do I need to take out the airbox (gulp) and the battery first(double gulp)? Any help is appreciated. It is the ball joint which has come loose but not completely off the motor arm assembly, the black plastic nobble looks to be intact and still attatched

Battery out, yes. Its not difficult. Disconnect the negative (Earth) cable first.

Air cleaner out, yes. Its not difficult, just a couple of bolts.

Carefully release carpet and all will be revealed.

Cheers

D

Thank you D for your kind help. I did the above, couldn't get the carpet out properly, then couldn't get it back in again properly, bust thumbnail, didn't get close to the linkage. Laughing about it now , wasn't laughing at the time. Going to call local mechanics in the morning! Ah well. . At least I tried ! Thanks anyway for the advice.