Technical Windscreen wiper arm reset

[Meio]

Hi all,

I can't find this exact problem in the threads, and my Google-fu is failing me too, so I really hope I can get some idea about what to do so that I can legally drive the thing before its service next week.

Essentially I can't find a position for the wipers that doesn't have them slam into the scuttle or flap off the side of the car in a knurled shaft stripping tangle.

It happened after I took the arms off, to get to the scuttle, to get to the washer hoses, because I had nothing but a dribble coming out of one nozzle (still not fixed - different story).

After fishing out the broken scuttle clips, and putting everything back together, including putting the wiper arms back on their shafts where I thought they should go, the test of the wipers resulted in them just slamming into the scuttle.

I've since taken them off, cycled the wiper controls, and reseated them (assuming that maybe they had got out of position before I fit the arms again somehow and cycling in this way would set the shafts to their park position), same problem. So I tried again, but this time setting them at the top of their sweep (based on the muck on the window), and they went the other way, both flapping completely off the right side of the screen, into another tangled mess. So I took them off again, cycled the wiper controls again, set the wiper arms in the middle of the sweep, and tried again. This time they rocked in place for a couple of seconds and then just slammed into the scuttle again.

What's going on? What am I missing? I foolishly assumed that this would be a straightforward foray under the scuttle...

If it makes any difference it's a RHD 2009 Panda 1.1 Eco Active

I'm really hoping I someone can help me understand what I'm missing.

Meio

 

[koalar]

parallel to the bottom of the windscreen

Around 30-40 mm

 

[SPORTPACK50]

Are you sure that they are fully pressed on to the spindles?

 

[koalar]

If you are looking at the windscreen the straight arm is on the right

 

[Meio]

parallel to the bottom of the windscreen

Around 30-40 mm

What is?

 

[Meio]

Are you sure that they are fully pressed on to the spindles?

Pretty sure. Why else would they slam straight into the scuttle otherwise? First couple of times I thought maybe I'd over tightened and disturbed something.

 

[koalar]

What is?

The wiper blade

 

[Meio]

The wiper blade

When?

 

[koalar]

When?

Bottom of the windscreen to the wiper blade makes no difference where as they should run parallel

If the aren’t the either on the wrong spline or the arms are the wrong way round

One is straight the other is cranked slightly

 

[koalar]

When?

This one is 45 the drives is 35mm

 

[Meio]

View attachment 418242
This one is 45 the drives is 35mm

Okay?

 

[Meio]

Bottom of the windscreen to the wiper blade makes no difference where as they should run parallel

If the aren’t the either on the wrong spline or the arms are the wrong way round

One is straight the other is cranked slightly

They went back on how they came off. The big one on the driver's side about where they were originally and the small one on the passenger side, likewise.

 

[varesecrazy]

Hi
Not a common system to fail.. but try this

Lift the arm up off the screen.. move it in an arc.. how much free movement

Try the other arm.. any difference??


500's can suffer this.. wear in the mechanism

But you may have a different issue?

 

[Murena]

This Thread was brought to you in association with Galt and Simpson.


(Sorry couldn't resist).

 

[Meio]

Hi
Not a common system to fail.. but try this

Lift the arm up off the screen.. move it in an arc.. how much free movement

Try the other arm.. any difference??


500's can suffer this.. wear in the mechanism

But you may have a different issue?

None really.
What effect would a worn mechanism have? Would it cause the arms to slam into the scuttle as if the whole thing were running upside down?

 

[Meio]

None really.
What effect would a worn mechanism have? Would it cause the arms to slam into the scuttle as if the whole thing were running upside down?

This has got me thinking.

While I don't remember doing so (I was focussed on other things at the time), could this effect be observed if I'd accidentally cycled the mechanism a bit while I was under the scuttle? If so how do I get it back into the correct position?

 

[koalar]

are you saying that if you took both arms off

You switch the wipers on then off so they park

You put a black marker down the top spline

That if you do a single sweep of the wiper it passed the 12 o’clock position towards 1 o’clock if so at which part of it’s cycle, Start or end

 

[koalar]

This has got me thinking.

While I don't remember doing so (I was focussed on other things at the time), could this effect be observed if I'd accidentally cycled the mechanism a bit while I was under the scuttle? If so how do I get it back into the correct position

Lift or take both arms off

Let it cycle and park

Easier just to take both arms off. Let it park and put the arms back so the blades are parallel to the bottom of the windscreen

30-40mm ish

 

[Meio]

Lift or take both arms off

Let it cycle and park

Easier just to take both arms off. Let it park and put the arms back so the blades are parallel to the bottom of the windscreen

30-40mm ish

As I said in my OP, that's what I've done.

 

[Meio]

are you saying that if you took both arms off

You switch the wipers on then off so they park

You put a black marker down the top spline

That if you do a single sweep of the wiper it passed the 12 o’clock position towards 1 o’clock if so at which part of it’s cycle, Start or end

Yes that's what I'm saying.

The second time I put them back I took the arms off, cycled the wiper mechanism, reseated the arms on their shafts where they should go, and then tested. Whereupon they slammed into the scuttle as if they were trying to wipe the bonnet.

I then tried some other positions to see if they helped me understand what the mechanism might be doing.