(G) Wiper Motor

I am wondering does anyone have the problem of the wiper over shooting the windscreen. This happens slightly on my Uno but on my Wife's it's a lot worse and a failure on MOT. It looks to be caused by play on the motor shaft that connects to the wiper arm.. I can catch the wiper and move it up and down. I tried the local scrap yards but the motors there are in the same state as what is on our cars. I tried ebay but no luck there either. Does anyone know is it possible to fix the wiper motors, is there anyway to tighten the shaft so there is no play on it.

Thanks.

The wiper arm could just be loose on the shaft. Position the arm where you want it to park and then open the cap at the base of the arm and tighten the 13mm nut. I've never heard of the shaft being loose, and cant think how it would happen since the mechanism is very simple.

No, the nut is tight. The play is in the shaft itself. It must be a common problem as I have seen two in a junk yard and there was play on those also.

make sure you've got the right length wiper blade on and that the arm is adjusted properly

If its the same system as in the Tipo, which is basically a big Uno, then the links holding the 2 wiper arms together are capped with plastic bushes. These can wear down and the wipers start flapping about. Get the bushes for about a fiver from a FIAT stealer.

Hellcat: the first big difference is that the Uno has only one wiper
So, there isn't any linkage.

<rant>
The Tipo is not really a big Uno - the basic construction is very different (e.g. lack of roof rails, clever door and bonnet hinges, bonnet shape, panel attachment, underbonnet structure (big gaps), seats and trim all secured differently, and absolutely no electrical bits in common!)

The Croma, on the other hand, is more like a big Uno. Compare, say, a Croma rear light with an Uno rear light, and a Tipo rear light. The Tipo is a much more modern, sealed design.
</rant>

This is only possibly of interest to someone who has worked on a number of different FIATs and studied their strengths and weaknesses!

Now meanwhile, does the Uno wiper spindle have slackness just in twisting, or up-and-down as well? If you can move the spindle up and down, you might have to consider enlarging the hole in the housing, and using a very thin piece of metal (such as a feeler gauge blade) to wrap around the shaft and eliminate the clearance.

But really, I believe this is a rare condition, even if you have found another like it! There is always a certain amount of movement at the wiper blade. I just went out to my garage and measured 6cm free play at the end of the blade. But I could not detect any up-down movement in the spindle - only the twisting.

If you open up a wiper motor, you'll see that there are gears inside to modulate the speed of the wiper. There is a crank, but also these gears to sweep the wiper faster in the middle of the travel than at the ends. The gears live in a big splodge of grease and you will not detect any wear. So, the slackness comes down to it being made in Italy, where no-one cares about such details. If you would like the wipers to be smooth and precise, you'll have to buy a Japanese car.

-Alex

There is play up and down on the wiper motor. When the wiper is turned off it rests just past the windscreen. The nut on the wiper arm is tight and there is play on the shaft. I will remove the wiper motor and see what is causing this. My wifes 94 Uno is a lot worse than mine.

I don't like Jananese cars, too reliable and boring. They are for school teachers.

I'll consider myself told...

oops - sorry to hurt your feelings Hellcat...

-Alex