Got screeching wiper linkage? Then read on

[Paul Beazer]

Recently my wiper have been making the most god awful noise, even when the wiper arms are raised it made the noise. I think Kieran has the same problem and i suspect the rest of the UK squad may find this a useful how to.
So step by step guide to removing / refitting the wiper assembly. (Sorry no pictures, but im sure you'll be able to sus it out)

1) Remove wiper arms, drivers side has a 12mm nut, passenger side has a plastic cap over the nut. Undo the nuts, give the wiper arm a wiggle (do it with wiper arm raised, not flat against glass) and it should come away from the splines easily enough.

2) You now need to remove the plastic surround beneath the windscreen. Firstly unclip the bonnet sealing rubber at either side of the car where it clips into the body work, the easiest way is to gently pull the rubber from the retaining clip, rather than remove the actual clip as its a right fiddle. Next there are 7 round headed plastic retaining clips along the length of the surround. Dont bother trying to lever them out with a screwdiver, try and slide your finger underneath the surround and then gently move the surround from left to right whilst gently lifting upwards, the clip should release, repeat for the other 6. Then carefully unhook the surround from underneather the window rubber trim and your surround should now be free.

3)The next step is to undo both of the wiper arm pivots, there are 3 x 10mm bolts you need to undo on each. Beware! They screw into an aluminium casting, so they may be siezed, proceed with caution! I had 2 shear on me!

4) You now need to remove the wiper motor. This is located above the ABS block in the engine bay (passenger side rear on the bulkhead). 4 x 10mm bolts hold the motor in place. At this point the motor is still attached to the crank for the wiper linkage. The motor is attached to the crank by a 12mm nut. To get at the nut first you need to wiggle the crank through the hole where the wiper motor goes through the bulk head. **IMPORTANT** do not separate the motor and crank until you have marked the crank / motor in relation to each other, otherwise the wipers will not park in the correct place if the crank is not put back in the same way! Undo the nut (holding the crank still by using a large adjustable spanner to stop the crank turning on the motor, but to split the motor from the crank you may struggle as its a splined fit. I did it by tapping the crank with a screwdriver and hammer.
You should now be able to remove the motor and manipulate the wiper linkage out also.

You should now be able to work out where the noise is coming from. On mine it was the passenger side wiper pivot had all but seized. The pivots rotate within the aluminium housing on 2 plastic bushes. Soaking with penetrating fluid will not help. You need to strip the wiper pivots. Its fairly straight forward, but its a bit of a fiddle.

Just below where the splines end there is a washer, this is held in place by a small circlip, to remove this i suggest getting 2 small electrical screwdrivers and gently prising it out, with the circlip removed you should be able to push the pivot out from the aluminium housing, mine was very stiff so required some persuasion with a hammer (protect the threads by screwing a nut on the end and hitting that). Once apart the reason from the screeching was obvious, there was quite a bit of corrosion on the shaft which caused it to bind on the plastic bush. Clean it up with a bit of fine emery paper. then re-grease with some waterproof grease (i used finish line white teflon bike grease).

Refitting is pretty much the opposite of removal, please note the following points.

Ensure the aluminium housing is the right way round as once you put it together it wont rotate all the way round.

Reinstall the linkage back on the vehicle and fit the crank back on the motor (lining up the marks you made earlier). At this point only do the nuts / bolts up enough to secure everything in position. Put 1 wiper arm back on and test it to make sure it all works and parks in the correct place. If all is satisfactory tighten everything up nice and snugly and refit the plastic surround and replace the wiper arms.

Job done! Sit back and enjoy smooth, faster, quieter wipers!

Not a particulary exciting job, but it may save you having a buggered up wiper motor in the long run.

[Wodjno]

Recently my wiper have been making the most god awful noise, even when the wiper arms are raised it made the noise. I think Kieran has the same problem and i suspect the rest of the UK squad may find this a useful how to.
So step by step guide to removing / refitting the wiper assembly. (Sorry no pictures, but im sure you'll be able to sus it out)

1) Remove wiper arms, drivers side has a 12mm nut, passenger side has a plastic cap over the nut. Undo the nuts, give the wiper arm a wiggle (do it with wiper arm raised, not flat against glass) and it should come away from the splines easily enough.

2) You now need to remove the plastic surround beneath the windscreen. Firstly unclip the bonnet sealing rubber at either side of the car where it clips into the body work, the easiest way is to gently pull the rubber from the retaining clip, rather than remove the actual clip as its a right fiddle. Next there are 7 round headed plastic retaining clips along the length of the surround. Dont bother trying to lever them out with a screwdiver, try and slide your finger underneath the surround and then gently move the surround from left to right whilst gently lifting upwards, the clip should release, repeat for the other 6. Then carefully unhook the surround from underneather the window rubber trim and your surround should now be free.

3)The next step is to undo both of the wiper arm pivots, there are 3 x 10mm bolts you need to undo on each. Beware! They screw into an aluminium casting, so they may be siezed, proceed with caution! I had 2 shear on me!

4) You now need to remove the wiper motor. This is located above the ABS block in the engine bay (passenger side rear on the bulkhead). 4 x 10mm bolts hold the motor in place. At this point the motor is still attached to the crank for the wiper linkage. The motor is attached to the crank by a 12mm nut. To get at the nut first you need to wiggle the crank through the hole where the wiper motor goes through the bulk head. **IMPORTANT** do not separate the motor and crank until you have marked the crank / motor in relation to each other, otherwise the wipers will not park in the correct place if the crank is not put back in the same way! Undo the nut (holding the crank still by using a large adjustable spanner to stop the crank turning on the motor, but to split the motor from the crank you may struggle as its a splined fit. I did it by tapping the crank with a screwdriver and hammer.
You should now be able to remove the motor and manipulate the wiper linkage out also.

You should now be able to work out where the noise is coming from. On mine it was the passenger side wiper pivot had all but seized. The pivots rotate within the aluminium housing on 2 plastic bushes. Soaking with penetrating fluid will not help. You need to strip the wiper pivots. Its fairly straight forward, but its a bit of a fiddle.

Just below where the splines end there is a washer, this is held in place by a small circlip, to remove this i suggest getting 2 small electrical screwdrivers and gently prising it out, with the circlip removed you should be able to push the pivot out from the aluminium housing, mine was very stiff so required some persuasion with a hammer (protect the threads by screwing a nut on the end and hitting that). Once apart the reason from the screeching was obvious, there was quite a bit of corrosion on the shaft which caused it to bind on the plastic bush. Clean it up with a bit of fine emery paper. then re-grease with some waterproof grease (i used finish line white teflon bike grease).

Refitting is pretty much the opposite of removal, please note the following points.

Ensure the aluminium housing is the right way round as once you put it together it wont rotate all the way round.

Reinstall the linkage back on the vehicle and fit the crank back on the motor (lining up the marks you made earlier). At this point only do the nuts / bolts up enough to secure everything in position. Put 1 wiper arm back on and test it to make sure it all works and parks in the correct place. If all is satisfactory tighten everything up nice and snugly and refit the plastic surround and replace the wiper arms.

Job done! Sit back and enjoy smooth, faster, quieter wipers!

Not a particulary exciting job, but it may save you having a buggered up wiper motor in the long run.

Nice post Sure we all at 1 time will find it of use

[Paul Beazer]

K I think you may have caught yours before it got too bad, however the washer underneath the circlip prevents a lot of the lubricant reaching its target. Mine was pretty brown with rust inside, but the pivot pins look like they are hardended chromed steel and are pretty hardwearing.
The stripdown might be worth doing as preventative maintenance. My car is a W plate so the older cars may well have this creeping up on them. Oddly the other pivot was smooth as silk.

Gies some rep?!

[Beastlee]

Sorry to revive an old post but just found this as I have the same issue since the car was stood last month. I know Mark Sanne has the same issue too so hopefully he'll see the thread.

Thanks for the write-up Paul. Rep where rep is due.

[wantavr4]

I had the same problem going to japfest last year. drove for 3 hours in the pissing rain and it stoped. Had some headache after.

[Beastlee]

Was hoping mine would go with a bit of use but it just seems to change from time to time.

[aboo]

I had this when I first got my car.

I thought it was the bades so changed them & it was still there.

It has gone now with use cause they get used quite alot up here in Scotland.

[MarkSanne]

Good to see this thread (thanks Lee), saves me headaches and 'surprises' afterwards

[hardarse]

nice one mate i will be using this thread when i get time. shame no pictures cause im a rough arse and i will break something.

[666damned]

i had the same problem....couldn't get the circlip off.........so drilled a 3mm hole into side of pivot housing,just enough through to see and not damage the the splined pivot(if that makes sense.lol).soaked it in penetrating oil and 'plugged' the hole with water proof grease......cured the squealing and gives an opprotunity of re-oiling.....i know there is a chance of water ingretion...but had no other choice at the time................

[Johnny_Cashed]

Sorry to resurrect an old thread but just wanted to say thanks for the information. I just needed to respray the crappy mitsu paint on the wipers which was flaking but this gave me all the info I needed

[andyleaves]

I had the same problem...
But then I found that the idiot who had the car before, had used a passenger side arm on the drivers side...