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The wipers 2
I then returned home, and began working.
The first job was to remove the worn out pivot. The first two nuts
came right off, but the third one was frozen. I wound up getting
out the Dremel Advantage tool, and using a cut off wheel to grind the
nut / stud down until I could punch the remainder of the stud through
the remainder of the nut. With this done, I cleaned up the metal
filings, and removed the drivers side pivot. The drivers side
pivot was in good shape, so I lubricated the linkage, and re-installed
the pivot and linkage. I then lubricated the linkage connections
on the new pivot, and bolted that in place. I attached the
transmission arm between the two pivots, and then removed the wiper
motor. With the motor out, I transferred the crank arm, and body
gasket to the new wiper motor, and installed it in the car. I then
installed the wiper arms temporarily, and hooked the wiring back up.
I didn't re-install the linkage arm between the motor and first pivot as
I was waiting for a new one to arrive at the parts store. I did
test the wiper motor to be sure it was working.
The following Friday, I had to drive my oldest daughter to
Middletown to see a doctor, and stopped at the auto parts store on the
way there to pick up the wiper linkage. Saturday morning, I set out to
install the linkage. I figured the cheapest part of the system
couldn't be all that hard to install. Boy was I wrong. I
spent an hour and a half, laying across the engine, with most of my
right forearm shoved down in the cowl trying to snap the linkage onto
the crank arm. I'm not going to detail all the failed attempts /
methods, I'll just cut to what finally worked. I used my right
hand to put the linkage arm in place, then slipped the fingers of my
left hand into the cowl under my right arm, and held the linkage in
place. Finally, I used a small pry bar inside the cowl with my
right hand to pry the cap on the linkage against the metal around the
air intake and pop the linkage into place.
In order to install the other end of the linkage on the
passengers side pivot, I had to unbolt the pivot from the cowl, and
rotate the base of it to make enough room to get the linkage cap over
the ball. A quick squeeze with a pair of pliers put it in place,
then I bolted the pivot back in place. I then removed the wiper
arms, cycled the motor to make sure it was in the park position, and
installed the arms again. The only thing left to do is repair the
broken cowl cover, and put that back in place.
The cost for this job was: Wiper Pivot, $41.00; Wiper Motor,
$91.00; Wiper Transmission Linkage, $7.00; Final cost of job $139.00,
plus about three and a half hours honest work. I will also need
new wiper blades soon. |