Broken bolts on wiper arm stud plate thingy

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MtnGoat
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Broken bolts on wiper arm stud plate thingy

Post by MtnGoat »

I don't know what you call this thing, it's the plate/bearing assembly which holds the stud you bolt the drivers wiper arm to. When you remove the grille to get to the wiper assembly there are course two of these plates, one on each side. Three bolts come up from beneath around the wiper PTO, and hold the plate in from the bottom. In the center of the plate is the wiper drive bolt/stud whatever.

Over the weekend I wondered why my wiper didn't park in the same place and it appeared to have weird travel. Then other times it would run right and park right. I didn't get around to looking at it until tonight. The drivers side unit is held in with one of the three bolts, the others are presumably snapped. You can grab the base of the wiper and wobble it all over as a unit.

So...what's the trick? It looks like magic in there, fingers don't fit, a bunch of long rods doing some weird thing in places you can't see. If I pull the wiper motor clip and get the pushrods off the motor stud, what then? do I just plan on doing the passenger side regardless and remove both, no matter what? If I do, does the entire system just slide out to one side as it looks like it might? I can't get over the suspicion that as tight as it seems in there, there must be a trick and it's not that bad.

OR...will I wind up in some late evening torture session trying to balance tiny nuts on fingertips held at weird angles in impossible places, in order to even get it reassembled? This is kind of odd, in 3 decades of 510's, Roadsters, and Z, I've never ever had to mess with the wiper mechanism.

My sorta plan at this point, having not touched it yet, is to get some tiny stainless bolts and simply recreate what's there now after drilling out the busted off ones.

Ideas?
datzenmike
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Re: Broken bolts on wiper arm stud plate thingy

Post by datzenmike »

Sounds like the wiper pivot, it's held by 3 metric 5x0.8 studs. These break easily when trying to loosen the nuts. Never tried drilling them out. They may be pressed in like wheel studs? Can you punch them out???
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S15DET
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Re: Broken bolts on wiper arm stud plate thingy

Post by S15DET »

The assembly will lift right out when the nuts are removed. Shouldn't be any trick. You'll have to slip off a few ring clips, but no real magic. If the studs are broken you should be able to drill/grind them off and replace them with M5 screws. The parking is adjusted at the motor, look under the small cover and you'll see the adjustable "bump" where the circuit is broken.
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510wizard
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Re: Broken bolts on wiper arm stud plate thingy

Post by 510wizard »

Also while you are removing the wiper stuff to replace the broken studs, you should remove the wiper pivot shafts from the plates and clean and regrease them. At this point in their life they are on the verge of freezing up(old dried up grease). Clean and grease the bearings on the arms too. After doing this you will probably find that the speed of the wiper has increased.
datzenmike
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Re: Broken bolts on wiper arm stud plate thingy

Post by datzenmike »

Good point. I did mine on my 620 and they were very tight to begin with.
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kayakdude07
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Re: Broken bolts on wiper arm stud plate thingy

Post by kayakdude07 »

S15DET wrote:If the studs are broken you should be able to drill/grind them off and replace them with M5 screws.
I just harvested studs from a parts car and pressed them in where I pressed out the broken studs.
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MtnGoat
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Re: Broken bolts on wiper arm stud plate thingy

Post by MtnGoat »

Wow, I didn't expect this much info. Thanks guys, I guess I'll rip into it and see what happens!
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hang_510
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Re: Broken bolts on wiper arm stud plate thingy

Post by hang_510 »

510wizard wrote: After doing this you will probably find that the speed of the wiper has increased.
i got both speeds back after greasing mine.


i have fixed a broken pivot w/JB weld, but not a bolt.
you should be able to find these avail used
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okayfine wrote:Sense doesn't always have everything to do with it, and I speak from experience.
MtnGoat
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Re: Broken bolts on wiper arm stud plate thingy

Post by MtnGoat »

both pivots were running two bolts, both of which were loose. I could wiggle both easily from the wiper arm.

On top of that, the drivers pivot plate was missing an ear, so JB weld time. I'll back the split with a splint of 1/8" aluminum plate in an appropriate shape, and hit the works with JB. It should be good, right? Get it all clean first, and that's about it, other than let it cure in the house where it's a decent temperature.

what lube should I hit the pivot itself with...white lithium? what about the ball knuckles?
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Re: Broken bolts on wiper arm stud plate thingy

Post by MtnGoat »

I scraped away crud until I found the circlip I knew must be in there, then removed the pivot from it's stud. Here's a shot of the damage. I know the broken off bit is upside down with respect to the pivot, don't worry I won't JB it on like that!
busted wiper pivot.JPG
busted wiper pivot.JPG (46.56 KiB) Viewed 4747 times
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hang_510
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Re: Broken bolts on wiper arm stud plate thingy

Post by hang_510 »

MtnGoat wrote:I know the broken off bit is upside down with respect to the pivot, don't worry I won't JB it on like that!
you say that now...


mine had similiar damage...

i used bearing grease. packed it so the little notch/groove was filled.
byron wrote:I'd be all over that like a fat kid on a smartie.
okayfine wrote:Sense doesn't always have everything to do with it, and I speak from experience.
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510wizard
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Re: Broken bolts on wiper arm stud plate thingy

Post by 510wizard »

Be sure to clean out the bearing hole real well, I have seen the grease in there basically solid. Use lacquer thinner with a gun cleaning brush. I use a thin moly grease. Don't use a thick grease , because it will get thicker when the temperature drops.
MtnGoat
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Re: Broken bolts on wiper arm stud plate thingy

Post by MtnGoat »

Repair is done. Graphic came out nice. Tomorrow it goes back in.
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WIPER.JPG
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MtnGoat
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Re: Broken bolts on wiper arm stud plate thingy

Post by MtnGoat »

Well, it went back together fine after 15 minutes of panic. When I'd popped the retainer clip off the motor shaft I didn't exactly see where it went but I heard it drop into the wiper well area so like an idiot, I just left it there and moved on. Then I forgot about the clip and made a run to the store and back the next day. Last night when I went to look for it, I realized it had been bounced to god knows where during the drive. Having no circlip stash of any kind, this represented a problem.

After shining a light down into all the nooks and crannies in there I still couldn't see the clip, and I prayed it hadn't slid/bounced into one of the vents. I taped a couple small magnets to a dowel and went fishing where I couldn't quite see or reach, and on my third try came back up with the clip! Big sigh of relief.

Re-assembly was simple and now the wipers work better than ever. One of the pivots shafts is really worn, I'll just live with it. Here's a shot of the finished repair in all it's JB Weld gooped glory. I think it will hold up.
finished repair.JPG
finished repair.JPG (36.7 KiB) Viewed 4704 times
iceD
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Re: Broken bolts on wiper arm stud plate thingy

Post by iceD »

ttt
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