1995 Chimaera - Wiper Problem
Discussion
Driving up the road in the rain the other day and my driver side wiper decided to stop working and then get tangled up with the passenger one! Now I have a working passenger wiper but the drivers stays still. I'm guessing the linkage is broken but would anyone know how I go about checking it/taking it apart etc? I've opened the bonnet and had a look at the black grill under the windscreen but the linkage seems to be in a housing that is impossible to access. Any help would be much appreciated.
Start by removing the strap that holds the wiper motor (the nuts are held in on my 1995 Chimaera so no need to scrabble around in the footwell).
Then remove the wiper arms
Twist the wiper motor over carefully (you may need to disconnect he cables) so that you can see the cover plate.
Remove the four (from memory) small screws/bolts and remove the cover
Under it you will see a big worm driven cog with a crank joining it to a bar/cable that disappears into the bulkhead.
Undo the nut around the cable
Gently lift the cable out and the crank off the cog
Slowly pull the inner cable out of the tube. It may help to rotate the passenger side wiper mount.
The cable will come all the way out eventually and be long enough to reach past the drivers side wiper post. If it does not then it has snapped and that is the issue (you will need to remove the broken part as I don't believe there is enough room to just poke it out the end with a new cable.
However it is unlikely that this will have snapped.
Inspect the wire that is wrapped around the cable for damage. This may indicate a problem due to wear or slippage.
This spiral wire engages with crude cogs on the bottom of the wiper posts. If these are stripped (which I have seen on a different car that uses the same system) then they will either need to be replaced, which the problem is getting to the, or if you are lucky you and rotate them so that a different good part of the cog engages with the spiral wire.
Before reassembly, and trying to get a good bit of the cog to engage, give it a good clean, including the inside of the pipe by cleaning the wire, then running it through the tube, the removing it and repeating until it comes out clean and regressed it.
If you need to replace the wheel boxes then the hard part will be getting to them. Thankfully I have not had to do this so don't know how to get to them.
A bit wordy but hopefully it will point you in the right direction.
When you see it is is a lot more obvious.
Then remove the wiper arms
Twist the wiper motor over carefully (you may need to disconnect he cables) so that you can see the cover plate.
Remove the four (from memory) small screws/bolts and remove the cover
Under it you will see a big worm driven cog with a crank joining it to a bar/cable that disappears into the bulkhead.
Undo the nut around the cable
Gently lift the cable out and the crank off the cog
Slowly pull the inner cable out of the tube. It may help to rotate the passenger side wiper mount.
The cable will come all the way out eventually and be long enough to reach past the drivers side wiper post. If it does not then it has snapped and that is the issue (you will need to remove the broken part as I don't believe there is enough room to just poke it out the end with a new cable.
However it is unlikely that this will have snapped.
Inspect the wire that is wrapped around the cable for damage. This may indicate a problem due to wear or slippage.
This spiral wire engages with crude cogs on the bottom of the wiper posts. If these are stripped (which I have seen on a different car that uses the same system) then they will either need to be replaced, which the problem is getting to the, or if you are lucky you and rotate them so that a different good part of the cog engages with the spiral wire.
Before reassembly, and trying to get a good bit of the cog to engage, give it a good clean, including the inside of the pipe by cleaning the wire, then running it through the tube, the removing it and repeating until it comes out clean and regressed it.
If you need to replace the wheel boxes then the hard part will be getting to them. Thankfully I have not had to do this so don't know how to get to them.
A bit wordy but hopefully it will point you in the right direction.
When you see it is is a lot more obvious.
If the gear on the wheel box (the spindle the wiper fixes to) is stripped (they are Nylon) then you will have to replace the wheel box.
I did not know how you would do this but my Chim (Rob) currently has no dash in so I had a look at the problem.
With the dash top removed you should be able to see what is shown in the first picture. It is a GF box riveted into place so I doubt you will be able to drill out the rivets unless you remove the rest of the dash.
With the box removed you should be able to access the wiper mechanism.
If one wheel box is duff it may be better to replace both sides.
A link showing info on how the whole system works... http://www.s-v-c.co.uk/wiper-systems/
Wheel boxes come with different spindle lengths I believe but in general will be less the 10 quid on ebay.
Not a quick job.
Steve
I did not know how you would do this but my Chim (Rob) currently has no dash in so I had a look at the problem.
With the dash top removed you should be able to see what is shown in the first picture. It is a GF box riveted into place so I doubt you will be able to drill out the rivets unless you remove the rest of the dash.
With the box removed you should be able to access the wiper mechanism.
If one wheel box is duff it may be better to replace both sides.
A link showing info on how the whole system works... http://www.s-v-c.co.uk/wiper-systems/
Wheel boxes come with different spindle lengths I believe but in general will be less the 10 quid on ebay.
Not a quick job.
Steve
Got exactly the same problem, drivers side is not connected in anyway. I've got the top of the dash off but I don't want to have to remove the entire top half as I've done that before and it's no fun.
The wheel box should be accessible from the engine bay if I cut a hole and make an access panel but I wanted to check that there is not a more sensible way of doing this before starting to cut.
The wheel box should be accessible from the engine bay if I cut a hole and make an access panel but I wanted to check that there is not a more sensible way of doing this before starting to cut.
Tread resurrection.
Looks like i need to access the wiper box by cutting a hole through the bulkhead.
I have already removed the dash but not 100% sure where to cut the hole.
With the middle part of the dash off (so the windscreen vents are still there) I can line up about where i need to be but it seems a long way from the wiper box, am i in the right place?
Any photos would help
Looks like i need to access the wiper box by cutting a hole through the bulkhead.
I have already removed the dash but not 100% sure where to cut the hole.
With the middle part of the dash off (so the windscreen vents are still there) I can line up about where i need to be but it seems a long way from the wiper box, am i in the right place?
Any photos would help
I did cut from the interior in the end as it was easier than doing it from the engine bay side and you cannot see the cut made after.
Just cut a hole near the wiper wheel box looking from inside the car with the dash top off and looking at the wiper wheel box from through the windscreen and you will find it. I had to cut a large rectangle just like the factory started doing on later cars.
I found it a lot easier when I disconnected most of the wiring and moved the loom out of the way. Was not too bad though just got to take it slow and the fibre glass is double skinned so quite a bit to go through.
Just cut a hole near the wiper wheel box looking from inside the car with the dash top off and looking at the wiper wheel box from through the windscreen and you will find it. I had to cut a large rectangle just like the factory started doing on later cars.
I found it a lot easier when I disconnected most of the wiring and moved the loom out of the way. Was not too bad though just got to take it slow and the fibre glass is double skinned so quite a bit to go through.
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