The wipers on our 2000 Accord ( 104k miles ) seem to have been infested with a malevolent spirit. Sometimes they work correctly. Sometimes they repeatedly slap the cowling. And, sometimes, they extend so far the driver?s side wiper is off the windshield. There appears to be no pattern to this behavior.
I plan to replace the wiper motor. But first, I thought I?d ask: Is there was a magic spell to remove the poltergeist?
Cheers,
Roger
I was listening to that car talk episode where they talked about a Wiper Transmission. Maybe that? It sounds right
Thanks, I was thinking the same thing. It is easier to buy, and replace, the motor and transmission than replace or rebuild the transmission. Do they even sell wiper transmission rebuild kits?
Before you replace the wiper motor, remove the wiper arms from their stub shafts. The stub shafts and the wiper arms are splined. If the splines in the wiper arms are stripped out, there’s no telling what the wipers will do when they’re operated.
Tester
Good point, thank you. I will check the splines first!
My daughter had a Civic with floppy wipers. The plastic bushings that the wiper arms (the ones that reach from the motor thingie across the car to the wiper pivot) were worn, one was missing entirely. Of COURSE you can’t buy just the bushings, but I think I spent a whopping $50 to replace the arms. And it worked! From then until she totalled it, the wipers were smooth and quiet like a new Honda.
Thanks Revill. Are you referring to the plastic / vinyl bushings that are part of the wiper arms and attach to the posts?
One other suggestion to look at. The pin and holes at the point where the arm is articulated and held down by eth spring cam become corroded, worn and loose. That can cause these symptoms. I had to replace the arms on an old pickup once because of this.
Yup.
UPDATE - The splines on these wiper arms are metal. When I went to buy new arms, the dealer ( mechanic / parts salesman ) suggested: “98% of the time the problem is the nuts have backed off.” He strongly suggested I try tightening the nuts first. I put on new wiper blades. I made sure the arms were in the “down” position, where aligned correctly and tightened the nuts. The problem remains.
I am definitely leaning to a transmission problem for this reason: If the windscreen is slightly wet the wipers work fine. If there is a lot of moisture or you switch to the fast position, the wipers slap the cowling and the driver’s side wiper extends beyond the wind screen.
Any idea how difficult it will be to reaplce the wiper motor ( the transmission is attached )?
Bump - Any other thoughts would be helpful. Thanks!
Turns out the problem was with the wipers arms under the cowling. There are two of the “secondary” arms and they have plastic ends. They wear over time and need to be replaced. We described the problem to the mechanic we use to use but no longer leave near. They knew exactly what the problem was and fixed it in under two hours ( not including drive time of an hour each way. )
I have the same make and model and same problem!!! thank goodness I do not have to remove and replace the motor!! Can you pelase ask you mechanic for the part number?