Windscreen Wipers

[Verteuil Man]

Morning all

Driving home yesterday the windscreen wipers decided to hold hands and do the twist. Luckily we were in a traffic jam and I could get out and untangle them. We are a LHD B 778 PL with 3 wipers. Looking at the front, the wiper on the left being no 1 and so on. No 1 decided to stop mid sweep so tangled with no 2. Now neither work but luckily no 3 does so I could see to get home. On inspection this morning all the connecting arms and rods are in place in the engine compartment, so I have come to the conclusion the the gearing is stripped in the 90 degree wiper rota.

Are these things a replacement part or is it all a complete unit?
Is is a Hymer or Fiat part?

Any help will be much appreciated.

 

[pappajohn]

My guess is a new unit.
Individual gears won't be available just like a regular wiper motor gearbox.

 

[Lenny HB]

The motor will be a standard car one probably Volvo, the linkages will be Hymer/Hella, there will also be a Schaudt control relay box fitted by Hymer.
Have you checked the arm has not just come loose on the spline? As if one is working normally that would be about the only thing that would affect one or two of the arms but not all of them.

 

[PP Bear]

Or have the splines on the wiper arm worn and given up. I feel your pain about the hassle and availability of spares.

Good luck.

 

[PP Bear]

The motor will be a standard car one probably Volvo, the linkages will be Hymer/Hella, there will also be a Schaudt control relay box fitted by Hymer.
Have you checked the arm has not just come loose on the spline? As if one is working normally that would be about the only thing that would affect one or two of the arms but not all of them.

Beat me to it

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[Lenny HB]

Or have the splines on the wiper arm worn and given up. I feel your pain about the hassle and availability of spares.

Good luck.

Could sort that with a drill & self tapper.

 

[Verteuil Man]

Could sort that with a drill & self tapper.

I don't think it the splines but the gearing in the 90 degree knuckle. The arms are tight at the rear.

I will give Brownhills a call and wait for the worst.

 

[Lenny HB]

I don't think it the splines but the gearing in the 90 degree knuckle. The arms are tight at the rear.

I will give Brownhills a call and wait for the worst.

It's probably a standard car part, just a case of finding which one.
If it's a ball joint that has a rod that snaps on and it comes off with the movement you can get spring repair clips for a few quid on eBay. Used one on my daughter's car about 3 years ago still working OK.

 

[Gromett]

I would have a look at the splines first as PP Bear suggested. If they have stripped everything else may seem to work.


While on the subject. I had a fight with mine, and ended up buying this tool. It has proven to be extremely handy.

£10 and doesn't take up much space in the toolbox. Don't need it often but when needed it saves so much time.

 

[PP Bear]

Careful as you go, as that looks like one heck of an expensive windscreen and are the spindles actually through it

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[peterc10]

One of the wipers on my Hymer started sweeping the front of the motorhome rather than the windscreen. Turned out it was slipping on the spine. Carefully lever off the cover and you will see a nut and spline below. Loosen the nut and pull off the wiper arm. Set it in the position it should be and do up the nut as tight as you can. That worked for us, but if it still does not work repeat, but wrap the spline with bacofoil before you put the arm back and try again.

 

[Verteuil Man]

Worth a try. New drive unit is 940.00 plus VAT. Hymer part they have me by the short and curlies.

 

[pappajohn]

Worth a try. New drive unit is 940.00 plus VAT. Hymer part they have me by the short and curlies.

Which bit of magic air do they pull these prices from?

Years ago I had an early Sangyong korando.
It had an electronic high/low transfer case actuated by a modified windscreen wiper motor.
Replacement motor unit = £500 !

 

[Gromett]

Which bit of magic air do they pull these prices from?

Years ago I had an early Sangyong korando.
It had an electronic high/low transfer case actuated by a modified windscreen wiper motor.
Replacement motor unit = £500 !

Apple also pull these crazy stunts. They pay the manufacturer to swap two pins on a bog standard chip for their sole supply. The manufacturers are not allowed to sell these altered chips to anyone else.
So if this chip blows in your device you cannot use the normal part in a board repair because the pins are in the wrong layout forcing you to get apple to repair it. However, Apple do not do board level repairs. They force you to buy an entire new motherboad which costs almost as much as the complete device.

 

[Lenny HB]

While on the subject. I had a fight with mine, and ended up buying this tool. It has proven to be extremely handy.

Essential to use a puller on a Hymer as the spindles go through the screen.

Careful as you go, as that looks like one heck of an expensive windscreen and are the spindles actually through it

It's a clearance hole through the screen but very risky without a puller.

Worth a try. New drive unit is 940.00 plus VAT. Hymer part they have me by the short and curlies.

As I said earlier they won't be Hymer parts they will be bits cobbled together from cars.

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[tonyidle]

A fault in the motor would affect all wipers equally but they would remain synchronised. You should be able to disconnect the drive arm from the motor then check that the wipers can be placed where they should be when parked. The motor simply rotates the arm and cannot cause the wipers to over-travel. Motor faults could only be a stripped gear (failure of or intermittent wiper action) or parking somewhere other than at the bottom of the screen (but not off it).

The above could be complete rubbish if later Hymers use a geared drive system .

 

[Verteuil Man]

Update chaps and chapesses. A friend came round last night and we discussed the wiper problem. Checked everything, rattled and pulled and all seemed well. As a last resort we flipped the covers off the wiper arm retaining nuts and pinched them up with a socket. No more than an eighth of a turn. Voilà. Three wipers again. Lesson learnt. Despite feel8ng tight and secure, tighten again. Saved 1,008.33.

 

[Two on Tour]

One of the wipers on my Hymer started sweeping the front of the motorhome rather than the windscreen. Turned out it was slipping on the spine. Carefully lever off the cover and you will see a nut and spline below. Loosen the nut and pull off the wiper arm. Set it in the position it should be and do up the nut as tight as you can. That worked for us, but if it still does not work repeat, but wrap the spline with bacofoil before you put the arm back and try again.

Well done Peter you were right.

 

[Two on Tour]

Update chaps and chapesses. A friend came round last night and we discussed the wiper problem. Checked everything, rattled and pulled and all seemed well. As a last resort we flipped the covers off the wiper arm retaining nuts and pinched them up with a socket. No more than an eighth of a turn. Voilà. Three wipers again. Lesson learnt. Despite feel8ng tight and secure, tighten again. Saved 1,008.33.

It's always a nice feeling to get one over on the thieving gits.

 

[PaulAndMaz]

The motor will be a standard car one probably Volvo, the linkages will be Hymer/Hella, there will also be a Schaudt control relay box fitted by Hymer.
Have you checked the arm has not just come loose on the spline? As if one is working normally that would be about the only thing that would affect one or two of the arms but not all of them.

I agree with that. It could just be the splined hole at the base of the arm/s.

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[Gromett]

Update chaps and chapesses. A friend came round last night and we discussed the wiper problem. Checked everything, rattled and pulled and all seemed well. As a last resort we flipped the covers off the wiper arm retaining nuts and pinched them up with a socket. No more than an eighth of a turn. Voilà. Three wipers again. Lesson learnt. Despite feel8ng tight and secure, tighten again. Saved 1,008.33.

Can I make a suggestion. At some point remove the wiper arms from the spline and clean them up. If they are loose it may have allowed them to oxidise somewhat, and this may cause them to loosen again in the future. Each time they loosen and go their own way they damage the spline a bit to the point where they won't grip properly. To repair this is very expensive. Don't ask me how I know

Also might want to consider some loctite.

That tool I mentioned/linked above will be handy for the removal process.

 

[Verteuil Man]

Can I make a suggestion. At some point remove the wiper arms from the spline and clean them up. If they are loose it may have allowed them to oxidise somewhat, and this may cause them to loosen again in the future. Each time they loosen and go their own way they damage the spline a bit to the point where they won't grip properly. To repair this is very expensive. Don't ask me how I know

Also might want to consider some loctite.

That tool I mentioned/linked above will be handy for the removal process.

Many thanks

 

[bigalw35]

I would NOT advise using any form of GLUE, as this may impair things in the future, use baking foil or (cut up) mince pie dishes, if all of these tricks don't work you can always revert to glue

 

[Lenny HB]

Well done Peter you were right.

Oy! I suggested it first in post#3.

 

[Two on Tour]

Oy! I suggested it first in post#3.

Yup, I note that this morning, cringed, and have been waiting for your castigation since.

Please note everyone that I formally acknowledge that Mr LennyHb was the first in this thread to suggest tightening down the wiper splines.

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[Platelet]

The motor will be a standard car one probably Volvo, the linkages will be Hymer/Hella, there will also be a Schaudt control relay box fitted by Hymer.
Have you checked the arm has not just come loose on the spline? As if one is working normally that would be about the only thing that would affect one or two of the arms but not all of them.

Yes Lenny, the Volvo units are used in many things. Believe it or not they were used for years in ambulance laerdal suction units

 

[Gromett]

I would NOT advise using any form of GLUE, as this may impair things in the future, use baking foil or (cut up) mince pie dishes, if all of these tricks don't work you can always revert to glue

I was not suggesting glue in the splines. But a small blob of loctite on the nut would prevent it loosening, but not prevent it being removed in the future. Correct application of loctite is key.

 

[Verteuil Man]

It is a job I will leave to do whilst I have some sun on my back in Spain in January. A swift clean up with a brass wire brush and a dab of Loctite on top of the retaining nut.

 

[Gromett]

It is a job I will leave to do whilst I have some sun on my back in Spain in January. A swift clean up with a brass wire brush and a dab of Loctite on top of the retaining nut.

You might need something pointy to scrape out the grooves. On mine they were filled with compacted oxidised aluminium. Took a bit of cleaning. But once clean they were nice and sharp(ish) and gripped much better.

This was after me tightening the nut down 2 or 3 times and it coming loose again or so I thought.

 

[Two on Tour]

A quick tip, mark on your windscreen with masking tape where each of your wiper blades are parked and this will help you put them back in the right place when you refit them.

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