Date: Sat, 6 May 2000 10:45:41 -0400
Reply-To: Carl Krucke <ckrucke@AWOD.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Carl Krucke <ckrucke@AWOD.COM>
Subject: Re: Wiper arms.
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
I thought I might try to add a couple more cents worth to the wiper arm
slipping thread, having been there done that and gotten a t-shirt on this
one too.
Completely cleaning the splines on the shaft is critical. A stiff wire
brush wasn't enough for mine, I used a machinist's scribe and literally dug
the wadded up arm metal out of all the splines. Take your time, get it all.
Also deburr/file the inside of the arm so it is back to a true cone shape.
When you put the arm back on, think about where that metal you dug out of
the splines came from. The cone shaped hole in the wiper arm is bigger than
it used to be. Because it's cone shaped, that means it will go onto the
shaft farther than it was previously. I have found that it usually will go
on so far the the stock washer under the hold down nut bottoms out on the
shaft before the arm is tight onto the splines. Tighten all you want, shear
it off if you must, the splines will not be digging in like they should
because you aren't tightening onto them anymore, only mashing the washer
onto the shaft. And, no surprise, the arm still slips on the shaft.
Blame VW? Who assumed the arm was tightening on the shaft?
What I do now is use an additional washer under the regular one to allow the
nut to be actually tightening down the arm and not just tighening against
the sholder at the top of the splines on the shaft. The hole in the washer
needs to be big enough to cler the splines, but small enough to still be
contacted by the nut & original washer. The thickness needs to be at least
enough to compensate for how much further the arm goes down on the shaft.
(more than one washer if necessary) The outside diameter obviously must be
small enough to fit inside the counterbore on the arm. I fish through my
peanut butter jar of washers until I find one with the thickness and outside
diameter I want and open up the hole with a drill.
An additional assembly trick is to use a socket or something as a driver on
the arm and give it a few love taps with hammer to set the slpines into the
arm before you even start with the nut and washer(s). This way, you can see
how far down it going, and if your new washe is thick enough. You can test
to see if if it's biting enough to hold. I also will help in not making
that tiny nut do all the work. A lot less chance of shearing the threaded
part off or stripping threads in the nut. Also don't try to tighten it with
the wiper pressing against the glass, this is also trying to pull the arm
off the shaft and interferes with the spline's seating as well.
One last thing. Rain-X works better on the Vanagon than any other vehicle
I've ever seen. It's nice to have wipers that work, but I'd rather not use
them at all.
Carl
82 Vanagon L
83 GTI
86 Scirocco
