Wipers seem slightly loose - how to fix?
Discussion
I guess we've all seen cars coming towards us that have one wiper leading the other slightly. Or perhaps it's just me. Anyway, the wipers on my new-to-me 130k-mile XC90 seem to do this very slightly. The passenger side is slightly ahead of the driver's side in the sweep and the driver's blade doesn't sweep quite as far as I think it should.
Is there a fix? Wiper mechanisms seem to be fit-and-forget with no adjustment from what I can tell, but am I correct? Can anything be done to tighten up a linkage and take up any wear?
Is there a fix? Wiper mechanisms seem to be fit-and-forget with no adjustment from what I can tell, but am I correct? Can anything be done to tighten up a linkage and take up any wear?
Threadlock
I used to work for Volvo. It’s probably an easy fix. The arms have probably slipped on the mechisim splines. Think you’l need the bonnet up. Make sure wipers are parked and turn ignition off. Lift the caps up on the wiper arms to acess the arm fixing nuts. Undo the 13mm nut. Carefully pull the wiper arm up and wiggle off the taper spline. Reinstall both wiper arms in the correct parked position and tighten the nuts securely so the arm is tight on the taper. Recheck the wipers sweep. Hope this helps
Shippers
I used to work for Volvo. It’s probably an easy fix. The arms have probably slipped on the mechisim splines. Think you’l need the bonnet up. Make sure wipers are parked and turn ignition off. Lift the caps up on the wiper arms to acess the arm fixing nuts. Undo the 13mm nut. Carefully pull the wiper arm up and wiggle off the taper spline. Reinstall both wiper arms in the correct parked position and tighten the nuts securely so the arm is tight on the taper. Recheck the wipers sweep. Hope this helps
Shippers
Shippers555 said:
The arms have probably slipped on the mechisim splines.
I would think that slipping by a spline would damage the spline and make it far more likely to slip again subsequently so the joint would soon fail. If you count the splines and divide that into 360 I think you'll find the angle per spine is quite large and not the slight angular difference described.It seems more likely to me that this is the intended behaviour and the arms are not intended to be parallel.
GreenV8S said:
I would think that slipping by a spline would damage the spline and make it far more likely to slip again subsequently so the joint would soon fail. If you count the splines and divide that into 360 I think you'll find the angle per spine is quite large and not the slight angular difference described.
I dunno about XC90s per se, but the splines are usually much harder than the wiper arms themselves - intentionally. Sometimes, it can be worth going over the spindle, and cleaning all the splines out with a knife blade or similar, then repositioning the arm. Often, the arms themselves aren't splined - the splines have merely been cut into it by the spindle.The other usual cause is wear in the mechanism's linkages, but something like an XC90 may well have individual stepper motors, like so much vaguely modern multiplexed stuff.
Thanks for the replies.
The wipers seem to park properly. When they're sweeping they're perhaps less than an inch out of sync. They're not fouling each other - it's just a feeling I have that one is a bit behind the other. Added to the fact that the driver's wiper sweeps maybe 1/2 inch shorter than it should.
I don't think such a small angle could be fixed by rotating a wiper arm to another spline on the spindle - it'd jump much further than 1/2 inch, surely? I might try this though, and it's a good excuse to buy another tool
The wipers seem to park properly. When they're sweeping they're perhaps less than an inch out of sync. They're not fouling each other - it's just a feeling I have that one is a bit behind the other. Added to the fact that the driver's wiper sweeps maybe 1/2 inch shorter than it should.
I don't think such a small angle could be fixed by rotating a wiper arm to another spline on the spindle - it'd jump much further than 1/2 inch, surely? I might try this though, and it's a good excuse to buy another tool
The splines on the wiper mechanism only help the aluminium wiper arm grip the coned shaft so it doesn’t slip as easy. There are no splines on the wiper arm it’s self so it can be positioned at any angle. The nut squeezing the two cones together does the securing but angled cones can slip if the tension isn’t enough. There are many reasons they come loose. I.e the softer Aluminium bruises over time,aluminium contracts more with temperature more than the shaft or Sometimes if the wiper arms have just been taken off, (e.g windscreen replacement ) and who ever put them back on didn’t quite get the torque right on the nut, either way they can slip.
Reposition and tighten firmly.
Reposition and tighten firmly.
Did this yesterday and it worked fine. Happy days.
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