Volvo Owners Club Forum - Wiper spindle (shaft) seized

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Wiper spindle (shaft) seized

In the excellent 940FAQ there is this ;

Quote:

[Response: Richard Klasic] It's hard to describe but the wipers are mounted on the shaft going through a bushing. After years of usage. this bushing becomes dry and corroded making the wipers move more slowly until they freeze completely. You need to take out the shafts and polish them gently with sandpaper and then lube the shaft with a grease that doesn't go away with water. You can always unhook the motor from the ball joint to the wipers and see if it runs fine. I bet it does. This was the case on my wipers on the old 760 I had. It really squeeked when running. And after 15 minutes hammering at the tap with a plastic hammer and lot of WD-40 it finally came loose. After my operation WOW the wipers were dead silent and swept like lightning over the windshield.

I need to do the same. I've bolded my problem.
I do not know how to remove the shaft from the alloy bushing.
The whole assembly is out of the car,
the wiper motor itself is removed and works.

Oh! There's a circlip.

Circlip pliers : don't have any.

I should buy some tomorrow then ...

Use marine grease you'll be repeating the job again next spring.

A drop of synthetic ATF mixed 50/50 with acetone works as a great pentrating fluid.
After that, a few drops of synth ATF will help prevent future seizure and electrolytic corrosion between the steel shaft and alloy housing. :thumbs_up:

I think all the corrosion was due to rust around the cowl hole aggravating the alloy beneath.
I got the circlip off with help from my wife : I used two hard steel strips bevelled to act as a circlip plier and she jammed a screwdriver in when a gap appeared.
Hammering and lubrication eventually got the rod out.
I sanded it inside and removed the rust from the rod, thing is really smooth now.
I'm going to ensure a good protection from water entering and check it every year.

Job done though!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby (Post 2543201)

Yet another use for the Laird's favourite automotive chemical additive!

Seized Wiper Spindle

This seems to be a common problem on many makes of car of a certain age.

Not had it on my Volvo yet but it happened on the Mk4 VW Golf. Took a couple of days to sort out and also managed to break the end off the circlip but it is now still working with the broken one.

Quote:

Originally Posted by turboboy (Post 2543383)

Once upon a time, it was a service item to lube wiper spindles, just a drop or two of engine oil was the usual recommendation.

However, as time went by, sealed for life units came along but some of these still needed lube on the spindles. They were however ignored at sevice time.

You know the rest of the sorry tale! :tounge_smile:

In fact this has reminded me i really should do mine again. :thumbs_up:

Good tip Dave thanks .... I must do it as never thought about it. Guess a few drops of 3 in 1 will do the job around the spindle as don't want to fiddle around taking the arm off and re-setting it. Bob :)