Techno Duck

Hello everyone and wishing a Happy New Year to all. The windshield wiper on my '94 E320 stops working after being on 15-20 minutes (in the rain). It stays seized up the balance of the trip. It takes overnight to cool down (?) and it works again for a few minutes before it runs slower and slower and finally stops again. Anyone with the same problem before? What would the fix be? Thanks!

myfirstbenz

you need to lube it or lose it. My 400E had the same problem so i took all of the plastic off that I needed to access the wiper motor and linkage, i lubed all of the moving parts as well as the hydraulic piston that is on the arm itself, and once I had it all back together it was better than new, more quiet and moved faster. Something i need to do to my 300TE now just as a maintenence issue. If you don't do this you may run the risk of burning out your wiper motor.

rcltrh

Yup just needs lubed. Search this forum or the benzworld forum. There is a complete how-to article with pics. Simple 10 minute job. Basically pull downward on the plastic rectangular cover right above the BIG oval plastic cover until it slips off (held on by molded plastic pressure groove), then slip your hands under each side of the big oval cover and gently pry outwards while lifting and it will pop off. Then take some degreaser and and rag and clean off the 2 metal slides and accompanying parts, regrease the slides and assembly with a good grade grease with moly or similar durablend (I use Valvoline Durablend wheel bearing packing grease - the black kind) in it that won't dry up. Reassemblecovers in reverse order and you're good to go. Need to do this every couple years with those monowipers.

Techno Duck

Thanks much for info, I better work on this immediately, forecast is rain tomorrow and wednesday (L.I., NY). Sounds like not too time consuming a job. Regards.

myfirstbenz

So, Technoduck, how did it go? solve the prob?

Kestas

Maybe this can help:
Maintaining monowiper

Techno Duck

thanks guys, the job was easier than i thought. i cleaned the piston rod, rails and rollers using "gumout" spray. then i used "crc track lubricant" spray to lube the rails, rollers, and the piston shaft. i never saw the wiper go so fast before after the cleaning job. thanks again to all!

Holson

I had to do this too and I used ATF to lubricate the shaft that goes through the bushing and it worked great again!

I read somewhere that ATF is good in it, but I don't know? Maybe I'll take it apart again and use something else?

Like your choice of cars! a 944 and a 124. I had an 86 turbo but it got stolen...

rcltrh

Glad it worked for you. Saved you a pretty penny at the dealership. They wont clean the mechanism, they just replace it with a new $700 wiper assembly. Given the setup (with some moisture getting pulled into the piston-like bushing with every use) it should be done every year or two ideally or whenever you begin to notice it not going as fast as it is now.

Kestas

ATF and other thin lubricants are good to free it up and get it working again, but they aren't good for the long run. It'll dry out in short order. Silicone grease (Syl-glide) is best for this application.