AudiWorld Tech Articles

Tech Article Title	Author	Date
Slow Wiper DIY fix	x1rider	2008

I started getting the "sticking wipers" problem a few days ago and decided to fix it.
First, I marked the windshield with tape so that I could put the wipers back into the right position.

Pull the rubber strip off the 1rst firewall.

Remove the plastic piece that covers the battery.

Remove the caps, nuts, and remove the wipers.

There are 3 metal clips that hold the plastic piece at the bottom of the windshield (only one left on my car!), remove them and remove the plastic piece.

Remove the ECU plastic cover.

You can see the wiper linkage fairly well in this pic.

You can see where the 2 linkages attach to the motor, pry the 2 arms off the ball end.

Remove the 3 bolts that hold the linkage to the car (I suggest you use an extension, I ended up hitting the positive pole on my battery with the ratchet while unscrewing the bolt and I had a little spark show).

Unplug the wiper motor connection.

Wiggle, curse and scream real loud, and remove the linkage assembly from the car.

You can see how badly rusted part of the linkage was, the spindle wouldn't even turn in the bushing.

I had to knock the crap out of spindle to remove it from the bushing (there is an c-clip, a flat washer, and an o-ring, make sure you remove the c-clip and don't lose the o-ring).

Before you continue, make sure the nut will still screw on the spindle. After all that banging with the ball peen hammer, my threads were screwed up. It gave me an occasion to break-in my brand new tap and die kit and re-thread the spindle.

I sanded, filed, and cleaned everything up real well and used some molypaste I had left from my previous bearing job on the Jetta to lube the spindle.

Everything ready for re-assembly.

Reverse the instructions and put everything back in the car and... voila!!!
...or you can just buy a replacement wiper linkage and swap it!!!