dsgi

The wipers on my 1991 Maxima broke (during a heavy rain storm of course). The arms came to an abrupt halt – but I can hear the wiper motor still runs (thumping sound). The wiper arms are no longer connected to the wiper motor, they can be moved freely. The wiper arms are still tied together internally (if you move one, the other moves).

I figured it was either; 1) the plastic cup that couples to the linkage arm to the wiper motor, or 2) the linkage arm from the wiper motor broke. I pulled the wiper motor this morning – the ball joint between the linkage and the wiper motor was intact. I separated the joint and I can tell that the actual linkage arm that connects the wiper motor to the linkage has either broken or has become disconnected. I cannot get the arm out though the hole for the wiper motor.

How do I get access to the wiper linkage ? I have the Nissan service manual – there is no diagram. Do I need to rent a plasma cutter to remove a portion of the firewall. Perhaps I have to remove the entire dash board and instrument cluster to get access through the inside of the car. It almost looks like the wiper linkage can’t be serviced. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Dan

ntjoe

Been there. Just remove the both wiper arms entirely, then the plastic cover has like 6-8 screws just below the windshield all the way across. Then remove it gently...its a little hard to manuever it out around the hood hinges but not too hard. Then you can see down in there, and reach in and reattach the wipers to the plastic cup. At least thats all the was wrong with mine. You might need a new cup, but its really not hard to get in there.

Good Luck! Joe

-shock211-

iTrader: (1)

i had the same thing happen to me too.
i replaced the linkage arms from the motor as well.

dsgi

Thanks for the posts, I went to the dealer today during lunch and got the replacement linkage arm. Luckily, they had one in stock. It comes with new plastic bushings at both ends - about $15. The parts guy said 99.9% of the time this fixes the problem. Even if the linkage arm just popped off at one end, I would like to have the new bushings (just to be on the safe side). So I will take off the wiper arms and the black plastic cover and replace the linkage arm this weekend.

Thanks again,
Dan

dsgi

It’s all fixed. The linkage arm was not broken, one of the ball joints simply popped off. I replaced the arm anyway. It was not fun, but it did not take as long as I thought. I am surprised how little pressure is required to pop the ball joints on the linkage arms. I’m also surprised they don’t pop off more often. This car has 156K miles (I got it with 30K), so it does not owe me anything.

Thanks,
Dan

goon9

iTrader: (13)

The driver side linckage was messed up on mine, So I ripped it off. So now I have this single(larger) wiper that ****es off all these VW drivers for some reason.