Yesterday I removed my instrument panel to see if I could find the cause of why my wipers stopped wiping. I could hear the wiper motor running and the wipers would twitch but no actual wiping action. I thought I would share how I repaired it. The car is an 83 380SL
Photo: wiper1.jpg shows the broken pivot point. There was only one bolt holding it in place. I don't know if the other bolt simply loosened and fell out or a person previous to me needed a bolt and used elsewhere thinking all would be well. (Well obviously not.)
Photo: wiper2.jpg shows where I had my local machine shop braze it back together.
Photos: wiper3.jpg and wiper4.jpg - The person at the machine said that this piece was "pot-metal" -- cast zinc -- but that it readily brazed back together. I got the impression, though, that this wasn't going to be good enough so I made a reinforcing plate out of a piece 1/8" steel strap to strengthen it.
Photo: wiper5.jpg shows the final result. The wiper work great again. The biggest challenge was getting the wiper arm off and back on the swivel ball.
Photo: wiper1.jpg shows the broken pivot point. There was only one bolt holding it in place. I don't know if the other bolt simply loosened and fell out or a person previous to me needed a bolt and used elsewhere thinking all would be well. (Well obviously not.)
Photo: wiper2.jpg shows where I had my local machine shop braze it back together.
Photos: wiper3.jpg and wiper4.jpg - The person at the machine said that this piece was "pot-metal" -- cast zinc -- but that it readily brazed back together. I got the impression, though, that this wasn't going to be good enough so I made a reinforcing plate out of a piece 1/8" steel strap to strengthen it.
Photo: wiper5.jpg shows the final result. The wiper work great again. The biggest challenge was getting the wiper arm off and back on the swivel ball.