Silly Question re: Wipers

B

Banana Bender

Registered User
89SC. Got em off, replaced wiper motor (thanks to old threads for tips), all's good. Now, the wipers are of different lengths. One writes on it "L" the other "R." Silly question: how does one take "L" & "R"? As from looking from the bumper backward, or as from looking from the driver seat?

Looking from driver seat seems to me to be the intuitive choice, but this (unless I don't have Bird wipers on the car) puts the long one on the passenger side, so it has to be positioned higher not to collide with passenger side A-pillar.

Surely, L & R aren't taken from from the perspective of bumper eye's view! I could be wrong, but that just seems counter-intuitive to me (not the first time with these cars :p ).
 
racecougar said:
L = left = driverside
R = right = passenger side

-Rod
Click to expand...

Right, that's what I would consider logical. But if I do it that way, it's all wrong. I'm thinking I don't have Bird wiper arms on the car...
 
What size blades are you using? The 89 model had 2 different sizes. I think it was 20" driver's and 24" passengers. The 90+ models used 22".
 
Banana Bender said:
89SC. Got em off, replaced wiper motor (thanks to old threads for tips), all's good. Now, the wipers are of different lengths. One writes on it "L" the other "R." Silly question: how does one take "L" & "R"? As from looking from the bumper backward, or as from looking from the driver seat?.
Click to expand...

LOL!
I always wondered about that too!

paul:D
 
Sometimes they go out of alignment for some reason even if you use the keyways to line them up. The keyway fell out of mine a couple times and they are a major PITA to get lined up.
 
S_Mazza said:
What size blades are you using? The 89 model had 2 different sizes. I think it was 20" driver's and 24" passengers. The 90+ models used 22".
Click to expand...

Mine has a (nominal) 20" on the driver's side and a 24" on the passenger's. But the 24" is too long. If I let the wiper blade down to the bottom of the windscreen, the end of it would sit on the pillar. You don't suppose it should be 22" on that side...

Anyways, the previous owner had the long one on the driver's side and the short one on the passenger's. I took them off to do said job on wiper motor and noticed that all along he'd had his L and R on the wrong way around (which would explain why the driver side wiper used to collide with the pillar on driver's side--it was too long).

But now that I've swapped them around, I have to have the passenger's wiper come to rest around 10" above the bottom of the windscreen. It just doesn't look right. It sits too high, not tidily near the bottom of the glass. That said, I do get a broader wipe (compared to before) with the long one on the passenger's side. So that's a positive.
 
Jeremy_K said:
Sometimes they go out of alignment for some reason even if you use the keyways to line them up. The keyway fell out of mine a couple times and they are a major PITA to get lined up.
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Oh, the keyways...hehe that little plastic piece fell out and who knows where it went!... :D
 
On a similar vein....

How do I get my wiper arms from having so much play? When they ar on, they'l sometimes come up to the driver's A pillar and then down past and OVER the cowl and damaging themselves and the cowl over time :(

Can something be tighened?
 
JStudrawa said:
On a similar vein....

How do I get my wiper arms from having so much play? When they ar on, they'l sometimes come up to the driver's A pillar and then down past and OVER the cowl and damaging themselves and the cowl over time :(

Can something be tighened?
Click to expand...

Sounds like you are missing the little plastic keyway key, that is also used to position the wiper. I've been missing one of my keys for a very long time (maybe since the car was purchased by me) and it is difficult to install the wiper in the correct position. The splines will hold without the key, but I suspect over time (and many removals) they will wear out and not hold as well.

Edit: just read some of the other replies that already mentioned the keyway.
 
In response to the question about the play in the wipers: There may be worn bushings in the wiper linkage. Take the wiper arms and top cowl panel off, then you can inspect it. If need be, you could reinstall the wiper arms at that point and watch for movement.

FYI: Keep your hands far away from the linkage. You could literally lose a finger. I almost did, because I had the wipers on delay and forgot they were on. (Oops)
 
S_Mazza said:
In response to the question about the play in the wipers: There may be worn bushings in the wiper linkage. Take the wiper arms and top cowl panel off, then you can inspect it. If need be, you could reinstall the wiper arms at that point and watch for movement.

FYI: Keep your hands far away from the linkage. You could literally lose a finger. I almost did, because I had the wipers on delay and forgot they were on. (Oops)
Click to expand...
Good point, I didn't even think about the linkage.
 
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