Xsara windscreen wiper motor assembly

[JohnD]

Have just had one of the daughters on the phone this evening. She was driving home on the M23 in heavy rain when the wipers suddenly stopped working. She reports a graunching noise so presumably the motor is still working. Are there any replacable parts in the motor or is it better to source a complete assembly from a yard? Also how difficult a job is it?

[uncle buck]

I've never done the job on the Xsara but I have on other cars, it's normally not that difficult.....Famous last words

Remove the wiper arms from the spindles then the plastic panel that sits at the bottom of the windscreen to gain access to the wiper rack.

The wiper spindles can become tight in their sockets due to corrosion, these come apart and you can clean them up and re grease them. The linkages are normally a ball & socket affair so these also can be lubricated.

I think I would have a look at the rack before I went and got one from the scrappy as the one one the car may just need a bit of fettling.


Good luck.

[JohnD]

Right! I've got the assembly off the car and one of the ball joints has come apart. It pushes back together again but it wouldn't take much for it to come adrift again. Anybody know if it's possible to make a more permanent repair.

[JohnD]

Since nobody has any experience of repairing faulty ball joints, I've concluded that it doesn't often happen so have gone for a breaker's one. I found a suitable assemby on ebay for £28 icluding P&P. Job done!!

[Xantidote]

Hi John, just curious. Was the ball rusty and corroded, or a lack of lubrication, or a worn plastic socket perhaps?

[JohnD]

The ball seems to have rusted away. There was certainly a lot of rust in the socket, but nothing to hold it together.