Xantia Wipers occasional fail

rpaco · Post by **rpaco** » 07 Mar 2004, 17:06

My 1998 Xantia SX 1.9TD saloon occasionally sufferd from front wiper failure. I.E. the wipers will not start, if I give them a yank they work ok and may do for months. But just when you need them ....
I have a feeling it is do do the the parked position of the blades on the screen (or in fact the position of the rotor in the motor)but have not found how to prove this.
Is ths a known fault? does anyone have the answer please.
PS I once tried to remove a wiper arm fron it's splined shaft but after 3 hours I gave up and threw the penetrating oil, blowlamp, and assorted levers wedges spanners etc back into the shed in disgust. Is there a proper way that works.

AndersDK · Post by **AndersDK** » 07 Mar 2004, 19:14

I'd suspect the motor electrical multiplug -
Any minor corrosion will make it unreliable.
The wiper motor's parking switch is build-in to the motor mechanism - fiddly to service - if at all possible.
The dash control switch is known to cause problems too.
The wiper arms are retained on the splines with a nut ?
Known to seem welded on if you try remove. It's simply corrosion in the spline pressfit that makes removing a hassle.

rpaco · Post by **rpaco** » 09 Mar 2004, 14:26

Thanks, i will check the connector.
Obviously i had removed the nut. Whatis the effective method of removing the arm?
I have tried penetrating oil and heat. Is there a special puller?
cheers

Post by **RichardW** » 09 Mar 2004, 15:06

When I had a new windscreen in my Xantia the fitter undid the nut gave it a tug "Huh, stuck as usual" - he then wandered back to his van, and I was expecting a big screwdriver, but no he had a special puller - like a ball joint splitter - fork under the blade screw down the bolt onto the spindle and off it came - 15s tops. I suggest you take a trip to your local glass fitter, explain your predicament and ask if one of their fitters can pop them off for you. You might be able to get a normal ball joint splitter in (the bolt up type - not the fork-hit-me-with-big-hammer type!).