Xsara and front wiper problem

[Edgley]

Hi there,

Have been reading up on the threads about front wiper problems.
I have gone and done the BSI reset a number of times.

However, this problem seems to be slightly different.
Passenger side front wiper, when one moves it, causes the mechanism below the black plastic to move around.
Yet when one does the same for the drivers side, the wiper seems to spin freely without moving any of the mechanism below the plastic - it also looks like the wiper has been twisted.

When I took the two nuts off, the passenger one is able to be retightened by finger, however the driver nut appears to be hitting on the wiper arm, requiring effort to tighten up.
I have tried to remove the wiper arms, however, the info I have found on how to do this has not allowed me to do so.

I have attached a couple of pictures that show the driver side blade.
If anyone has any suggestions it would be gratefully appreciated.

Cheers,
Simon.

[GiveMeABreak]

There's a single motor and an interlinked mechanism to drive both arms. It's possible one wiper arm has been twisted (some do this to prevent windscreen screeching of the blade on the screen) and it has damaged the mechanism.

This is how you remove it:

Removing

Ideally disconnect the battery to prevent any accidental shorting whilst working under the bonnet.

Mark the position of the blades first as they lay on the windscreen, to help realign them when refitting. Some have a couple of markers on the windscreen to assist - so check to see if you have these.

Remove:

• The windscreen wiper blade-arm assemblies (the nuts on the wiper arms)
• The scuttle grille

Disconnect the connector (6). Remove the screws ( 1), (7), (5) and (4). Remove screen wiper mechanism assembly ( 3). CAUTION: Do not damage the sensor ( 2).	To disconnect the wiper motor ( 9). Perform the following operations: Remove the nut (11) Remove the screws (8),(10) and (12)

Refitting is the reverse.

[Edgley]

Thank you for such detailed info.
I guess I shall remove it all, then test the parts and post if (or rather when ) something goes pear shaped!

[JohnD]

My daughter used to own a Xsara a number of years ago and her car devleloped a fault with the wipers. They started wiping independently of each other. The cause was one of the ball joints had become separated. My answer was to find a complete assembly on ebay and just swop the entire unit. Cost was around £40. These are some pictures taken at the time.

The first pic shows the complete assembly. The second, the separated ball joint.

[JohnD]

Looking at your picture, the passenger arm appears to have come away from the splines. Maybe the splines have become damaged.