A "REAL" fix for the 850 wiper arms

[phat78ta]

Hello fellow MVS'ers!!

I was rooting about at the local pull a part trying to see if the wiper arms were any good on the 850 they had there(they weren't) and had myself a revelation. I found the reason for all our misery on the wipers. The spring stretch is unavoidable, but the solution is quite simple.

I took my wiper arm off the car(if you need me to explain that process, then stop here. LOL) and located the reason for the wiper not making full contact. There is a stop of sorts on the wiper hinge that keeps the arm itself from bending too far towards the windshield.

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So my solution was simple. Grind off the stops with a dremel tool, so that the arm can bend further, putting more tension on the wiper itself. That part is soft aluminum, so it will grind easily. Takes a little time to find the right amount to take off, but you want the arm to be able to bent to the point of releasing almost all of the tension on the springs. Too much, and the springs may fall off before you get the arm remounted to the car.

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I also went further with this, actually taking the springs and cutting a little bit off the end and re-bending a hook on them so they stay in the slots. I couldn't get the camera on my phone to focus in close enough to snap a pic of the re-bent springs, or I would show what I did there.

After all the mods, and a little shot of black spray paint, you can't tell anything was done, and the arm is straight as it was intended to be. Took about 20 mins of time, and cost ZERO dollars.(Best kind of fix there is!!!)
Once again, the wiper makes full contact all the way through the sweep, and doesn't leave any streaks. If you have any questions, feel free to post them, I will try to answer them if I can. Thanks for looking!!!

[jreed]

Thanks! I'm going to take a look at those stops the next time I need to re-bend the arm.

[jblackburn]

Good to know - I may try this on my S70 this weekend before I head out for Thanksgiving. It has new blades, but the left one has been streaking on the down-stroke, and I too have tried bending the thing. It's annoying when it's only lightly raining outside.

BTW, I've added this into the repair database. Thanks for the contribution!

[tjts1]

Good to know - I may try this on my S70 this weekend before I head out for Thanksgiving. It has new blades, but the left one has been streaking on the down-stroke, and I too have tried bending the thing. It's annoying when it's only lightly raining outside.

BTW, I've added this into the repair database. Thanks for the contribution!

The S70 wiper arms are a huge improvement over the 850. The problem with the 850 arms is the aluminum lower half below the hinge is too thin so they bend outward with age. Eventually they lift off the windshield as they get to the vertical position. The S40/V40 arms had the same issue. I think every 850 should be upgraded to S70/V70 arms if you can find them in the JY. Its a drop in replacement.



For comparison, 850 wipers are straight but they bow outward away from the windshield with age because the metal spring was made stronger than the cast lower half of the arm. Stupid design flaw.

[beewerks]

Great tip! I will try it next time.

Has anyone had the issue of their wiper arm touching the edge of the hood and wearing away the paint and metal? I have seen this on a few cars (including my old 850) and was curious as how to fix that.

[BEJinFbk]

Should just be a matter of pulling the arm and repositioning it on the splined shaft.
( Unless you have wiper blades that are too long. That's a different fix! )

[RyanGLT]

I did this fix the week before I left for MN...while on this trip I have needed my wipers several times and.....

it worked.

So I just thought I'd report back.

[upstate NY]

I just had the same problem with my driver's side wiper arm. I was going crazy with trying to bend it back into place and low and behold I tried your fix, BAM! quick fix. Thanks so much!

[SkyVolvo]

Great fix - just did it myself. Probably goes a lot quicker with a quality rotary tool - my Harbor Freight cheapie was really struggling.

[hrahn]

I have a few problems with V70-arms on my 850: The drivers side arm hits the bonnet in the lowest position, the bonnet also scrapes against the arm when you lift it.
If I fasten the arm with force all the way down it will block the spline and prevent the wiper mechanism from moving. It seems the V70 arms have some kind of shroud underneath which is too snug for the rubber around the mounting bolts of the arms, so it locks them up when tightening the arms down too much.

The passengers side arm hits the plastic vent openings in the lower position.

Did anyone else encounter these problems too?