Windshield Wiper Liftoff - in the middle

DougM · Post by **DougM** » 09 Feb 2012, 09:32

I've read the postings on how to fix the windshield wiper liftoff on the driver's side, but those all focus on the liftoff at the top of the blade. I changed the wiper blades this morning, and I now have liftoff in the middle of the blade at the end of the stroke.

Any suggestions?

In the attached picture, the red lines show where the liftoff occurs.

kendpotter · Post by **kendpotter** » 09 Feb 2012, 10:06

I have a 93 850 GLT and was never satisfied with the wipers. After reading everything there was on this forum, I bit the bullet. I bought S70 arms ($35), put Bosch Icon blades ($30) on and now they are the best wipers I have ever had on any car.

Post by **jblackburn** » 09 Feb 2012, 10:11

Take a wrench or some big pliers, pull the arm up, and twist it back slightly towards the windshield so it will make better contact.

Or change the wiper arms.

Shish-kabober · Post by **Shish-kabober** » 14 Feb 2012, 15:31

Doug & all,

The fix proposed for grinding down the stop dogs will work, as will my fix which achieves the same result. I changed my blade to the no-frame type which changed the lift-off from straight, mid screen, to curved as the issue you show.

Not having a small enough grinding bur for my dremel tool, I bar-clamped the arm-mount hole (face-up) to my table saw, and with a 2nd bar-clamp (for control) bent the aluminum arm-mount back down a couple of degrees. I couldn't be sure of any change as I released the clamp as the spring action of the aluminum destroyed my visual/memory frame of reference as to the original elevation of the arm. However the mounting of the arm confirmed that I'd restored the arm to it's original shape. FULL WIPE.
I plan to take some pix soon of the set-up and probably should post it in the other thread. I was going to give it a month or so to proof the method before posting as a solution, but saw this. So there it is.

I completely don't buy the aluminum arm bending on it's own to cause lift-off. Someone pulled up on it. Perhaps to get it off, perhaps lifting the mount instead of the arm to lift the blades up cleaning the windscreen, who knows. The long arm provides a strong lever moment, and bends the mount with firm tug if one grabs the end instead of futzing with the base to coax a stubborn mount off the stud. Bending it back down is the fix... but requires care, aluminum will stress crack easily. If it gets bent again, & I'm still too cheap to spring for the s-70 arms, I'll get a bur and start grinding as repeat bending is a bad thing for aluminum.

Scott

Post by **Thunderbox** » 14 Feb 2012, 18:44

I did the grind fix last week. Well the first time was 3 weeks ago and I did not take off enough. This time I went hard on it and noticed that after grinding more off, the arm pivoted further past the curved part and now I have a nice full and clean wipe. Cheap and easy fix.

DougM · Post by **DougM** » 15 Feb 2012, 05:55

My S70 wiper arms should be arriving today!!!

DougM · Post by **DougM** » 16 Feb 2012, 12:19

S70 wiper arms arrived yesterday. Put them on, closed the hood--noticed that I better switch sides to avoiding bumping the hood at the bottom. Made the switch and then noticed that the passenger side seemed shorter than before. Then I got really smart and remembered that my passenger side 850 wiper arm worked just fine, so I put that back on.

So I now have an S70 passenger side wiper arm on my driver side, and the original 850 passenger wiper arm on the passenger side--and, drum roll please...there is NO wiper lift of and you can see clearly!!!!

jgray850turbo · Post by **jgray850turbo** » 21 Aug 2012, 19:58

Thanks to so many of you who have helped in many repairs on my 850T. I just wanted to put in my 2 cents for this issue. Both of my wipers were off the glass 1-2" when the arms reached the highest point of the cycle. I read about the grinding method and switching to s70 arms, but thought I'd take one more close look. I found the problem to be with the lower cast aluminum base portion. They have multiple curves in them, apparently to clear the hood and yet still maintain pressure. Well, I guess they had weakened and bent out of alignment. The passenger side had a 1/4" deep notch from where it was hitting the hood, surprisingly, there is minimal damage to the hood. I assessed the best place to 'tweak' them, removed each arm, used a thick towel to protect finish, a pipe wrench to create a fulcrum and stability, and my hands or vise grips to apply pressure until they bent as needed. It took two adjustments on each side to get it right, but know I have VERY solid contact throughout the sweep. It will be interesting to see if they gradually bend again over time. Hope it helps.
Jeff

milesursogood · Post by **milesursogood** » 05 Jan 2013, 10:36

Does it matter what year the S70 wiper arm comes from?

milesursogood · Post by **milesursogood** » 05 Jan 2013, 10:40

#Doug M - Where did you buy the S70 wiper arm?