Wipers work sometimes but seem to stick
 

Hi,

I have a question about my wipers on my 78 280z. The switch and everything works great, I can hear it clicking at the fusebox when I turn the wipers on. Sometimes the wipers work great, and other times nothing happens and they appear to stick.

I'm assuming it's either an electrical connection at the wiper motor itself, or maybe and more likely since if you giggle the wipers they will work most of the time it's in need of some sort of lubrication due to lack of use.

I love in Los Angeles it doesn't rain much and I've probably only used the wipers a few times.

When you remove the cowl to access the wiper motor is there anything in there i.e. the wiper arms etc. can can be lubed up with some wd-40. Or is that not accessible?

Is this a problem someone has fixed. This whole issue of the wipers sticking and only working when they feel like it.

Any help or suggestions would be appreciated. Don't want to waste my time pulling off the cowl if there's nothing in there I can lube up.

-- Jeff

There are plenty of things under the cowl for you to service. The motor itself is in a vinyl bag typically closed with a plastic snap. The control arms have lots of pivot joints which can be lubed if necessary. You may want to clean them up as best you can as if there's dirt in there, lube won't help much. Check to make sure they haven't just worn out. If they have you may need to get creative with a repair.

Pay very close attention if you try to remove the assembly. It's a real puzzle to get things back in place.

Thanks very much for the prompt reply.. Thanks to your response the problem is now solved.. I went in and lubed it all up with some wd-40 let it sit for about 5 minutes,, and now the wipers are working great..

Also noticed that the electrical connector at the firewall looked a little dirty, probably hadn't been removed in 40 years, so I unplugged it and cleaned that up as well, and that seemed to make them work even better... Sometimes with these older electrical connections it's a good idea to unplug them and give them a blow out,,, seems to always do something.

Either way, at least I've got wipers again.

Thanks for the post, didn't want to go in there if there was nothing to lube..

-- Jeff

Glad you got them working. You've discovered a bit of wisdom that will help you a lot with your car. The combo switch on the steering column as well as the fuse box are other locations that typically get dirty. Lots of other odd problems get solved by cleaning them up.

You may want to go back and use some Lithium grease or a true lubricant. WD-40 is not ideal for that application.