Windshield wipers quit, link arm in cowl came off?

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Ace
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Windshield wipers quit, link arm in cowl came off?

Post by Ace »

Turned on my wipers, then clunk, they quit moving. The motor still runs so apparently the linkage in the cowl came off. Outside the car, I can move the wipers by hand which shows me that the two wipers are still connected together, but the linkage to the wiper motor apparently has come off.

It looks like the wiper arms and cowl louvers should come off to access this. If anyone has specific pointers on this type of repair, they would be appreciated. I didn't find any diagrams of the wiper linkage in my FSM.
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dlb
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Re: Windshield wipers quit, link arm in cowl came off?

Post by dlb »

the front wiper motor is located in the engine bay on the upper passenger side firewall. i would check where the linkage connects to it first.

it's been a while since i removed the cowl but IIRC, you have to remove the hood first (two 12 mm bolts on each side, you should do this with two people so you don't drop the hood), then remove five or six phillips screws from the front of the cowl and it should come out. come to think of it though, i don't know if you can see or access the wiper linkage through the cowl. take a look and find out, i guess! check at the wiper motor first, you might save yourself some work.
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ARCHINSTL
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Re: Windshield wipers quit, link arm in cowl came off?

Post by ARCHINSTL »

Can't help with the wiper prob, but - you don't have to remove the hood for access to the arms' "chamber." Just remove the wiper arms, cowl "cover" and then the three little mesh screens.
Although, first fiddle with the motor and its "cable," as dlb suggests.
While you are at it - do the mods to the cowl cover's vents and the wiper arms' holes.
See https://tercel4wd.com/forums/viewtopic.php? ... eaf#p18306
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Re: Windshield wipers quit, link arm in cowl came off?

Post by marlinh »

Sometimes it is just the linkage at the motor. It happened to me once when I borrowed someones car, so on the side of the road I pulled back the wiper motor and was able to pop the linkage back on with a screwdriver. Saves all the time of pulling off the cowling. Takes five minutes.
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Re: Windshield wipers quit, link arm in cowl came off?

Post by Ace »

Thank you all for the input.

I got to work on this today. I removed the hood, then the cowl louvers. I don't think the cowl louvers can be removed without removing the hood, at least not easily. Not difficult to remove the hood, with help.

Then the only access to the back of the wiper motor is through one of the openings into the air intake space, shown with arrow in first photo. A tight fit for my hand. I can see that the link arm is off the wiper motor drive arm ball joint, as shown in second photo. It appears that there was some kind of ball socket in the hole at the end of the link arm, but the presumed ball socket has busted off and disappeared from view. So I don't know what it is supposed to look like or how it attaches. Maybe it is just a plastic and rubber socket joint that presses into place?

Tomorrow I'll check to see if Toyota has this part. What should I expect? Not available or exhorbitant cost?

Marlinh's comment got me wondering, so I unbolted the wiper motor and pulled it loose as shown in third photo. I'm not sure that the link arm could be reattached through here. This is an '83 Tercel; maybe later models were different?
2012-2464-Tercel cowl space.jpg
2012-2469-Tercel cowl space.jpg
2012-2474-Tercel wiper motor detached.jpg
This situation reminds me of when I had a 1994 Toyota Tarago (Previa) van with manual shift that had a lot of play. I removed the trim from around the base of the shifter and found that a plastic bushing had split and fallen off of a ball joint that engaged a shifter link. The Toyota replacement part was AU$102 ! Which I declined. I found some rubber and plastic tubing at a hardware store for 15 cents, shoved that onto the naked ball joint, and it worked fine for the time that I had the van. But in that case I had much easier access. And it was a part that did not have sustained rotation on it.
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Re: Windshield wipers quit, link arm in cowl came off?

Post by marlinh »

If the plastic bushing is intact where the arm hooks up, it is possible to attach the linkage with a screwdriver through the panel. Apply pressure from behind with the screwdriver and push the wiper motor onto it. Once it snaps on you're good to go.
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Re: Windshield wipers quit, link arm in cowl came off?

Post by Ace »

Reconsidering what Marlinh mentioned, I looked at the end of the link arm through the hole for the wiper motor shaft, and discovered it has a hook that can hold the arm to the side of the hole, and then (I suspect) the ball joint can be shoved into the socket which is supposed to be in the hole, then the motor reinstalled into place? If that's how it works, it's a clever way to replace the ball socket with minimal work, but it isn't mentioned in the FSM !

I did find the remains of a flexible rubber boot that used to enclose the ball joint socket on the end of the link arm.
2012-2478-Tercel-wiper-link-arm.jpg
2012-2476-Tercel-wiper-link-arm.jpg
In these two photos, the bushing is missing that is supposed to be permanently attached in the end hole of the link arm.
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Last edited by Ace on Wed Dec 12, 2012 11:45 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Ace
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Re: Windshield wipers quit, link arm in cowl came off?

Post by Ace »

marlinh wrote:If the plastic bushing is intact where the arm hooks up, it is possible to attach the linkage with a screwdriver through the panel. Apply pressure from behind with the screwdriver and push the wiper motor onto it. Once it snaps on you're good to go.
The plastic bushing has somehow disappeared from view, as I mentioned previously. Just a bare hole in the end of the link arm as shown in photos. There was a rubber boot still in place on the end of the wiper motor arm, so the bushing probably busted up and the pieces migrated down the duct somewhere. I drove the car for a while before I got to look at this.
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Re: Windshield wipers quit, link arm in cowl came off?

Post by dlb »

not sure where you are ace but i could mail you just the plastic bushing, as long as i could get it off without breaking it. i have a parts car that will be getting crushed soon so might as well make use of it. send me a PM if you're interested.
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Re: Windshield wipers quit, link arm in cowl came off?

Post by ARCHINSTL »

When I encountered a similar problem with the rear wiper, I was able to fix it with Superglue, as the pieces had only come apart. See https://tercel4wd.com/forums/viewtopic.php? ... ilit=wiper The front linkage uses a similar fitting, per highlander's reply to my thread.
I've been told (not by anyone here), that these little pieces are available at various parts houses (maybe NAPA, but not the usual chains like AutoZone and Advance), in various sizes, as many cars use them. SInce my fix has worked so far, I've not investigated it.
If you discover this, then please post a source here and also in the Parts Forum.

Incidentally, the hood does NOT have to be removed to remove the cowl "cover;" I've done it three times now, most recently this past Summer to renew the wiper stud rubber pads I'd made a few years back. It's just a matter of doing some wiggling - not hard at all. I did not want to have to face realigning the hood; I did that once, years ago, on another car and it took freaking forever to get it right.
Tom M.
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Ace
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Re: Windshield wipers quit, link arm in cowl came off?

Post by Ace »

I managed to find all of the bushing parts in the cowl space. The socket part of the bushing is OK; what has failed is the bushing securement to the hole in the link arm. The circular ring has a break in the circumference and if there were tabs that originally held it all together, they are worn away. It appears the bushing is supposed to be permanently attached to the link arm and the plastic socket is flexible enough for the ball on the wiper motor drive to press into it. The rubber boot helps retain grease in the bushing.

Dlb, I very much appreciate your offer but I'm not sure if the bushings can be removed from the wiper linkage without damaging them. I called the local Toyota parts department and they only sell the complete wiper linkage ... for $244 !!!

Archinstl's post regarding his rear wiper problem shows a very similar type of plastic bushing. The photos are very useful !

So I am looking at ways to reattach the original bushing. I'll come up with something. I'll investigate the rumor that Archinstl heard about possible aftermarket parts. I very much appreciate all of the input.

It would have been more difficult for me to work on this and fish out the bushing parts without removing the hood for easier access. I drew pencil lines around the hood hingle plates so realinement shouldn't be too difficult.
2012-2480-Tercel wiper linkage bushing.jpg
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Ace
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Re: Windshield wipers quit, link arm in cowl came off?

Post by Ace »

I went to four local auto parts stores and no-one had the bushing to fit my Tercel. So I made a retainer with two washers to clamp the original bushing into the hole of the link arm. The socket part of the bushing was still OK; what had failed was the attachment. I did minor modification to the firewall with tinsnips, to make space to get my improvised retainer through.

It's working OK so far. I was unable to re-use the original boot, so the bushing is more exposed to air and moisture going through the cowl intake. I debated what lube to use on the bushing and decided on LaBelle #106, a hobby grease which I happened to have on hand. I put some in the freezer and determined that it doesn't get too viscous when cold, like Vaseline does.

I suspect the original bushing came off because it ran low on lube and the constant rotation while operating broke it loose from the link arm.

Now I know that the bushing is easily replaced by removing only the wiper motor. But I had to open up the cowl space to figure out how to work on it the first time, and to retrieve the original bushing.
2012-2486-Tercel-wiper-linkage-bushing.jpg
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Re: Windshield wipers quit, link arm in cowl came off?

Post by dlb »

wow, nice work! very handy and creative. you'll smile every time you use the wipers now, knowing what a sweet fix you came up with.
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Re: Windshield wipers quit, link arm in cowl came off?

Post by Ace »

ARCHINSTL wrote: ... Incidentally, the hood does NOT have to be removed to remove the cowl "cover;" I've done it three times now, most recently this past Summer to renew the wiper stud rubber pads I'd made a few years back. It's just a matter of doing some wiggling - not hard at all. I did not want to have to face realigning the hood; I did that once, years ago, on another car and it took freaking forever to get it right.
Tom M.
Regarding the cowl cover, I'll remember that for next time.

Maybe I got lucky with re-installing the hood - I just bolted it back on and it didn't need any adjusting. Not like the old American cars with +/- 1/4" adjustment in all directions.
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Re: Windshield wipers quit, link arm in cowl came off?

Post by Ace »

My wipers are quieter now. They used to sound rather clunky going back and forth and it must have been an indication that the bushing on the wiper motor arm was working loose. So be warned!
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