Single windscreen wiper 'service'.

[TKB13]

I've read so many posts on getting the bottom oval shaped plastic cover off the base of the single wiper system by just 'pulling it off'. No way will mine come off this way, I've tried till I'm blue in the face. There are also some mentions of allen keys, screws, tabs etc - all seem to be different. The local consensus of opinion with mine is it must be secured by screws on the underside and would entail removal of the entire mechanism from the car to get the cover off. It does seem to be well wrapped around the underside of the base plate.
All I want to do is to carry out some 'preventative' servicing/lubrication of the slides and two shafts inside, and I'm seriously considering drilling a half-inch hole in the centre of the cover to facilitate this, and fitting a rubber grommet.
Observations/opinions invited please.

 

[Rumble]

errrrm stop where you are!!!

use a small mirror to view the underside of the 'oval shaped plastic cover' , furthest from the stalk, you'll notice a small gap between it and the metal part of the mechanism this is where you wedge the allen key etc in and pop the cover open! its easy when you've done it once!

There is either one or two of these gaps spaced apart if i can remember correclty!

BTW almandine red i miss my old 190e

 

[TKB13]

errrrm stop where you are!!!

use a small mirror to view the underside of the 'oval shaped plastic cover' , furthest from the stalk, you'll notice a small gap between it and the metal part of the mechanism this is where you wedge the allen key etc in and pop the cover open! its easy when you've done it once!

There is either one or two of these gaps spaced apart if i can remember correclty!

BTW almandine red i miss my old 190e

Thanks for that prompt reply Rumble, I'll have another closer look.
Yes, Almandine is an attractive colour for a Merc I think.

 

[grasmere]

use a small mirror to view the underside of the 'oval shaped plastic cover' , furthest from the stalk,

this is correct, use the mirror and you will see at approx 4 oclock and 8 o'clock looking from the top with the stalk at 12 o'clock and you will see where the tabs are. Use something to prise them gently away from the metal part and it should pop off.

 

[sportyreptile]

Drivers side blade on a W140?

Is the Drivers side Wiper on a W140 the same as the single wiper on a W124 for instance?

The base of the arm has this round(ish) cover and I was wondering if the arm should reach out into the top right corner of the screen? (The wipers park on the right on a W140).

If they're supposed to then mine's broken, if the wiper is the same then the fix applies also?

 

[philharve]

Hi All

There are some excellent threads, with photos, describing the wiper servicing task both here and in other Forums, e.g. BenzWorld, MBOA.

It is ABSOLUTELY VITAL to service the wiper once it appears to drag across the windscreen, stall or otherwise misbehave. The problem is invariably the 3 sliding bars beneath the turtle shell cover at the base of the wiper arm. This cover unclips but does require a little skill/experience.

Failure to regrease these rods, especially the big centre one, could result in either the wiper gearbox or the wiper motor gearbox stripping teeth. They're nylon gears. MB will want to replace the entire wiper assembly if damage occurs at a total cost somewhere in the region of GBP800.00. That's a lot of dosh when all that's required is a penny's worth of graphite grease. Don't use WD40, except as a get-you-home option.

I had to replace my wiper motor recently because its gearbox was stripped. I saved money by taking my problem to an indie but it still cost me GBP290.00. A sobering experience.

Single wiper failure is a known weakness and a horrendously expensive one to fix if you happen to be an MB owner. It is rumoured MB are goind back to the 2-wiper system because of the problems/expense created by the single wiper design.

REGARDS Phil

 

[Dieselman]

. It is rumoured MB are goind back to the 2-wiper system because of the problems/expense created by the single wiper design.

The single wiper isn't particularly troublesome but does cost a lot. A twin wiper setup is cheaper to produce and should clear more of hte screen, especially if teh screen is wide.

 

[DITTRICH]

Single wipers set mercs apart from the competition.
Engineering excellence.
Les

 

[Howard]

The single wiper isn't particularly troublesome but does cost a lot. A twin wiper setup is cheaper to produce and should clear more of hte screen, especially if teh screen is wide.

My wiper on my w124 cleans pretty much the whole screen ......

 

[Tiff]

Had this very problem today on a C200 I serviced and MOT'd.The teeth must have stripped as the wiper didn't "jump" and you could push/pull the arm in an d out.I took off the cover and just jammed the wiper arm down,as the customer looked shocked when I told him what it would cost to replace....He'd put 3 wiper blades on it before realising the blade wasn't too long......

It was hard to do as I think this system is the best engineered wiper system ever...

 

[bolide]

Jump wiper

The jump wiper is one of my favourite things on the W124. I've never known one to give trouble - but maybe I've lived a charmed life!

Mercedes licensed the system to Jaguar for the XJ40 "new" XJ6. Guess what part of the new Jaguar then had the largest number of warranty claims? I suspect shoddy British engineering, couple with accountant-driven cost-cutting, resulted in a "perfect" jump wiper being remanufactured minus the important bits

Mercedes, of course, would never behave like that. Oh, wait...


Nick Froome
www.w124.co.uk

 

[big x]

The jump wiper is one of my favourite things on the W124. I've never known one to give trouble - but maybe I've lived a charmed life!

Mercedes licensed the system to Jaguar for the XJ40 "new" XJ6. Guess what part of the new Jaguar then had the largest number of warranty claims? I suspect shoddy British engineering, couple with accountant-driven cost-cutting, resulted in a "perfect" jump wiper being remanufactured minus the important bits

Mercedes, of course, would never behave like that. Oh, wait...


Nick Froome
www.w124.co.uk

Mercedes did behave like that,they ditched it for a cheaper twin set-up !
I have to say the single wiper on my W202 is the best I've had on a car.

adam

 

[Stratman]

There is a very detailed 'How-to' here

There are some good pictures here

 

[stringbag]

Thanks very much for this thread - Think I caught mine just before it failed, as it has been getting gradually slower over the past couple of months. Very easy to do, and saved me a small fortune!
I don't understand why it is not on the service schedule - a main dealer did a 'B' service on mine last month!
Great forum too - I was sent here through PH.

 

[Howard]

Whats PH ?

 

[Will]

'Piston Heads' is my guess

Will

 

[frog1520]

Is the Drivers side Wiper on a W140 the same as the single wiper on a W124 for instance?

The base of the arm has this round(ish) cover and I was wondering if the arm should reach out into the top right corner of the screen? (The wipers park on the right on a W140).

If they're supposed to then mine's broken, if the wiper is the same then the fix applies also?

On my W140, the drivers wiper does extend, just as the single wiper mechanism does on my W202. The passenger one is just a normal wiper though!

 

[stringbag]

PH? www.pistonheads.com
Great site with forums just like this for other makes. It was founded really by TVR people but now has most types on it. I don't have a TVR any more, and the Mercedes forum is not very good. This site, however, is fantastic!