W124 facelift wiper assy....how do I get it off??

[Celicasaur]

I've been following the guide on Pelican Parts:
Mercedes-Benz W124 Mono-Post Wiper Repair and Replacement | 1986-1995 E-Class | Pelican Parts DIY Maintenance Article

But I'm stuck with the top cover now...any ideas or tips? I've managed to get the wiper arm part off aaaand now at a roadblock.

I've attached a pic as to where I am. I have also removed the little circlip that sits on the base of that chromey looking pokey thing. Do I just use the force and pry up until the clips pop out, then slide the thing out from the pokey thing?

 

[Smiley]

Yes should just unclip. Probably become a bit brittle with age. Try warming it up with a hairdrier - might make the clips a bit less brittle.

 

[219]

To do the job properly you need to completely strip out the gearbox and remove all the old solidified grease

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[Celicasaur]

Thanks gents, very helpful. I'll bet that mine has those two screws underneath that need to be undone....today should be fun

Happy to take it all apart though and do a thorough job if at all possible. Might as well, seeing as it'll all be apart.

 

[optimusprime]

Yes you can tell, the one with aloy clam shell will have to be removed to get the cover off nuts on the rear .The other one clips off

 

[219]

Thanks gents, very helpful. I'll bet that mine has those two screws underneath that need to be undone....today should be fun

Happy to take it all apart though and do a thorough job if at all possible. Might as well, seeing as it'll all be apart.

It isn’t all that horrible a job , I’ve done a few ; makes it run like new again .

don’t waste time lubing the sliding shaft on its own - you need to get inside and do the job properly

 

[Celicasaur]

Ok so....I unbolted the whole wiper assembly and had a good look underneath. There's a 17mm nut directly under the clam and then a 13mm nut nearer to the motor. Un-doing either of these does nowt. Do I need to use a puller or something to get the wipery-frame off it? I tried some firm prying, but it didn't want to budge, but I was also afraid of going harder by using a long pry bar.

I tried looking at the online repair manual, but alas, it's more for general servicing and so removing the wiper assembly isn't in there

 

[219]

Hi the large nut on the spindle separates the two parts , then you can take out the two countersink machine screws holding on the top cover .
Here are some pics of the one from my R129

 

[Celicasaur]

So....I got it all apart and had a hell of a 'fun' time in doing so. It was nowhere near as bad inside on both ends of the wiper unit as what I'd seen on the interweb. Nevertheless....I thoroughly cleaned out the assembly and aaaaabbbbbsolutely loaded it with lithium grease (lol which of course leaked out overnight).

The whole unit was super slippery and moving freely so I was happy it was ok. I reset the positioning of the unit and bolted it to the car, but without the wiper arm as it got dark and cold by 8pm yesterday. I quickly tested the wiper though and sure enough, it seemed super happy to turn (I guess the zero resistance from not having a wiper arm did help).

Now....today I fitted the wiper arm...and it's as though I didnt do anything at all. It reeeeeally struggled to move (like....moves an inch.....wait several seconds...moves another inch....). It was so bad that it burned out it's own fuse! The relay then went a bit crazy and i had to pull it out to stop it from repeatedly clicking. I put a new fuse back in and the relay and although it hasn't cooked the fuse again, it's still as though I've not made any improvement to it.

At this point I have to wonder....is it possible that the motor itself might just be tired and need replacing? With a fully cleaned and lubed wiper system, surely it must be the motor now, right?

 

[Habil]

Yes it's probably the motor. It has a a sort of ball and cage bearing at the opposite end to the gearbox that rusts and gets stuck.

You have to open up the gearbox and remove the circlip at the base of the drive worm gear and then undo the screws holding the motor housing.

 

[Celicasaur]

Right, SO...an update for you lovely people who never read these threads of mine.

I bought a wiper motor off eBay for a reasonable £40 or so but annoyingly the shaft thing has a different rifled profile to the oem unit and alas it wouldn't fit into the wiper arm. How annoying eh? I thought ok fine i'll just bite the bullet and buy a new MB unit after my heater blower motor woes are over...which they now are.

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But before I placed the order, I figured that seeing as the oem and new motors are ready for the bin, I might as well have a play and see if I can make a hybrid unit. My thoughts were to take the new shaft thing out and replace it with the old one. New motor - old wiper fitment.

Here's the oe part number if anybody needs it in the future:

I plugged the unit back to the car and it worked just fine. The moment of truth will be today (if the weather lets me) when I bolt it to the wiper assembly and then try it for real on the windscreen. Fingers crossed.....I'll update if this proves to be a success.

 

[R129mine]

good luck, i did this on my r129 wiper assembly, it kept stalling (ASR light would come on and sometimes the blinker lights stopped working as well) and since I did the wiper motor and gave the wiper/indicator stalk a good cleanup it has been okay but it was only an intermittent issue that appeared once per month but i only drive it for about 2k miles per year now intead of the usual 7k the years before so it may take longer to manifest itself

but satisfying job to do