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'97 Silverado wiper linkage broken?

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Old September 29th, 2009, 5:54 PM
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Exclamation '97 Silverado wiper linkage broken?

Hi all,

I've only had the truck for a month and wasn't expecting something to break so soon . BUT, I was just driving home in the rain and the driver's side wiper clunked once mid sweep and flopped over onto the side mirror. When it stops raining I'll pull up the plastic cowl for a look. In the meantime, does anybody know what happened and how big or expensive it's going to be (parts)?

Thanks,
Glenn
Old September 29th, 2009, 6:06 PM
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shouldnt be too bad, maybe it came apart at the knuckle
Old September 29th, 2009, 6:11 PM
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Thanks. Is there a clip or something that holds it on?
Old September 29th, 2009, 6:54 PM
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I can not remember off the top of my head, is the arm held on with a nut? If so the arm itself wiper transmission post ( at the arm) is splined when you tighten the nut the splines cut into the arm. If the nut ever comes loose even a little then the transmission no longer hold the arm. Sometimes you can just tighten the nut. If that does not work replace the arm.
Old September 30th, 2009, 1:08 AM
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Thumbs up Fixed!

Originally Posted by MDTAHOE
I can not remember off the top of my head, is the arm held on with a nut? If so the arm itself wiper transmission post ( at the arm) is splined when you tighten the nut the splines cut into the arm. If the nut ever comes loose even a little then the transmission no longer hold the arm. Sometimes you can just tighten the nut. If that does not work replace the arm.
OK guys, here's the scoop. First, thanks for the replies. I popped off the wiper arms in about 5 seconds - slide the locking clip sideways and lift the arm off. Then took out the screws from the cowl end pieces and removed them. I found 2 more screws at each end of the main cowl and removed those, but the cowl was still attached across the middle with 4 more screws in deep recesses to hold rain water for months on end rotting the screw heads. I had to drill 2 of them out.

Once I got access I could see the arm from the drivers side wiper post to the crank on the wiper motor had fallen off the pivot ball at the motor. The "socket" at the end of the arm is made of 2 halves that are screwed together. The screws & their nuts were tight so I squeezed the 2 sides of the socket together just a bit with vice grips to tighten it's hold on the ball and popped it back on. My 20/20 hindsight tells me I may have been able to loosen the screws & nuts and adjust the halves sideways a bit to tighten the socket. Oh well...

While in there I adjusted the crank on the spline of the motor shaft because the wipers had been moving back up about 2 inches after parking or pausing when on intermittent. It works great now. I just have to get some stainless screws so I won't have to drill any more of them out.

Cheers,
Glenn

Last edited by slovcan; September 30th, 2009 at 1:13 AM. Reason: Typo and added more detail.
Old January 23rd, 2017, 12:14 PM
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Hey thanks for the tip.
This worked for me as well. Short Fix and I could drive with a clean passenger window again.
Make sure you position both sides the same before tightening down.
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