How To Re & Re the wiper linkage

TDI-84

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 21, 2008
Location
Burlington ON, Canada
TDI
'03 Jetta TDI
I'm assuming you don't have a Bentley book? You can't put a price on that book. I'll email you the pages you need now. You will prob. need to plug in the motor and turn on your wipers once to let the motor park itself. Let me know if this helps!
 

iWannaFixIt

New member
Joined
Apr 21, 2011
Location
GTA
TDI
98 Jetta GLS
Wingnut you rock!


After having to get a new starter put in last week, that was the last straw for my well worn parts hungry 98 jetta. Well, this week what a surprise to discover the wipers no longer worked. There's no way I can spend another $300 on this car, the scrap yard was looming large...

I came across your thread here. I didn't think it was going to work out for me, I tend cause more damage than I can cure when it comes to car repairs. I decided to give it a go though and the end result was sweet success!

For me the hardest part was getting the drivers side wiper off. I couldn't have done it without the $7 jaw puller I picked up, although it looks like it's been through a war now. Did I mention that it was a tough sob to get off? :D

I'm surprised that for most folks and repair shops this kind of a problem warrants a new linkage. There's literally no mechanical damage (as long as you take it apart right) and all that is required is a cleaning and lubing.

Big thanks Wingnut, your doing a good thing here!
 

cwspen

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 25, 2005
Location
Brampton, ON, Canada
TDI
2001 Jetta
Another thanks. I didn't bother trying to repair the linkage, $70 at "The Source" got me a motor & linkage, so why futz with it? Definitely wouldn't have managed to pull the arms without a puller. Great write-up, great pics.
 

3800rpmDiesel

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 29, 2006
Location
Fall River, NS, Canada
TDI
'03 Jetta Wgn 5spd w/ mods, '03 Wgn 5spd stock, '05 Passat Wgn - chainless.
If the new part if the more shiny one at the bottom of your pic - then you have the wrong one. No, it won't work.
 

je

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 6, 2000
Location
Chesterton Shores, Ontario
TDI
-
The nice thing about having lots of students around is that there's a ready supply of manual labour... and stories. One kid identified the part as being from a Jetta as soon as he saw it, because his dad did the same thing with his wiper linkage - except it was a different part for his 2007, shiny, longer, with a big bracket in the middle... like the one I bought! So that's what they sent me...

Anyhow I got my old one unstuck, and now have to return the new one (at my shipping cost, the jerks).
 

Uncle Milty

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 9, 2008
Location
Prince Edward Island, Canada eh.
TDI
2001 VOLKSWAGEN JETTA GLS TDI
I've just replaced my wiper motor and obviously botched the reassembly because the wipers want to move down from the parked position. Does anybody know how to figure out the proper positions of the motor and linkage when it all goes back together?

It's raining :-(
Me too. Thanks all !
I don't know how to sync the linkage.
 

rxche

New member
Joined
Nov 16, 2011
Location
Utah
TDI
Jetta
Tutorial video now posted!

First off, thank you very much for the original tutorial given, i wanted to post here because i just replaced my linkage and the motor, and recorded some video along the way. Please make sure to check it out at this link: http://youtu.be/tv8eONLoaY0

I hope its helpful to someone!
 

Alan Shore

Member
Joined
Dec 2, 2008
Location
Midwest
TDI
2003
I have cleaned and lubed the bushings several times in the last 5 yrs. They look perfect with no sign of wear.

After a recent lube job they only worked a few times and started the routine of starting/stopping.....

I am ready to replace at least the entire linkage if not the entire assembly motor and all.

My question is where is the best place to buy these parts and how do I increase the odds of getting the right parts the first time?

Anyone know the current part #'s for a 2003 Jetta TDI ??
 

Jettascuba

Veteran Member
Joined
May 27, 2009
Location
South Africa
TDI
2002 VW Jetta
I found the dealer price to be decent on a new linkage - about $100 here in South Africa. Seems like the newer linkages have upgraded seals on the bushings to better prevent water ingress. If you still can get your bushings out without damage, a good rub down with fine water paper, also the inside of the sleeve, the lubricating with a good copper ant-seize grease works a charm. Am sure your motor is still fine, thing is when the bushing start to seize the motor work harder, pull more current and then it senses that it reached its stop position and stops
 

wildkitty

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 12, 2008
Location
Toronto, ON
TDI
Jetta
Wingnut! CHEERS! Did this job yesterday - went well.

I didn't have little removal tool so I used some angled needlenose plyers (the large ones) to get some leverage from behind the wipers. I put a rag behind them to not damage the trim... Mike wasn't happy about it, but it worked like a charm!! They came off like butta.

Thanks bunches dearest wingnut! Now - to figure out how to get my windows/sunroof to open with my keyless remote.....
 

pedroYUL

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 8, 2011
Location
MI, USA
TDI
2015 Passat CVCA; 2015 GSW CRUA; 2012 wagon CJAA; 2004 wagon BEW
Thanks so much Wingnut for this excellent how-to!
This saved my linkage from the landfill and a few dollars to my pocket
 

Joystick

New member
Joined
Mar 9, 2013
Location
California
TDI
golf 1999 mk4
Help - lingering post-overhaul wiper issues - too much range of wiper motion

Thanks Wingnut and others for this very helpful thread. I'm new to the forum and very much appreciate everyone's contributions to create this incredible repository of knowledge.

I used the information in this thread and in my Bentley shop manual to remove my wiper transmission, unseize the driver side pin, reassemble and reinstall. the linkage is now smooth as butter and the motor is turning with ample speed and torque.

My issue is that, despite having followed the Bentley alignment instructions and the tips found on this thread, I am now having issues with the range of motion of my wipers . I'm nearly certain that the wipers' timing relative to the motor is spot on (no issues with wipers parking themselves anywhere other than at the bottom of the windscreen when at rest). What's peculiar is that my wipers now travel through arcs larger than before my overhaul. For example, for the driver side wiper, the range is described as starting at a point such that the wiper is resting half way on top of the cowl (below the hood line) and ending at a point where it taps the driver side door. It's as if all the banging I did to remove the seized pin has somehow changed the dimensions of the linkage so that the pins now turn an extra 5 degrees or so.

Anyone know how I can correct this undesirable increase in the range of motion of my wipers. If I can't figure out how to fix it, I'm going to pony up
or a new linkage. Thanks!
 

Ohnoitsthexops

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 4, 2012
Location
On a rock in the middle of the sea
TDI
02 auto, 99.5 5speed
i used this to pull my linkage today, one side was fully seized. the nut on the wiper sheared off when i took it off. I used a friends extra linkage, i decided to lube it up since it was out. it was from an 03 it had two o-rings instead of the one o-ring that was on my 99.5, found that interesting.
i am so impressed by the strength of that electrical motor, it took using a torch and a puller and a lot of patience to get that thing out.
 

Joystick

New member
Joined
Mar 9, 2013
Location
California
TDI
golf 1999 mk4
Hi everyone. I decided to take another stab at correcting the problem I was having with my rehabbed wiper linkage (i.e. the fact that the range of travel was greater after rehabbing than it was before). I decided to take it apart and noticed that the linkage isn't perfectly symmetric (there are two short links, one is intentionally bent and the other isn't). I decided to swap the side on which the bent link was on from the driver side to the passenger side. Sure enough, that fixed the problem and now my wipers range of motion is back to normal (no longer tapping the cowl in one direction and driver side door in the other). Here's a pic of the link (circled in red) I'm talking about. It's position in the linkage needs to be on the passenger side of the car.

http://i1034.photobucket.com/albums/a426/agangl/photo.jpg?t=1363487291
 

Henrick

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 24, 2010
Location
Ireland
TDI
Golf VI TDI, 77 kW (CAYC)
LOL. I bought the same wiper puller as in the pictures. It doesn't fit Mk5's well.
 

rosher

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 23, 2007
Location
Salinas, CA
TDI
'99 Golf, '83 Caddy
Seized wiper motor linkage

Thanks for the great post, Wingnut! Worked, although I also agree that waaay worth the ~$60for a new linkage! Couple things to stress: as soon the shaft moves enough to get gear puller directly inline with it, things will go faster (i could NOT have done without puller) Scotch barite works well to clean shaft and bushing. Someone mentioned Marine Grease and that's a great idea. Pain in the #^* but wipers better than ever last 8years! Thanks, all!
 

hroush

Member
Joined
Jan 19, 2011
Location
Bloomington, IN
TDI
2000 jetta
wiper repair round 2

I had to do this about 3 years ago not too long after I bought the car. One of them just seized on me again, so at least I knew what I was doing this time.

The main reason I'm posting is that no tools are required to remove the wiper arm from the car (at least for my 2000 Jetta). Just apply a little pressure at the joint in the arm and lift at the bolt. Unless they are stuck on there, they should slide right off.
 

trekracer

New member
Joined
Aug 18, 2012
Location
midwest
TDI
golf
Thank you to Wingnut and others for the tremendous help. I did this job recently and shared some points below that others may find helpful. I’m handy, but not a mechanic, and the repair took me about 90 minutes. I did not use any new parts. Had I replaced the linkage assembly instead of spending time to free it up, I’m guessing I may have spent 30 minutes less on the project.

The problem:

I sensed something was wrong with the wipers when they seemed a bit slow. I passed it off as an aberration, but one month later was surprised when the wipers went half way up the windshield and stopped. I was able to move the wipers by hand to get them back into their rest position.

Some experiences with the repair:

The wipers appeared to be stuck on their shafts, and I do not have a puller small enough to fit around and under the wipers. Instead, I let penetrating oil soak in overnight, installed the nuts upside down (flange up) and backed them off a bit to protect the shaft, gently but firmly pried up on the wipers with a flat pry bar, and rapped the ends of the shafts with a hammer. Still, the wipers did not come off. Then, I lifted the wipers to the upright position and wiggled them up and down, and they came right off. I’m guessing everything I did loosened the wipers a bit, but the spring pressure of the wipers against the windshield may have prevented easy removal.

The driver-side shaft was seized. I applied penetrating oil and clamped the arm of the shaft into the vice (not the other way around.) This way, I had lots of leverage moving the whole assembly back and forth instead of trying to turn the shorter arm at the end of the shaft. It took five minutes of rotating the assembly back and forth along with some vertical pressure to remove the assembly from the shaft.

The bottom half of the shaft was corroded and pitted. I polished it with 80-grit paper until it moved freely in the bushings and reassembled with a high-quality synthetic grease.

I experienced difficulty replacing the snap ring on one of the shafts because the snap ring groove was partially blocked by the washer. Perhaps the washers were of different thicknesses and I hadn’t replaced them in the same spots. In any case, after finally getting the snap ring in place, the shaft did not rotate as freely, but it seemed acceptable.

The plastic tray at the bottom of the windshield would not snap down into position easily. Therefore, I applied silicone spray to the groove. Then I was able to use some fairly sharp blows with my hand to snap the tray’s locking channel into the groove - starting on one side and working my way to the other.
 

Cuttlefish171

New member
Joined
Sep 4, 2014
Location
New York
TDI
2001 Jetta
Just did this job today with this post as my guide. The two jaw puller makes a world of difference! I didn't have one readily available so I went out and rented it for cheap. Thanks for the post!
 

RCAF Flea

Member
Joined
Aug 1, 2013
Location
Canada
TDI
2012 A3 Audi TDI
Driver Side Windshield Wiper Motor Malfunction

Hi Folks,

Posted this issue in another thread for my Audi A3 TDI.
http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?p=5108319#post5108319
Turns out it wasn't the motor at all - it was a seized wiper linkage on the driver side.

In the end I removed the mechanism, un-seized it using the techniques in in this thread to include heating it up gently with a torch and applying the candle wax, removed, cleaned and lubricated the linkage shaft and replaced both O-rings - top and bottom and reassembled the mechanism and reinstalled in the car. The mechanism is slightly different than the one depicted here but the principles are all the same.
Of note to help the reinstallation I was unable to get the center guide pin on the Audi into the rubber flange with wiper mech in the stowed position but was able to set the mechanism in the wiper well beside it. I then plugged the motor back in closed the hood to allow the wiper hood safety switch to work, applied power to the wipers and commanded the wiper mech to the service position which brought the wipers mech to the right and allowed me to then place the wipers back in their correct position with the guide pin in its flange. After securing the mechanism back in its place with the torx bolts I closed the hood again and commanded the wipers back to the stowed position and reattached the wiper arms. Prior to removing the wiper arms and mech I had outlined the wiper position on the windshield with chalk and made a reference mark at the base of the plastic cover to ensure I put them back in the right spot. You could also use dry or wet erase marker as well. It worked great and the wipers work fine now.
Of note I was able to do all this without removing the wiper motor from the mechanism. I was careful with the whole assembly and used my vice with padding to hold the main bar/arm of the mech while I un-seized the wiper linkage. The benefit was I didn't need to realign the wiper motor pivot afterwards.
It's clear to me now that the wiper movement was very labored prior to it seizing as they sweep very smoothly now....
This cost me a couple hours of work, some grease and 2 new O-rings plus the study up of how to do it. The dealer cost for a new mechanism was $734 Canadian. I found a used one from the wrecker parts network for $269 with a one year warranty. It turns out I didn't need it and they gave me a full refund. good folks.
Thanks Wingnut for your post. The trick with the butane torch and candle wax added by rexhart was the key to success! Thanks Guys!
 
Last edited:

vinnyvincenzo

New member
Joined
Mar 7, 2017
Location
stroud
TDI
VW Passat TDI
How do you adjust the jet timing or angle on a rear wiper for a 2005 Passat TDI estate? -I have Just had my rear wiper motor fail. The new motor was costed at £120 which I thought was a bit steep, managed to pick one up from a scrap yard for £10, it was from an audi A3 but it looks the same and performs well. Got it home and fitted it fine, I made sure the motor had done a full rotation and was in the rest position before I re-attached the wiper arm. The wiper arm functions perfectly well, but now the jet sprays all over the back of the car. I am sure previously the jet fired straight upward and would kick in before the wiper are moved. Now the jet fires when the arm rotates, this is quite funny as I can spray anyone driving a convertible coming from the other direction so i am not sure if I should just put up with it.
 

vinnyvincenzo

New member
Joined
Mar 7, 2017
Location
stroud
TDI
VW Passat TDI
How do you adjust the jet timing or angle on a rear wiper for a 2005 Passat TDI estate? -I have Just had my rear wiper motor fail. The new motor was costed at £120 which I thought was a bit steep, managed to pick one up from a scrap yard for £10, it was from an audi A3 but it looks the same and performs well. Got it home and fitted it fine, I made sure the motor had done a full rotation and was in the rest position before I re-attached the wiper arm. The wiper arm functions perfectly well, but now the jet sprays all over the back of the car. I am sure previously the jet fired straight upward and would kick in before the wiper are moved. Now the jet fires when the arm rotates, this is quite funny as I can spray anyone driving a convertible coming from the other direction so i am not sure if I should just put up with it.
 

Groves

New member
Joined
May 16, 2019
Location
Springfield, MO
TDI
2001 Jetta
What a great thread. Thanks!

On my 2001 Jetta, the wiper motor worked but no movement.

With this great thread and Wingnut's guidance, I got the wiper arms off, and the cowl off.

Here's my question: Does the short arm that attaches to the motor have a smooth bore? or is it corrugated to match the splines on the motor shaft?

I found my motor arm nut and some washers loose below the assembly. The bore on the metal arm which goes on my wiper motor is smooth, but I can't tell if that's from wear or by design. If by design, can anyone tell me what order things get stacked in? Is there a lock washer? Is it just plastic cone-thing, then linkage arm, then nut? Cinch it down tight?
 
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