Wiper Spindle Repair

[OzJensen]

When driving to a car show today there was light rain (yes it does rain sometimes in Australia) and the drivers side wiper failed to move. On examination the spindle no longer drives the knurled boss which the wiper arm attaches to - with evidence of previous 'repairs'. I know replacing the spindle mechanism and wheekbox involves disassembling much of the heating system and firewall, and is a job to be avoided.

Has anybody fixed this problem without replacing the whole mechanism and wheelbox? I cannot seem to load a photo to clearly ahow the issue.

[Kevin Birch]

Hi Tony, the wheel is pressed onto the shaft, so the failure will either be teeth stripping off the wheel,the wheel coming off the shaft, or the rack stripping or snapping. If you can rotate the shaft through 360 degrees then it will either be wheel coming off the shaft, which will mean stripping the lot out, or the rack failure, which can be disconnected quite easily from the motor, pulled out and replaced.
If the shaft only partially rotates before jamming then it is probably teeth stripped off the wheel, in which case you may be able to fix it, as the angle of the wiper sweep is around 120 degrees so 240 degrees of the teeth on the wheel never get used. Again you will need to disconnect the rack from the wiper motor and pull it out until it disengages with the faulty wheel, rotate the wiper shaft so when the rack is re-inserted, it engages with a previously unused part of the wheel, with good teeth.
I would take failure as a warning that it all needs an overhaul, and if you manage to to do one of the repairs above to get you out jail, I'd plan in the future to pull it all out and refurb it.
If you do have to take it all out, make sure you make a note of how the wheel boxes are installed, you can put them in wrong(180 degrees out), and if you do, the wipers will park in the centre of the screen, not on the scuttle.

Good luck

P.S. Got my Genome delivery yesterday, great delivery service, quicker than many in this country.

have a good Xmas, Kev

[OzJensen]

2023 12 Interceptor Wiper Spindle.jpg (112.09 KiB) Viewed 580 times

Thanks Kev - and I cannot believe how quickly the books are being delivered overseas - enjoy the read!

Now have worked out how to upload a photo. The shaft is driving fine but the knurled boss the wiper arm attaches to slips on the shaft from the wheelbox. Somebody has tried to peen it before.

Has anybody got any suggestions to get the knurled boss to reattach to the shaft. I assume it cannot be welded as the knurled boss appears to be a soft alloy?

Alternavely I read somewhere the drivers side (right hand drive car) wheelbox assembly is easier to replace than the passenger side - has anybody done this before and what are the steps/tips and tricks?

Thanks!

[johnw]

I have no experience of this at all, but first thought, could you drill a hole at the join of the two along the axis of the shaft and tap in a roll pin? Alternatively 2nd thought, you could drill at 90 degrees to the axis of the shaft and put a pin through that way instead.

[jvcarrier]

If it is drivers side on rhd car it should be reasonably easy as you have access to the wheel box.
Get a replacement wheel box so you can see how it works and get a ratchet spanner that fits the two nuts that cramp the drive tube to each side of the box.

Undo the wiper motor from the inner wing.

Undo the nut securing the drive pipe to the motor

Undo the wires to the motor

Take off the wiper arms.

Pull the motor towards the front of the car until the driver side spindle stops rotating.
Take care to keep the cable clean and dust free - it should be greased so will be dirty and pick up anything that it comes into contact with. Cling film or long rag is useful.

On the drivers side spindle, undo the inboard nut retaining the drive pipe. These are bell ended but when the nut is slackened they should come off.

As the drive shaft has been pulled back undoing the nut on the spindle should release the wheel box.

You may be able to angle it out with the end pipe still attached, otherwise remove the short end pipe.


Once fitted feed cable back in regreasing if necessary. If cable refuses to engage wheel box turn spindle whilst feeding in cable.

Good luck

[Dino Fritz]

Tony,

Yeech - that looks well rounded, doesn't it.

The good news is that you mentioned that it is a soft alloy - I'd be inclined to try and hit it with a small triangular file and to sharpen some of the splines (especially nearer the top of the shaft so that you make a slight taper, then clean it all up to remove any excess oils/grease and give it a try.

Also check & clean up the wiper arm where the spindle attaches to, and maybe add some metal / aluminium epoxy inside to give the splines something to "bite" to (or maybe just replace the entire arm - easier than the shaft)?

Cheers,
Dino

[AndrewP]

If its the inner not driving the outer, Id' suggest carefully centre punch between the outer and inner, drill a ~ 3mm hole (so half in the outer, half in the inner) and then use a 3mm bit of SS rod to act as a sort-of keyway. Belt and braces would be to do this 180 degrees opp for 2 x pins. You could use a selloc pin across , but this might interfere with the outer splines.
If its the outer being stripped, then i'd look at Dinos' suggestion or trying to remove the outer carefully and using a donor, fit another outer.

[kees]

There may be perhaps another option. The part that fits in the wiper arm looks very similar to that of a Land Rover series III. That part is clamped to the wheel box spindle by an external screw, I believe. Worth an investigation AFAIAC.
Trying to fix the problem by hitting the part or its spindle with a hammer and drift/punch is not a good idea at all and may cause extensive damage!

[OzJensen]

Dear All - thank you for all your replies - much appreciated - and all very useful!

An update - I started investigating drilling holes both vertically and horizontally to secure the knurled boss but it became obvious the monkey metal of the splined boss was falling apart so it would only be a short term fix if it worked at all. How the splined boss has lasted 53 years beats me.

I also searched around MG, Mini and Lotus forums as they use the same wiper mechanism and there is a vintage Ford part that can be used as a replacement for the splined boss - and it uses a small screw to secure the splined boss (like the Landrover part Kees referred to). But I have concerns that the small screw, while good for slow 10" vintage wipers, may not be strong enough for 16" Interceptor wipers especially on high speed. The part is https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R ... t&_sacat=0

Thanks to jvcarrier (apologies I do not know your first name) the job is not at all onerous as I feared so I am going to bite the bullet and order a new wheelbox from Martin Robey - and not use my Interceptor in the rain for the next few weeks - which probably means I can use it every day in sunny Sydney!

Thanks again for all your helpful suggestions!

[kees]

Tony, you could use some Locktite, that will make the fix strong enough.

[OzJensen]

An update - and the most frustrating and fiddly job I have done on my Interceptor over the 24 years I have owned it. Zero visibility of the work area tucked under the scuttle and behind the bonnet catch mounting bracket so it was all done by braille - even a dentist's mirror was no help. And had to have my right shoulder resting on the tappet cover to get my hands under the scuttle certainly made my back muscles very unhappy.

I tried all the gentle ways to get the old wiper spindle assembly out but after a long day mole grips and brute force freed it up enough to wiggle it out. But the biggest challenge was to get the new assembly in without damage. Tried all different approaches but just could not get assembly lifted enough to get over the drive tube from the left hand wiper spindle assembly. In the end judicious grinding down two sides of the locating tube to allow the tube to be dropped in from the top of the scuttle after bolting the assembly to the drive tube worked. Finally at the end of he second day all was bolted up and the wipers working as they should. Lost a lot of skin from tops of both hands and my fingertips are still numb from all the braille work.

Will write up an article with more detail. But one thing for sure if the left hand wiper spindle assembly fails it is a heater out job - or sell the car quickly!

[kees]

An update - and the most frustrating and fiddly job I have done on my Interceptor over the 24 years I have owned it. Zero visibility of the work area tucked under the scuttle and behind the bonnet catch mounting bracket so it was all done by braille - even a dentist's mirror was no help. And had to have my right shoulder resting on the tappet cover to get my hands under the scuttle certainly made my back muscles very unhappy.

I tried all the gentle ways to get the old wiper spindle assembly out but after a long day mole grips and brute force freed it up enough to wiggle it out. But the biggest challenge was to get the new assembly in without damage. Tried all different approaches but just could not get assembly lifted enough to get over the drive tube from the left hand wiper spindle assembly. In the end judicious grinding down two sides of the locating tube to allow the tube to be dropped in from the top of the scuttle after bolting the assembly to the drive tube worked. Finally at the end of he second day all was bolted up and the wipers working as they should. Lost a lot of skin from tops of both hands and my fingertips are still numb from all the braille work.

Will write up an article with more detail. But one thing for sure if the left hand wiper spindle assembly fails it is a heater out job - or sell the car quickly!

I suppose saint Peter will not allow you through the Big Gate when the time has come!

[slotcarone]

Amazing how difficult it is to remove and replace this important part. Just for clarification can we assume you were changing the right side spindle since you stated you were working with your right shoulder on the rocker cover?

[DPP]

It is an absolutely horrible job, even with a completely stripped out engine bay it is not a job I enjoy. I have only done 1 in situ and it was the worst side which entailed removing lots of the heater assembly to gain just enough access which was a shame as all the heatshield was in really nice condition and had to be redone after the wipers were fixed.

[OzJensen]

Hi Kees, Slotcarone and Dave,

Yes - right hand drive car - and plenty of less than tasteful language was used - and in retrospect maybe I should have tried the replacement spindle boss first before committing to the total wiper wheelbox replacement - but that is my engineering training driving me. Next time I will be more practical - recommended to anyone faced with the same issue to try the replacement spindle boss first!

Tony with the slowing healing hands....