front wiper not working

[darren]

Hello, I have a 2.8 V6 galaxy and the front wipers have stopped working (a slow judder 3 at most then stops) do's anyone have a solution to this problem. Also the car runs from cold as if it is running on 5 cylinders instead of 6 when started from cold once running the car runs fine again any ideas what is wrong. All the plugs,ignition coils,maf,cam & crankshaft sensors changed, fuel filter and it still runs rough on start up.Thanks.

[gregers]

hi  ,
right the wipers probably is this,
https://www.fordmpv.com/smf2/reference-library/galaxy-windscreen-wipers-not-working-slow-judder-strip-and-rebuild/

take a look in the referance libary for other info you may need.

soz cant add anything for you over your engine problems.

[Chrispb]

Hi Darren
Welcome to the forum
Has the car had a diagnostic scan, you may have some fault codes stored there which could help with diagnosis.

[darren]

Hello thanks for the post on the wiper mechanism got it sorted eventually, got one side free then other snapped when tapping it to rotate it. Replacement Ã,£20 from auction site lots of man hours but saved a fortune.

[jez6363]

If anyone else reads this, there is a much easier way to fix them, that at least for me, has changed wipers that would not do a single wipe into wipers working as new, full wipe of the screen at full speed.

I have had two Mk2 Galaxy now and both have had the same problem when they got to about 7 years old. The wipers start getting slower and slower, eventually not making it across the screen. They also start to leave a large gap at the top right because they don't move freely.

I have read various solutions, including a very expensive and / or time consuming one to replace the whole mechanics, and another to drill holes in the spindle bearings and inject grease and another to strip and rebuild them.

However, I have a much simpler easier solution that has worked for a couple of months of wet autumn already, and seems likely to keep on working at least for a year (and then I can do it again if need be).

The problem with the mechanism is the spindle joints, where the wiper arms are fastened to the car. There are bearings there, which are basically a metal cylinder a couple of inches long, and have a splined shaft through them. The wiper arm bolts on to these shafts.

What happens is that the lubrication in the bearings eventually disappears, and the bearings start to wear, and seize up.

The idea of drilling the holes is to be able to inject grease into the bearings. But you can lubricate them from the outside instead, which is much easier.

First, get a decent oil - I chose a weatherproof bicycle chain oil (Finish Line Wet Bike Lubricant), as I already had some, and the 'stickiness' it has to stop it being washed off in rain seems likely to help it survive being used in the wiper mechanism.

To oil the bearings:

1. Remove the wiper arm nuts. Each arm is held on by a single nut, which is easy to remove.

2. Mark where the wiper blades go, or take a pic on the phone, so you get them back in the same place afterwards.

3. Remove the wiper arms (leave the blades attached). This can be tough. The arms are basically a push fit onto the splined spindle shafts. However, they become very attached to the shafts. By judicious and vigorous wiggling of the arm, I got one off, but the other was not having it. However, I used WD40 and sprayed it on the splines that were exposed when the wiper nut was removed (the nut screws on to the end of the shaft). After 5 minutes I gave it another wiggle and the arm came off. Time is your friend here - let the WD40 do its stuff, wiggle a bit, repeat, and it will come off.

4. Once the arms are off, you can turn on the wipers and see the shaft rotating in the bearing. If it doesn't rotate, then you can push one of the arms back on and 'help' it.

5. Now, with the wipers running on high speed, get your oil and put some on the bearing, on the gap where it is rotating, on the top side. Keep the wipers running and keep feeding in oil, a few drops at a time. The oil gradually will work its way into the bearing. I put about a spoonful of oil in each bearing, over about 15 minutes, all with the wipers running, with the arms NOT attached.

6. You can also oil some of the other joints in the mechanism. After you remove the wiper arms, you can remove the plastic trim surround (that goes across the bottom of the windscreen). Note that when you do this, the thin plastic strip that clips to the bottom of the windscreen can come off the trim. To put it back correctly, first clip the strip to the plastic surround, and then when you put the plastic surround back, you push it on to the screen.

7. The joints are a long way underneath - I used a piece of grass and some oil on the end of it, to drip oil onto the bearing, but it would be better to use eg a long straw, to get oil to the joint. What I did was stop the wipers by turning the key, at the point the mechanism was reachable, and then ran some oil on to the joint. It took a few goes for each of the two joints I could get to, but I did get some oil on the joints. From what other people say, the spindles are the ones that matter though, not these joints.

8. Test it before putting it all back together, by bolting back the wiper arms and see if the mechanism is now working correctly.

9. Put it back together. Make sure to get the wiper arms back in the correct place per where you marked them, before tightening up the splines.

10. Once back together, run the wipers on high speed for a few minutes to make sure they are OK.

Hope it helps someone else.
Regards, Jeremy

[Joey P]

Thanks for that advice, had this problem today.

I removed both buts and did give both the bolts a shower of universal silicone oil, but no joy even after leaving for a few minutes. Reading your succcess, I will try again