J body wiper repair

Trey

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I've got my wiper motor out and found the problem with the wipers. I've got a couple questions and I searched and couldn't find the answer. I've ordered the ebay kit from 59imperial but I need to know if I have to remove the drivers side wiper arm to attach it to this plastic drive crank and does the arm go between the two "fingers" on the plastic drive crank (the whiteish parts in my pics.) Also how is the drive crank removed from the arm? Thanks for any help.
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BudW

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Did you receive the kit, yet?
I “believe” thier kit comes with instructions.

I dreaded working on those, back in the day – but (for the most part) parts were still available back then.

Sense you have the wiper motor out, I would highly encourage you to change the other 3 (or 4) wiper bushings (the link from motor to Left side wiper pivot and link between both wiper pivots). Those bushings can be obtained from Chrysler (preferred) or aftermarket (will work in a pinch, but not preferred).

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The black arrow is pointing forward. This is looking inside the cowl towards the drivers outside mirror.
I recommend removing the entire wiper transmission assy and replacing the bushings on the bench, then reinstalling.

Chrysler part number is 3799089. MSRP is $7.10 (US) each, as of today (June 13, 2019).

I find them for less on eBay from time to time. Personally, I think more than $1.00 per bushing is too much, but Chrysler has never asked me about what I think retail price should be.

Dorman (aftermarket) also makes the bushing. The cheapest I found it is from RockAuto:
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BudW

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Aspen500

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I would avoid the Made in China Dorman bushings if at all possible. They will work but, they don't go together well and life expectancy is questionable.
 

MiradaMegacab

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Helpful tip....
Open the cowl covers and spray (actually soak the hell) out of the wiper linkage and all bushings every time you change your engine oil. This will make the parts last longer......
 

Trey

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Thanks for tips and pics. BudW I'll go ahead and replace all the bushings. How do I separate the linkage from the bushings? Do I just pry with a screwdriver? I sure don't want to break or bend anything since parts for these cars are so hard to find.

MiradaMegacab what do you spray the linkage with?

Thanks again for your help.
 

BudW

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In most cases, they are not hard to separate for in the plastic bushings have already shattered or cracked. If not, a large flat screwdriver will take them apart and Channellocks/plyers will pop them back together.

To change the wiper bushings, I recommend to:
- Use some temporary tape, like masking tape, to mark the position of wiper arms. In your case with the wiper motor removed, it will not help much.
- remove both wiper arms. There is a Left and a Right side. Tilt the arm up and use a slot screwdriver to pull a tab outward. This will keep the arm in the “tilted up” position. Generally light rocking will allow the arms to come up and off.
- Remove the large nuts holding the wiper pivots in place. I think they are 15/16” 12-point – but don’t quote me on that. There might be an odd-shaped washer under Left side nut.
- After both nuts are removed, push down on pivots (if they didn’t already fall).
- Remove the wiper transmission out as an assembly through the hole in cowl.
- Mark the arm positions. I prefer to take a sharpie and mark top on both left sides. The rear arm might not matter which direction it goes back in, but the front arm does (know from experience).
- On the bench, take a large flat blade screwdriver and pry the bushings away from pivots. It shouldn’t take much to do.
- Channellocks or plyers are decent to remove bushings from the two arms. This can be easy or not so easy (if bushings didn’t crumble at this point).
- Use Channellocks or plyers to pop the new bushings into the arms. Here Channellocks do work better and sometimes a socket to cover the other end. This is one area where the Chrysler bushings fit so much better than the aftermarket ones do.
I prefer to put a small bit of grease into the bushing hole before popping them back onto the pivots. It won’t hold much and too much will make a mess. The type of grease shouldn’t matter (wheel bearing, white spray, etc.). The bushings were designed to operate dry, but they also squeak when dry. Note: when spraying lube, as mentioned above), you are aiming the grease for these bushings.
- Assemble the arm that attaches to wiper motor (with your new kit) to existing transmission assembly.
- Install the wiper transmission back into place, in reverse order. I like to stick one pivot up enough to get a couple threads on one nut, then do the next. When in position, then tighten nuts.
- In your case (and lastly), attach wiper motor to car leaving the wiper motor arm for last.
- If all nuts are tight, try the wipers before putting the cowl screen in place.

BudW

Edit:
In your case, sense the wiper motor was removed, I suggest attaching the wiper arms after wiper motor is attached, operated and then parked. That way you can get the arms under the hood line (which doesn’t apply to F or M-bodies).
 
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Trey

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Finally got the wiper kit and got it installed. I'm happy to report the wipers work like new again and they even park under the back of the hood. Thought I'd document what I did so it might help someone else.

Here's the instructions that came with the kit. They are minimal to say the least. I also found the only way I could snap the cam cover on the wiper arm was to do it before I snapped it onto the lower part of the cam cover, which is not how I read the instructions.

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Here it is coming apart. This part is easy because the plastic just crumbled. Notice I made a mark with a sharpie on the motor housing and the wiper arm to make sure they went back in the same position.
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Here's the old parts coming off and laying next to the new ones. I laid the spring in the new parts just to keep the orientation correct as I took things apart. I cleaned all the old, hard grease off the metal wiper arm, the spring, c-clip and ball bearing before I reassembled everything.
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Here's the new parts going back together after cleaning. I used white lithium grease to lubricate everything.
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Here it is with the cam cover on.
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Here's the wiper arm pressed onto the cam cover. This was without a doubt the hardest part of the job. The plastic is somewhat pliable and would compress as I was pressing the parts together and not allow the lip that retains the arm to pop into the arm. It took a lot of creative language and some head scratchin' to get it on there. Fortunately the plastic is forgiving and it finally snapped on there.
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And here's the assembly test fit to the wiper motor just for reference. You can see the "lip" that has to press through the wiper arm in the lower part of the picture. You can see the two sharpie marks in this pic a little better. In my next post I'll show how to replace the bushings on the wiper linkage.
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Trey

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Here's the wiper pivot attachment on the driver's side, the passenger side is similar. To get the wiper arm off it helps to remove the blades so you can lift up the wiper arm to lift the locking tab so you can remove the wiper arm. They only lift up 3-4 inches before the tab will release.

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Here's something I found today while replacing the bushings. The one they send in the rebuild kit and the ones in the 2 pack from Dorman are a hard nylon and are very difficult to work with. Notice the one in the wiper arm is white (nylon) and the other one is opaque ( a softer plastic) I noticed the factory bushings were pliable, I could actually crush them with my fingers and popped them out of the linkage easily. I found that the bushings in the Dorman multi pack are also pliable like the factory ones, which made installation much easier (part number 49447). You only get two of the ones for these cars per pack so you have to buy 2 of the multi packs since you need three of the bushings. They're only 4.49 per pack though.
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Here's the linkage with the new bushings pressed in with the old ones between them. I noticed the wiper pivots were kind of gummy feeling so I cleaned and lubricated them. Just assemble the lower arm to the rest of the linkage after you install the wiper kit from the earlier post and slide it in the cowl and bolt it back up. Note: Make sure the splined parts of both pivots are through the holes in the cowl before you bolt it up otherwise you'll have to take it loose again to get the other one in. Guess how I found this out....
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I marked the driver and passenger side wiper arms but on these cars the driver's side is the only one with the little "arm" that my screwdriver is pointing at, so if you forget to label them it's not a crisis. Tomorrow I'm off to get my inspection so I can start driving this car finally.
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DCAspen

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Great write up,Should help other J-Body owners.
 

droptop

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I just did the exact same repair on my 75 Road Runner this past weekend. The only issue I have is waiting for the skinned up hands to heal. A lot of sharp edges in the cowl opening.
 

Trey

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I don't want to get too far off topic but I've always had a soft spot for the '75 'runner. The vanishing point trunk decal has always stuck with me. It's also the only year it was built on the Fury body. I had a chance to buy a copper colored one "back in the day" and kick myself for not buying it. Hope your hands heal quickly and you get the car on the road soon. More of these need to be seen.





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droptop

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Will be at Carlisle this year and also on the Rapid Transit Tour the following week.

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volare 77

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Next time use the mopar bushings. 3799089. They tend to last longer then the dorman ones.
 

Miradaman

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I came up with a simpler fix than this. Mine screwed up years ago on my '81 Miranda. I went to junkyard, and bought the complete wiper trans assembly off a '88 Fifth Ave. Be sure to unbolt the arm from motor. This eliminated the wacky bushing with ball bearings. I measured the distance between the posts on the stems, then cut the main arm down to that size. After MIG welding, everything just snapped together. I used HELP brand bushings from Advance Auto parts. Never had any more problems with wipers.
 

Ele115

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I'm still waiting for my hands to grow back from going through this on my 77 Fury. It's like digging through a barrel of razor blades for an hour
 

rukinleon

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So, just spent all afternoon doing this (thanks for the write up) but now it is so stiff the wiper motor can barely turn the assy. w/o the wiper arms on. What gives?
 

droptop

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So, just spent all afternoon doing this (thanks for the write up) but now it is so stiff the wiper motor can barely turn the assy. w/o the wiper arms on. What gives?

A little lubricant goes a long way. LOL.
 

Ele115

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If they are lubed good, you may have to get out of the car and try helping them back and forth (on high) for a half dozen passes or so to get them to work loose. They can be extremely tight, especially if they are dry. The white arm bushings they sell on Amazon are a lot tighter fitting than the Dorman or Chrysler ones are. They will loosen up before too long.

You could pop both wiper arms off and run the wipers a while to loosen them up. It's wont be fighting the friction of the blades against the windshield
 
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