Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

One of my wipers is slipping on its drive shaft,i assume it is on a splined shaft? can it be tightened or somehow fixed?

Cheers

Ian.

Hi

If the arm is slipping on the spindle you can just tighten the spindle nut. The splines do wear but this is usually due to them being taken off and on a lot, they are only alli.

Post a pic of where they are slipping to make it a bit clearer.

Jason

Hi Jason,

If it's worn splines on teh spindle, a piece of foil between the spondle and the wiper arm, then tighten up teh arm again (not too tight) and it should cure it (at least temporarily).

If it's not the splines....

Due to the lovely summer we've had here....my wipers have been on a lot

A few weeks ago my left wiper began to 'slip' too.

It's not the splines on the spindle. It seems to be something in that spindle's gearbox.

Am looking to replace the two spindle assemblies with the cable and gearboxes.

Before I go and burn more money....

Are there any servicable parts in this part of the windscreen wiper assembly?

Thanks in advance,
Peter

Thanks for advice,when i say mine is slipping i mean after a few minutes the left blade moves on spindle towards the car body,it sweeps fully but if you park the blade its 5 inches or so to low..

Hi Ian....

Ooops, when I said 'Hi Jason' above I meant 'Hi Ian'

Sounds like you may have the same problem as me.

A gearbox problem?

Hopefully someone has advice othe rthan 'replace'.

Take care,
Peter

Peter,

I think it says "Lucas" on the wiper assembly.

Replace the the lot.

Sean
(From the Frederikshaven - Gothenborg night ferry)

peterako wrote:
Am looking to replace the two spindle assemblies with the cable and gearboxes.

Before I go and burn more money....

Are there any servicable parts in this part of the windscreen wiper assembly?

Thanks in advance,
Peter

Peter..do both your blades slip? only my left one does,iv not investigated as yet but if one works surely the other can be made to follow???

Ian

Last shout for help on this before i pull to bits..does anyone know why left blade slips only one way? it sweeps fine,clears rain as it should but can be pushed manually to one side,but cannot be pushed other direction...

rocket wrote: it sweeps fine,clears rain as it should but can be pushed manually to one side,but cannot be pushed other direction...

Maybe the outer metal tube that is clamped to the wheelbox is slipping?? It has a small screw/bolt to clamp the two halves together.
Here is a pic of a wheel box taken off ebay 260285265886 (nothing to do with me)

Thnks Brian will look tonight,is the clamping bolt accessible from outside of car ?

Ian.

Ian, I think that it must be something to do with the wheelbox as well, but I fear it's a big job to rectify. I may be wrong, but I can't see how you would get the wheelboxes and drive cable / tubes out without removing the dashboard, and that's not a quick job to do. It may be worth investigating under the dash to see what you can see, but the tube has to be pulled a long way forward to clear the bulkhead, and it's very busy under there.

Check first that it's not just worn splines, where the wiper arm clamps onto the spindle. If it is that simple, a wrap of thin tape will often sort it out for a while.

If it's not that, then it's got to be one of three other problems:

The wheelbox is coming apart, as indicated by Brian above

The wheel on the end of the spline (that engages with the cable 'rack') is worn, and must be replaced.

The cable itself has been damaged.

If it's the last, you can pull the cable out from the wheelboxes / tubes and replace it without major work. Just take the wiper arms off, disconnect the cable at the motor end, and wind it out using one of the wiper spindles. If it's not the slipping splines, it may be worth doing this to check the cable anyway, before having to get the dash out.

One consolation is that if you do have to get the dash out, you can then refurbish or replace it, clean up all the electrical connections behind there, and overhaul / re-seal the heater. If any of these jobs haven't been done in the last 20 years or so, they will need to be done sooner rather than later anyway.

Here's a picture of the wheelboxes and cable tube in position, with the dash out of the way.

Mark

Thanks that pic may help alot..what i cant understand is that if a gear,cable etc is worn out how come the blade works well when running? Id have expected the blade to slow or even stop but it works just fine..the only problem being that it works itself into a position where it rubs on wing at parked position..

With those symptoms I think it must be the splines rather that the rest of the wiper assembly. Your one-way effect is probably due to splines wearing into a sort of ratchet shape.


BTW as far as I remember it has to all come out as one unit, it is not a BOWDEN cable type thing, like a speedo cable.

The wiper cable doesn't spin; it slides to & fro in the tube. You can't take the cable out of the gearboxes in situ.

Mark,
I'm intrigued by the heater. Do you know if the sound deadening is original? I wonder how much difference it makes. My +2s have no damping on the casing at all.
Mike