TheSamba.com :: View topic - Anyone had luck using thread locker to keep wiper arms on?

Fri Aug 21, 2015 3:31 pm

My wiper arms are slipping despite some work last year with a needle and cleaning the splines. I was thinking of epoxying them in place, but there's a downside. What about the more aggressive threadlocker Loctite type products? Has anyone done this with good luck? We have winter coming on and snow piling up is death on Vanagon wiper arms slipping. So planning ahead.

Doug

Fri Aug 21, 2015 3:55 pm

Hi Doug -

If they're the original arms, they may be bottoming out on the larger-circumference lower
portion of the wiper shaft. I've dealt with this by using a small round file -or- countersink
bit to remove some of the "shoulder" at the bottom edge of the hole in the wiper arm mount.
You need only enough to get some "air" between there when the wiper arm is mounted.

I also recommend the GW wavy-washer hardware kit - nothing like all the right bits to keep it snug!

Once having had your symptoms, this has worked for me the past 6 years...

8)

Fri Aug 21, 2015 5:51 pm

I went over the top and drilled through the arm and wiper shaft. I then dropped in a split pin. They havent moved since! :D

Fri Aug 21, 2015 7:13 pm

What dhaavers said. The outer sleeve rides on a ridge and cannot be bolted down any further. You can buy time by using clever spacers, I got 3 more years out of them. But the problem is that the metal oxidizes away. There are replacement wiper arms out there with original holes, when you get them the metal is pristine.

syncroluvr wrote: I went over the top and drilled through the arm and wiper shaft. I then dropped in a split pin. They havent moved since! :D
I betcha. However this is asking for trouble in case your wipers are iced or snowed in. The splined link is breakaway so it doesn’t burn out your wiper motor.

Fri Aug 21, 2015 7:38 pm

A 7mm flat washer under the 6mm wavy washer helped me.
http://www.gowesty.com/library_article.php?id=1512

Fri Aug 21, 2015 7:55 pm

Every winter I typically forget to flip my wiper arms up at least once when we get heavy, wet snow. Over the course of a few years the arms get really worn down to the point that there is little you can do to save them. After a few cycles of cleaning the splines, then adding a washer etc. the time comes to replace the wiper arms and start the cycle all over again.

Compared to the work involved with breaking off one of the shafts, a new set of wiper arms seems like a good investment.

http://www.van-cafe.com/home/van/page_60_1369/wiper-arm-front.html

Fri Aug 21, 2015 9:35 pm

washers are doing me for now. but not forever.

Fri Aug 21, 2015 10:33 pm

I made a custom washer and then use Loctite on the threads. I go back and retorque and re-Loctite the nuts once a year.

Sat Aug 22, 2015 3:48 am

You can cut a conical shim from a beer can to wrap around the post to eliminate the bottoming out issue. Red loctite on the post/inside the wiper arm/on both sides of the beer can shim will generally hold the wiper arm put for a year or so. Its not perfect, but its exceedingly cheap and pretty easy. The red loctite should cure for 24 hours before use.

Putting a pin through it is pretty sweet way to go about it!

Sat Aug 22, 2015 5:45 am

I remember reading somewhere that wrapping a strip of tinfoil around the splined area before attaching the wiper arm, makes up for lost circumference. OP claimed it worked for years on multiple vans. Something I filed in the memory bank for later.

Sat Aug 22, 2015 1:04 pm

Signalocity wrote: I remember reading somewhere that wrapping a strip of tinfoil around the splined area before attaching the wiper arm, makes up for lost circumference. OP claimed it worked for years on multiple vans. Something I filed in the memory bank for later.

Aluminum foil is pretty fragile, why not just use a piece of beer can as I posted about?

Sat Aug 22, 2015 2:10 pm

I know and am aware that times are bad, times are tough, but rather than shade treeing the front wiper arms with beer cans & aluminum foil, I think it just might be a better thought to break down and purchase ( You gotta be kidding me) a new set of arms, as every once in awhile they may come in awfully handy to see where you might be going in a downpour, or winter snow storm.

Sorry for the bad suggestion.

Sat Aug 22, 2015 2:37 pm

Terry Kay wrote: I know and am aware that times are bad, times are tough, but rather than substantial shade treeing the front wiperbarms with beer cans & aluminum foil, I think it just might be a better thought to break down a purchase ( You gotta be kidding me) a new set of arms, as every once in awhile they may come in awfully handy to see where you might be going in a downpour, or winter snow storm.

Sorry for the bad suggestion.

Buying new arms and the GoWesty repair kit and one may never have to face this problem again. IMO, new arms by themselves are at best a temporary fix that will last one only a year or two before they go to $h!t like the originals.

Sat Aug 22, 2015 2:43 pm

Those "new" arms aftermarket or OE?

Don't know, but it seems to me the original arms lasted for quite some time, through multiple caretakers prior to losing their gripation qualities.

Sat Aug 22, 2015 3:11 pm

I have been running new wiper arms in one of my vans for a while now and they are noticeably more solid than the original units with the washer mod in my other vans. Blue thread locker does extend the interval in which you need to retighten arms with the washer mod but eventually they loosen because the arm to wiper shaft material has already been compromised long ago.
The new arms are OE and work perfectly, old arms are laughable in comparison. New arms are actually unfamiliarly difficult to install due to all of the amount of material available for the splines to embed into on initial install.

Sat Aug 22, 2015 3:50 pm

Terry Kay wrote: Those "new" arms aftermarket or OE?

Don't know, but it seems to me the original arms lasted for quite some time, through multiple caretakers prior to losing their gripation qualities.

I am pretty sure the original arms on my 91 Multivan slipped the first winter after it came off the showroom floor. Just cleaning the splines and tightening the nut worked to get them going again that first time, but after a couple of more slippage episodes I moved up to using the special washers to keep the nut and/or wavy washer from bottoming against the shoulder on the shaft.

To me it would be a waste of a new set up arms to not use the special washer. I have them not only on my Vanagons, but on my Bay and Thing as well.

Sat Aug 22, 2015 4:18 pm

New arms (I got from VanCafe) are made in Germany by the same company that made the originals. They appear to be original and are very solid. Upon installing them you should go in for a retighten after some use but before the snow flies. There is no reason they should not last 30 years, like the originals. Even longer, since we know how they wear out. Threadlocker may be a good on the splines since it would prevent oxidization.

Sun Aug 23, 2015 12:45 pm

i'd take the time to change out and replace them, i'm sure there's a bunch of other stuff under the dash that may need attention while you are in there

Sun Aug 23, 2015 1:46 pm

Wiper arms don't need dash removal to replace them.
Maybe you are talking about the pivots? They last a lot longer than the wiper arms since the arms are made of soft metal.

Sun Aug 23, 2015 4:37 pm

Use a bigger washer as a spacer and some white clay powder on the assembly :wink: