Wiper alignment

[Hoggle]

Hi

I’ve had my vectra about 7 years now. About 5 years ago I had the well known problem of the linkage breaking.I’ve survived off the repair kits for the last 5 years but the wipers have never been quite right colliding with the bottom of the scuttle etc. I have spent hours every time attempting to align them correctly.

last year I thought enough was enough and bought a replacement linkage from vauxhall assuming it was slop in the cheap repair linkage that was responsible.
The problem continues and over the years I’ve lost count of the hours/I’ve spent trying to rectify/ research this.

I’ve even bought a brand new wiper arm as I read some where there was a suggestion this could be at fault.

what I’ve been doing is removing the wipers.

-Turn the wipers on then off

• allow the spindle to return to its stationary stop/start position.
• fitting the wiper arm approximately
• turn on and see what the result is.
• if it hits the a pillar I stop and repeat the above lowering the initial position of the wiper and vice versa if it hits the scuttle. I’ve tried minute movements and large differences in the start position all either have the same result or aren’t right.

the issue I seem to be having is the wiper seems to go past it’s start position a few inches (collide with the scuttle) then return to the start position. So the spindles start position appears to have no bearing on where i

someone must have had this issue with the vectra wipers too.

Any help would be appreciated

I’m beginning to query whether the wiper motor has any sort of alignment issues with the linkage itself.could this be an issue?


thanks

[AndySignum2.2]

I have several thoughts on the wiper issue......

Are the teeth worn on the wiper arm and/or the spindle?

Its possible that the linkage arms or at least one of them are worn

My last thought at this moment in time is, when you you allow them to sit in their resting position do you move them a lot or just one tooth at a time?

[skidmark1]

I replaced my whole assy this time with a second hand unit of the bay, the one off my car I had replaced the tie rods about three years ago and was still in good condition apart from the Chinese replacement rods were worn out, since replaced these , cleaned and lubed and is now sitting under the bench for next time, mine was hitting the pillar so lowered the driver side one but as you say go to far and it hits the scuttle, this on mine was all due to wear in the plastic bushes on the rods

[Hoggle]

Hi thanks for the responses - so I’ve read the thing about move one tooth at a time before and just don’t think it’s do able as the teeth are so small other manufacturers seem to have big toothed gears making this far easier. The linkage was changed out for a brand new vauxhall assembly around 3 months ago. The tooth’s appears fine on the assemble itself. In terms of the wiper arms I bought a brand new one and it appears the the spindle cuts the grooves into the new wiper arms. The issue seems to be occurring on passenger side and the drivers side.

I even tried sticking a post It note to the windscreen and putting markings and working it down/ up tiny amounts in reinstall.

surely this is a 10 minute job a side I’d even take it to a garage but can’t see what they could do what is different to what I’m doing.





it’s been suggested that the motor is at fault on another forum but it would have to be massively coincidental for this to become faulty when the issue with the linkage occurred although I am willing to try changing this.

[lee gsi]

Sounds like the short arm between the motor and linkage is in the wrong place

[Hoggle]

Sounds like the short arm between the motor and linkage is in the wrong place

I’m thinking you could be right - as When I moved the motor from the old assembly to new I didn’t give placement of the arm from the linkage to the motors second thought. I assumed you could just reattach it.

what I may do is remove the plastic scuttle loosen the the arm from the motor to the and try it in some different positions.

Unless does anyone know the correct position this should be sat when assembled?

[Daywalker]

If you watch this video from youtube it does show the parked position @ 2.28 ( hopefully clear enough) which may help you with alignment https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnKSY-6pIT4

[Hoggle]

If you watch this video from youtube it does show the parked position @ 2.28 ( hopefully clear enough) which may help you with alignment https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnKSY-6pIT4

thanks for that - I’ll have a look and have a play when I’m off and update

[amac31]

I had this issue litterally just yesterday as I replaced ( upgraded ) my linkage. The problem is the short arm from the actual motor to the linkage. It is too far down on the splines, you need to loosen the nut and move the arm up on the splines in the direction of the roof , I suggest you move a couple of splines at a time until you reach the correct alignment. I scratched my head for a few hours until I realised that the wipers were going too far down then returning to " parked ".

[Castiel]

Came across this thread at just the right time. Having the same problem for a few years and repairs are not working anymore with the driver side arm striking the pillar (which it didn't do when the repair was first done).

Just one quick and possibly silly question. I watched the video linked to above (and quoted below)

If you watch this video from youtube it does show the parked position @ 2.28 ( hopefully clear enough) which may help you with alignment https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnKSY-6pIT4

Why do the linkage arms get replaced "upside down". The original ones taken off have the "open" side facing down while the new ones are open side up. I thought it was a mistake on the video but on X8R's website they have the same "mistake" in their pictures. Is this intentional or does it not matter? The placement of the arms?