ML 320 Front Windshield Wipers Stopped Working
 

Hi there.

We had some snow here in Denver today and when my wife came out to the car after work, she turned on the wipers. The wipers were frozen to the windshield, so she quickly turned them off, scraped the window and freed the wipers. She got back in the car and they would not move. I do hear some clicking when I turn them on, so it seems like the motor may still be alive. I can manualy move them back and forth. Any ideas on what this could be? Switch maybe? With the clicking, it seems like the fuse would be ok.

Thanks, Mike

After a bit more research, the fuse is fine. Not sure how to check the relay, but I hear the motor running. It seems like maybe some linkage came detached or something. Does this seem logical? If so, how do I get to the motor?

So, I read a few posts and got the windshield trim piece off and my linkage was still connected and the motor runs, but it is like it doesn't grab the teeth on the linkage. Could the internal teeth of the motor be stripped? If so, do I just get a whole new motor? The teeth on the linkage look fine and it appears to be in all the way etc.

OK, so this has turned more into a blog where I share what I have learned as I go...

So, I took off the motor and found that the internal gear was made of high quality plastic and basically it broke in half. So, I went to my local Autozone auto parts store and they looked up the matching motor and I bought it (about $85) and took it home. Everything looked identical except my motor had a female connection with the linkage and the new motor had a male connection. I thought it was incorrect and went to 3 stores to try to find a motor with a female connection with no luck. They all came up with the same motor I originally bought. So, frustrated, I went back home and found that the central linkage shaft could be removed and the new motor basically already had this shaft as part of the motor. So, don't be fooled by this. It is workable by just removing the central linkage shaft!

So, got it put back together, but couldn't get the wipers to stop in the right place when I turned them off. So, it is important to have the linkage attached where the two arms are at their right most position. Keep the linkage lined up in that position and put the plastic hood molding back in place, then place the wiper arms in their off position at the bottom of you window. Then you are in business. I hope this helps someone else.

Thanks for taking the time to write this up. Sorry no one here gave you any help. I've never had an issue with my wiper motor so I didn't have anything to offer.

michaelloveusa, sorry i've never had any wiper problem therefore can't contribute. Nice of you to share with the group tks.

Previous owner of my 00' ML320 must have had a problem or the folks in manufacturing botched - my wiper arms stop a bit higher up than in the parked position. When finishing a wipe stroke, the blades go down into park and then come up just a bit and stop. Think my linkage is off by a spline and want to correct.

Any chance I can get from you how to wiper arms off the linkage and then how to get the plastic vented trim off the car? Would be a big help - Tks!

Sure thing.

Open up the hood and pull off the rubber molding that separates the windshield/plastic molding from the inside of the engine compartment. It runs the entire width across the engine compartment. Under that there were 6 clips that hold the plastic molding in place. They have sharp barbs on the, so be careful. Pop those off by prying them up along with pushing the molding in. Then there is a nut on each side that helps hold the molding in place. Remove those.

Now, pop off your wiper blades. Where the blades pivot, you pry up the plastic cover that gives you access to the nut. Unscrew the nut. Then get a pair of pliers, grab the arm with your pliers and wiggle and pull straight up from the shaft. Mine were on pretty tight, so you might have to get a little tough with them. I also found that pushing the blade straight down into the window helped get the angle correct for easier release. Also, not too much worry scuffing them up as the plastic piece covers it up. Kind of hard to explain, but I hope you get the picture.

Once the arms are off, you just grab the molding a wiggle it as you pull it down, then lift up to get it over the wiper arm pivot shafts. Once I got it loose, I slid one side up the window a bit and was able to pull the other side out. At times as I recall, I had to bend the molding a bit to get it in/out. Do not disconnect the wiper fluid hold, just sit the molding up near the top of you engine compartment and leave it. So, now what you have is the motor that comes up in the center and linkage that connects each wiper arm. To get the wipers to stop in the right place, you have to adjust where the linkage connects to the motor a bit.

So, I should have done this, but didn't... Take a picture of the linkage in its stopped position before you start mucking as a reference point. OK, now take a screw driver and pry the left arm off the center drive post. Pop off the right arm which should expose the nut that connects the linkage to the motor.

NOTE: If you do not see a nut here and the linkage goes down into the motor itself, that is what my original motor looked like. To adjust that, you may have to take the motor out, take off the bottom plastic piece to get to the plastic gear and rotate it a bit. Not sure as that is what I replaced and my new motor had that peice of the linkage built in.

OK, assuming you have a motor with a shaft, splines and a nut coming out of it, you pry off the linkage (off of the splines) rotate it a bit and put it back on. What I ended up doing was putting a wiper arm back on, then ran the wipers using trial and error to get it right. Once you get it to stop in the right place, just pop off the wiper arm and don't move anything! Then get your molding back in place (details to follow) and attach the wiper blades on in their off position.

OK, put you linkage back on, get your molding back into its basic position. This is kind of a pain, but you have to push down vertically on the molding a bit as you wiggle the molding and slide it up the window all at the same time. There is a plastic piece that needs to expand and grab around the base of the window. I started on one side and worked my way across. Note: I read other posts that sprayed soapy water down in the to get it to slide on easier. Once this is in place (after much frustration I am sure), attach the wiper arms and make sure they do exactly what you want. Then put the 2 nuts back on and the 6 clips, the rubber grommet and you are on your way.

I hope that helps. Please ask more questions if you need more help.

Mike

michaelloveusa - Many tks for the great instructions!