W126 Wiper Issue

Gang,

On my 300SE, only my "large" wiper is swiping and the other one only works occasionally...most of the time it stays "parked".

Tell me this is an easy fix?!

[JimSmith]

Kelly Pepper,

On older cars the wipers were run by a mechanical arrangement under and in front of the dash, and when one wiper went limp, it meant you had to reach around in there and pop the wiper arm male connection back into the drive mechanism bushing (a rubber donut affair). Once you did it the first time the next time was easier. Mine usually only popped out if there was heavy snow or ice on the windshield adding an unusual load to the system.

On the W126 model I owned, this was sadly changed to a modular unit in the area of the base of the windshield. The design was not as robust, and when it let go of one of the wiper arms, it usually meant the bushing, now made of plastic and held in place by a large sheetmetal stamping, broke, and there is no provision for replacing just the bushing. I tried several solutions that did not work before I gave in to the new mentality and bought a new assembly, which included the motor. It cost me several hundred dollars to have the whole unit it replaced.

It is possible yours is not really that bad if it sometimes works, but I would not hold much hope. Good luck, Jim

[yer-ol-pal]

My 300SD had this afliction before I bought it from my friend. He had a very simple fix. Take the arm on the passanger side off! Really doesnt do much and it looks way cool to have just the one big wiper!

MMMmmm....I'm thinking............No!

I'm not at all interested in making my MB look any different then it was intended to look. I like the wiper design of this era...that's one reason why I drive the 300SE (w126) VS 300E (or 300D for that matter)

I would like to buy a 560SEC or 560SL if I could find a nice one in Garnet (color # 512). That's the only color I would ever consider.

[stevebfl]

There actually is a very quick permanent fix for this if you have the skills.

Place the link back over the metal ball, Obtain a large metal washer with an ID of about 1/4 inch less than the flat, exposed upper surface of the metal ball (seems like they meant for this repair as the ball has a flat upper surface just designed for this technique. Place the washer on the ball. This traps the linkage. You must now TIG weld or other fine arc weld the inner ID of the washer to the top of the ball. A couple spots on either side work well. Done quickly (with the TIG) and with a wet rag around the link the remains of the old captive bushing will still be there to keep the linkage from klunking on rebound. The results can't break if done properly and the only place it can go is to break up the rest of the bushing and klunk with the play.

We have done a number of them on the early cars, takes about an hour, most of which is set-up time.

Who manufactures the MB wiper motors? Is it Valeo?