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  #1  
Old 06-02-2003, 06:29 AM
zhandax
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How to grease 300E wiper gearbox

I may as well share one of my less than stellar maintainence adventures in hopes it might give comfort to someone in similar circumstance.

I started to rehab my 300E blower motor. Since I had seen all the posts on what a simple proceedure it is to grease the wiper gearbox, I thought this would be a good time to do it.

In retrospect, there are two sets of posts on this subject. One is from people who found the task a 5-minute cakewalk. These people drive newer cars.

Those of us driving late 80's W124s can leave the dental hardware in the bathroom. There are no secret catches.

The steel wiper housing cover plate on my 1988 300E is held in place by 5 screws, two of which can only be accessed from inside the gearbox.

I will spare you most of the details of how I learned this, but here is how to get it apart.
Since I have not yet learned how to post multiple pics, this will cover 4 posts.

The stainless arm you pulled the wiper off moves up and down 4 times between starting and returning to the park position. It is retracted in the park position, again at the centerpoint, and again at the far passenger side.

For removal, the arm needs to be in the center position which is retracted.
Refer to pic 1. If you have extracted the wiper assembly, you will recognize this view.
Remove the shaft nut and washer. The pic shows it already removed.

Scribe a mark on the shaft and arm linkage to assist in alignment on reassembly.

Then remove the arm linkage from the shaft. This might be accomplished by prying with a screwdriver. By the time I got to this point, my sense of humor was wearing thin. I took mine off with a gear puller and a cordless impact wrench. Didn't put up much of a fight.

Attached Thumbnails
How to grease 300E wiper gearbox-0arm-linkage1.jpg  
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  #2  
Old 06-02-2003, 06:33 AM
zhandax
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Next, there is a circlip which holds the gearbox onto the shaft.
This shot shows the circlip as it is just starting to move out of place. Pull it out, hit the shaft with the palm of your hand, and the gearbox will detach from the wiper assembly.
Attached Thumbnails
How to grease 300E wiper gearbox-0circlip2.jpg  
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  #3  
Old 06-02-2003, 06:49 AM
zhandax
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Here is why you moved the arm to the center position.

The part labeled 'indentation for gear' will only allow the small gear to be inserted at this point. This presumably will prevent misalignment at this junction. Insure on reassembly that the reciprical arm is in the fully retracted position.

The five holes marked 'cover screws' are what need to be removed to access the reciprocal mechanisim. Do not disturb the four larger screws, they hold the reciprocal guides.

The picture (#3) you are viewing show mating surfaces. i.e. the shaft pointing up on the right part gets turned over and fits into the hole of the piece on the left. Installed in the car, the part on the left faces the sky and the part on the right faces the ground.
Similarly, the gear on the right piece fits the half-round pinion on the part on the left. This gear and pinion should probably be lubricated. Would not hurt to hit the shaft also. I plan to use white lithium unless I hear a better suggestion.
Attached Thumbnails
How to grease 300E wiper gearbox-inside-gearbox.jpg  

Last edited by zhandax; 06-02-2003 at 07:12 AM.
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  #4  
Old 06-02-2003, 07:05 AM
zhandax
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This is what is under the cover you see when you look at your windshield wiper.
It is the reciprocal mechanism which makes the wiper arm go up and down.

The arm (labeled on the left) is rotated about the arm rotation point indicated on the right (it is also the back side of the small gear in the previous picture). This causes the mechanism circled in green (down on left, and up on right) to travel up and down the guides.
Grease the guides, but I suspect the most important spot to grease is the point where the shaft exits the housing. (labled 'grease here')

A pretty simple job with a couple of pictures. My replacement should be here by Friday.
Attached Thumbnails
How to grease 300E wiper gearbox-recip-assembly1.jpg  

Last edited by zhandax; 06-02-2003 at 07:18 AM.
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  #5  
Old 06-02-2003, 04:19 PM
csnow's Avatar
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Thanks for the pretty pics.
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1986 300E 5-Speed 240k mi.
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  #6  
Old 10-01-2003, 09:13 AM
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Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Palm Beach County, Florida
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Mercedes Wiper Transmission Repair

Many thanks for the excellent description (with great photos), provided by zhandax. I can now proceed with repairs to my Bosch wiper transmission.

One clarification: Regarding the "rectangular opening with a release" . . . often described in postings: there is no such thing on my 1991 Merc. 300CE (124). Instead, there is a (1) single machine screw at the bottom of the underside of my (1991 car) clam-shell cover but that alone will not open the cover. The entire unit must be removed from the car to open the cover for repair to the gear mechanism.

If one must replace the wiper transmission, the Bosch company made (2) two units. My 1991, fits in the 1986 - 1993 period. The price found on the www for new (not used or rebuilt) is $535. Less than half of the dealer's price.

Post script: After removing the center nut and circlip, the gear shaft needed only a few stikes of a rubber hammer to drop away. Finally, the clam shell cover was opened to reveal the problem. The larger, semi-circle plastic gear, attached to the bottom half of the cover had lost almost all its teeth. The remains of what may have been grease, appeared to have dried to the point of near hardness and the gear teeth appeared to have become brittle to the breaking point.

Not Bosch, nor Mercedes offer a repair kit. Otherwise, it would have been simple and inexpensive to replace the gear surface (if) such a part or repair kit were available. Instead, the local Merc dealer's department of amusingly priced parts offered a new Bosch (model 124) wiper transmission, without the motor, for $1,300.

This is an example of why I restored my 1981 Volvo 260 GLE and enjoy driving it so much more than the Merc. That model Volvo is built with far greater engineering design, better lasting quality and ease of repair. Unlike the Merc's dreaded CD of a Service Manual Library, the Vovlo shop manual is written clearly, in logically sequential order and understandable terms.

You can amuse the local Merc dealer or go to the www if yours is also in an unrepairable condition.

There is an opening at the base of the unit's cover. With a needle grease applicator, you can squirt some lubrication to the gears, maybe once a year, depending upon use. Also, the replacement wiper tranny has an improvement: snap-off clam-shell cover for grease application.

Last edited by jsbick; 11-12-2003 at 10:53 PM.
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  #7  
Old 07-21-2005, 09:31 AM
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Wiper Gearbox Repair

Many Thanks To Zhandax For His Help And Pictures For The Removal And Repair Of The Wiper Gearbox. I Did This Repair And After Having Done It On My 1990 300e I Would Like To Add Just A Couple Of Things For Diy'ers.
1. Place Car In Shady Area And Place Hood In The Verticle Position.
2. Pull The Black Plastic Rubber Pieces Directly Away From The Windshield. There Are No Screws To Worry With And They Expose The Screws You Do Need To Deal With.
3. Do All The Things Zhandax Said To Do And Be Certain You Place A Rag Or Towel Down In The Area That Is Exposed Once You Remove The Vent Screens. Also Place A Cloth Over The Engine Area To Keep Needed Parts From Falling Down Into Hard To Retrieve Spots.
4. When You Remove A Part Keep It On The Same Side Of The Car You Removed It From And Oriented In The Correct Direction.
5. Pay Particular Attention To How The Windshield Motor Is Inclined. Take A Digital Picture If You Can. Make Certain You Remember How The Armature Lever Is Conected Between The Motor And The Gearbox. ( Bet I Put That Last Part Back Together 14 Times Trying To Get It To Align Correctly ).
6. When You Have Finished Repairing Or Replacing The Gearbox, Simply Put The Armature Back In But Don't Tighten Anything Down.!
Leave It Disconnected. Plug In The Wiper Motor And Go Turn The Key On. Turn The Wiper Motor On And Let It Run For 5 Seconds And Then Turn The Wiper Off. ( Not The Key! ) So That It Will Go To The Park Position. Then You Can Turn The Ignition Switch Off.
7. Now You Can Connect The Armature To The Wiper Motor And The Gearbox. But Don't Put It Back In Just Yet. Make Sure The Nuts Are Tight. Then Go Switch The Key On And Turn The Wiper On And After 5 Seconds Turn The Wiper Motor Off. Then The Ignition Switch.
8. If You Have Connected The Armature At The Correct Position, The Abreviated Chrome Prod Will Be Pointing Directly At The Lower Portion Of The Drivers Side Windshield.
9. These Items Are Just An Addendum To What Zhandax Showed Us What To Do. Yep. I Lost A Clip And A Screw In Braket When I Was Working On Another Piece Of The Car When I Accidently Snagged It With My Gloves. Hope This Helps A Little. And Good Luck On Your 124. I bought the gearbox and wiper motor for 50.00 used and used lithium marine grease to grease it. It took ALL DAY for me to complete it. But now I've got a wiper. Yea!!!
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  #8  
Old 07-21-2005, 04:35 PM
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I used MB sliding roof grease to lube my wiper mechanisn. White Lithium seems to get gummy and then dry out which results in sticking. The MB grease isn't cheap but I love that stuff.

jsbick: Take the old gear and the wiper unit to a local, old line machine shop and they will fabricate a new one for a reasonable price. Making gears is taught in basic machine shop courses so they will know what to do. I find that the older the shop, the better their prices and skills, generally.

Tim
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  #9  
Old 07-22-2005, 02:17 AM
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Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Perth, Australia
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Wiper Service

I tried this once. Got everything apart and had the wiper module in my hands.

Took all screws out but could not prise the lid off. For fear of breaking something that was unbroken atthat point I gave up.

It looks like the cover is snap fitted over the lower case?????

I did not separate the wiper motor.

I believe there are two versions of the wiper and mine is the very hard to service version.

It was surprisingly easy to get everything apart and at least I degunked the lower windscreen seals and gave everything a good clean.

I advise the same remove and inspect process for the sunroof seal for all you DIY'ers. Well worth checking for rust and cleaning in and around this area. The seal will come out with evidence of rust if it is there.

89 300CE
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  #10  
Old 07-22-2005, 04:22 AM
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I've successfully greased the inside of the wiper assembly, by heating up motor cycle chain grease, which goes to the consistency of thick cream when hot then reverts back to almost solid like when cold, and pumped heaps into the drain holes via a hand grease gun with a plastic tube attached that you can curve up into the drain holes without removing anything. After it was done the wiper was as smooth as silk in it's operation.

The easy not quite as effective way.

Cheers George
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  #11  
Old 07-25-2005, 09:29 AM
injector
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grease wiper gearbox

THIS IS FOR BIGBLUE1. THE MODULE THAT YOU MENTIONED YOU WERE HOLDING BUT COULD NOT SEPARATE IS MOST PROBABLY THE OLDER VERSION. THE HARD TO GREASE VERSION. REALLY, YOU HAD DONE ALL THE HARD WORK. THERE ARE THREE AND SOMETIMES FIVE SMALL SCREWS THAT HOLD THE METAL PAN OVER THE RECIPROCATING PISTON AND THE GEARS. sIMPLY UNSCREW THE SMALL SCREWS. NOT THE 4 LARGE SCREWS AS THEY HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH HOLDING THE COVER ON. THEY HOLD THE SLIDES IN PLACE. ONCE THE 3 OR ON SOME MODELS 5 SCREWS ARE REMOVED, THE COVER CAN BE JIMMIED APART. TRY NOT TO BEND IT. I REMOVED ALL THE SCREWS AND HAD TO PIECE THE INSIDES BACK TOGETHER. BUT IT WAS NOT TOO DIFFICULT TO FIGURE OUT HOW THE TWO SLIDES WERE ORIENTED AND HELD IN PLACE BY THE 4 LARGE SCREWS. MY ORIGINAL WIPER GEARBOX HAD THE 5 SMALL SCREWS AND THE USED REPLACEMENT HAD ONLY THE THREE BUT IT WORKED FINE. HOPE THIS HELPS YOU.
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  #12  
Old 06-07-2006, 02:32 AM
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Join Date: Jun 2006
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lyonstexas
I used MB sliding roof grease to lube my wiper mechanisn. White Lithium seems to get gummy and then dry out which results in sticking. The MB grease isn't cheap but I love that stuff.

jsbick: Take the old gear and the wiper unit to a local, old line machine shop and they will fabricate a new one for a reasonable price. Making gears is taught in basic machine shop courses so they will know what to do. I find that the older the shop, the better their prices and skills, generally.

Tim

where can I buy grease? From Auto store? what name of lube? Thanks joel
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  #13  
Old 06-07-2006, 03:43 AM
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I inquired at the dealer about this grease. I was told it is a 1 KG tub, cost about 100 bux and lasts a long time, considering the amount. I'll use SylGel when it comes time to grease my sunroof. I still have a lot.
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Currently 1965 220Sb, 2002 FORD Crown Vic Police Interceptor

Had 1965 220SEb, 1967 230S, 280SE 4.5, 300SE (W126), 420SEL

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  #14  
Old 06-09-2006, 10:23 AM
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The sunroof grease list is $145.00 for 1.1lb. or 500grams. Park Place MB in Dallas sells to MB club members for $80.00. That amount will last a lifetime for the average DIYer. I haven't found any grease as high a quality as this and use it on all my window riser repairs as well as any other slow movement items such as headrest gear assemblies. Doesn't take much but I wouldn't be without it.
Tim
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  #15  
Old 06-09-2006, 04:46 PM
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One good grease made for this application is Molycote 33 made by Dow Corning. It's a silicone grease with thickener, specially made for applications that are lightly loaded and have plastic gears.

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