Wipers stop in wrong position, 89 325is

[Pheret]

A week or two ago whilst driving in these recent rain storms we have had I noticed my wipers stuck, very briefly, once or twice while on my way home. Once I got home I turned my wipers off and they stopped in the up position. Aside from stopping vertical in the middle of my effing field of vision they still work as they should.

Aside from the wiper transmission going out, does anyone have any input? It's a late model e30, I know there are some variances in the wiper systems from the older ones.

Any direction would help, I can't find much online other than people saying "remove the arms and set them properly" which does nothing but make the arms wipe the hood.

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[jeffnhiscars]

If they both stop in the same position it may be the short arm that connects the bottom of the motor to the linkage. It's softer than the splines on the motor and is supposed to strip before something else gets damaged. Check your wiper dampers too since that's often what puts a load on those splines

[Pheret]

What exactly are the dampers? As for the short arm, if that is what wrong I assume I'd just need a new arm?

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[jeffnhiscars]

Post 32 in my build thread is everything you never wanted to know about wiper dampers and yes replace the arm (assuming that's the problem). It comes without splines and when you tighten the nut on the motor shaft it cuts them. It's a breakaway design

[agent]

Nice writeup Jeff!

[Pheret]

Awesome thanks for the information. Forgive my ignorance but even if the dampers were torn or the splines stripped how would replacing them remedy my situation? The wipers function as they should, both of them, but stop in the wrong spot. Is there a way to adjust the position that I'm missing?

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[grc]

The motor has deadzones where it stops. What most likely happened is that the teeth where the motor and first linkage meet slipped. This would let everything work fine except that the deadzone would be in the wrong position.

You might be able to get away with just re-tightening the nut that connects the linkage to the motor

[jalopi]

Yep, wiper positions are fairly adjustable. If that was the case though (and everything else was fine) the wipers would also travel further than what they should normally. Know what I mean? If they're moving further than normal then yes, maybe you can try re-positioning them.

[Pheret]

Yea that makes sense. I'll fiddle with it after work, I've got a e32 I need to finish buttoning up after a head gasket

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