[ve3wireless]

Good Day All,

I just replaced the windshield wiper wiper rubbers in my '78 T/A, & was surprised to see how "jerky" the wiping operation is on my car---especially on the driver's side---even in a steady rainfall...

I immediately suspected that the base of the LH wiper arm was rubbing against the underside of the hood (which seems to be the case with ALL 2nd generation "F" cars, as may be witnessed by the black paint rub-through of the arm), & that its contact with the hood metal was the culprit...but when I lifted the hood & ran the wipers through their cycle, the jerkiness as the blade swept across the glass was still very much in presence, & in fact, unchanged.

I consulted both the Chassis shop manual and the Fisher Body manual for '78, but there is nothing mentioned as to any possible "fix" for this condition.

Has anyone tried lubing the ball connection, where the motor armature connects to the wiper transmission...? Or are there any other tricks & techniques out there that someone may be aware of, that I could try...?

The days of simply wandering into the local wrecking yard & extracting a complete wiper transmission from a rear-ended wreck of a Firebird are long gone---otherwise I'd simply wholesale replace the entire assembly...

Thanks in advance,

Eddy
Ontario, CANADA

[2manyT/A'S]

The quickest & best fix is to NOT drive your car in the rain.

My 78 & 80 that I bought brand new had the same issues & there's NOT much you can do.

Unless it's downpour,your blades will always drag on a windshield that's not totally wet.

Rainex is good on the highway.

Firebirds with non concealed wiper blades (shorter) do not have these problems.

[Grand73Am]

My 79's wipers run smoothly...I was surprised how well they work on my car.

There are several companies that make treatments to put on wiper blades to make the rubber have less dray. Even though you put new wiper blades on, it might help.

Also, you might try some sort of glass cleaner and polish on your windshield. Not just some Windex, but a paste of some sort. Even chrome cleaner is good for cleaning glass. And also a clay bar that's used for cleaning the paint surface would work too. You might have some embedded impurities on the glass causing a drag.

[ericwy]

Could be the wiper motor. The spiral gear is internally lubed and it eventually dries out and leave parts of the gear unlubed. Eventually the additional load will wear out the wiper motor.

I picked up a replacement motor assembly for my 77 some years ago. I was surprised at how much faster and smoother the wiper operation was. My old unit also used to make noises while it was operating which can also be a clue its time to replace.

[ve3wireless]

Hi Guys,

Many thanks for all the tips & info you've posted in this regard...

Well, the wiper motor was replaced with a NOS/re-built unit from NAPA(?) 2-3 years ago---it's the 3rd one I've had now since I bought the car brand new 32 years ago.

I like the idea of a "rub on" additive to the rubbers, to reduce friction---to that end, I plan to visit my NAPA outlet this week to see if they might have something along that line.

Surely, though, the BEST preventative measure is---as someone so rightly said---to stay the heck outta the rain! I never drive the car on rainy days, but we got caught yesterday in the middle of a downpour, & had no choice...

Thanks again, all...

Eddy
Ontario, CANADA

[ve3wireless]

Wow, Chief Ponty-Yakker...!

As they say, "...Who'da thunk it...?!" This morning, after reading your reply, I dug out an old tin of liquid chrome polish from the deep recesses of the garage, & applied same to the windshield of my T/A...I must admit, the whole time I was doing it, I thought to myself, "Are you for real, polishing glass like this...?!"

Well, after the polish glazed, I buffed it off, & gave the wipers the proverbial acid test, by applying the w/s washer cleaner to the glass, & wiping it several times---and to my delight, the jerky motion/wiper chatter is GONE...!!!

Many thanks for the neat tip! Hopefully it'll last long enough for the rubber in the wipers to age some, & slide easier across the w/s like the old ones did...

Good info! Thanks so much again...

Eddy
Ontario, CANADA

[Grand73Am]

Oh you don't have to call me Chief Ponty-Yakker, just call me Grand73Am or Steve .

Glad it was that easy and worked for you! Sometimes stuff gets on the glass that regular glass cleaner won't clean off, and it causes the wipers to drag(I meant to write "drag" in my previous post). So you gotta use something that'll really clean and make it smooth again.

So, thanks for posting your results.

[autobahn]

I had the same condition on my 84 Skyhawk wagon, I scrape the windshield with a razor blade , windex and razor again and mine came back,to a smooth operation,if it works its a cheap fix, my 78 TA work fine so no problem there