My wipers exploded - help

Scuzi · 30 Mar 2018 at 13:36

Driving along as normal, I was taken aback when my passenger side windscreen wiper exploded (language may be somewhat emotive). The problem is that I have a long journey to take tonight and the Mercedes parts department are closed until tomorrow.

Can you help OcUK?

It looks like a bearing or clip in the linkage is the culprit...

The brass coloured bit should be connected in under the large black plate to the left of the image.

These are the bits I found just below the windscreen...

scrivz69 · 30 Mar 2018 at 13:41

Look like a shattered bearing to me, the internal race is still stuck on the shaft, can you not get the number off the bearing?

Scuzi · 30 Mar 2018 at 13:47

scrivz69 said:
Look like a shattered bearing to me, the internal race is still stuck on the shaft, can you not get the number off the bearing?

I can’t get in to see, I’m guessing the outer race is either at the side of the road or still stuck in the other side, but can’t see. I’m guessing this will turn into a big job.

Would these bearings be fairly standard? The reason I ask is that I have RAC membership and I wonder if they would have the correct part.

scrivz69 · 30 Mar 2018 at 13:53

The number is on the black rubber bit you posted a picture of, a bearing is a bearing after all, I think the biggest problem will be to get the inner race of the shaft, it looks solid. RAC might be worth a shot.

Scuzi · 30 Mar 2018 at 14:00

scrivz69 said:
The number is on the black rubber bit you posted a picture of, a bearing is a bearing after all, I think the biggest problem will be to get the inner race of the shaft, it looks solid. RAC might be worth a shot.

There’s no play with the inner race at all, you’re right, it’s solid on there. Looks like I’m calling the RAC!

Thanks for your help.

scrivz69 · 30 Mar 2018 at 14:32

No worries I hope you get it sorted out mate.

Scuzi · 30 Mar 2018 at 14:35

RAC man just arrived (bloody quick). He’s trying to bodge a temporary bearing out of some rubber hose, grease and a bolt to hold it all together. It’s definitey time for a new wiper arm though. Unfortunately all Mercedes parts departments are shut today so my travel plans will have to go on hold.

scrivz69 · 30 Mar 2018 at 14:39

Lol at least he is trying something, a pain in the butt when stuff like this happens and you have plans.

Hades · 30 Mar 2018 at 14:55

Are Eurocarparts, etc, open?
Are there any breakers yards nearby?

Orionaut · 30 Mar 2018 at 15:41

And that's the difference between Mercedes and Ford/GM/Whatever.

Mercedes uses a lovely ball bearing assembly on the wiper linkage.

Ford/GM/Whatever uses a nasty nylon cup arrangement.

You have been very unlucky with that failure.

In principle you could probably get a new bearing, extract the outer race from the wiper arm and the inner race from the other one and press in/on the new one but it is likely that a new part from Mercedes is going to be the only practical repair.

Easter weekend, Don't you just love it. Only Christmas/New year week is worse for parts availability...

Scuzi · 30 Mar 2018 at 16:13

So the bodge worked and it would be fine to get me on my way but....

The wipers aren’t getting power now. The live on the fuse isn’t getting any and ththe fuse is good. The RAC man shorted it to see if the motor was working and it was.

He suggested a control module might have disabled the wipers but wasn’t sure. No fault codes showing. Front wipers are completely dead now. Fuses and relays tested and all fine.

It was so close! Any ideas?

HoneyBadger · 30 Mar 2018 at 17:03

Disconnect the battery for 15 mins and reconnect? Might clear any modules.

Scuzi · 30 Mar 2018 at 17:41

HoneyBadger said:
Disconnect the battery for 15 mins and reconnect? Might clear any modules.

Both me and the RAC guy couldn’t find the battery! We think it’s under one of the front seats but he couldn’t find a way in without removing the seats. The RAC technical help line didn’t have any documentation on the car (R Class) so it became a dead end. He didn’t fill me with confidence so I didn’t want him dismantling the seats. The joys of having an uncommon car

Dis86 · 30 Mar 2018 at 17:45

Scuzi said:
Both me and the RAC guy couldn’t find the battery! We think it’s under one of the front seats but he couldn’t find a way in without removing the seats. The RAC technical help line didn’t have any documentation on the car (R Class) so it became a dead end. He didn’t fill me with confidence so I didn’t want him dismantling the seats. The joys of having an uncommon car

It's under the drivers seat. You move it all the way forward and can access it from the back.

Edit: actually on UK cars it may be under the front passenger seat.

Slam62 · 30 Mar 2018 at 18:06

Get a hire car

Scuzi · 30 Mar 2018 at 18:32

Dis86 said:
It's under the drivers seat. You move it all the way forward and can access it from the back.

Edit: actually on UK cars it may be under the front passenger seat.

I’ll have a fiddle when the rain stops. Thanks.

Are there any issues with disconnecting the battery? Will everything else work as normal once it’s connected back up?

Slam62 said:
Get a hire car

Cheapest I can find is £850. Just not worth it. My plan at the minute is to take it to the local MB specialist on Tuesday morning. If they can sort it we will begin our trip on Wednesday. If not, the trip will have to be scrapped.

Lashout_UK · 30 Mar 2018 at 19:08

You can try pulling the associated fuse, waiting a moment, then reinserting it. Sometimes that's enough to reset the relevant module (which will have gone 'something's wrong, best pack up').

Dogbreath · 31 Mar 2018 at 15:51

Orionaut said:
And that's the difference between Mercedes and Ford/GM/Whatever.

Mercedes uses a lovely ball bearing assembly on the wiper linkage.

Ford/GM/Whatever uses a nasty nylon cup arrangement.

That is primarily because Mercedes have stupidly over-complicated wiper linkages.

Plastic cups wear but they dont disassemble themselves into dozens of pieces, and they are usualy cheap and easy to replace.

ShivP · 31 Mar 2018 at 17:04

Orionaut said:
And that's the difference between Mercedes and Ford/GM/Whatever.

Mercedes uses a lovely ball bearing assembly on the wiper linkage.

Ford/GM/Whatever uses a nasty nylon cup arrangement.

You have been very unlucky with that failure.

In principle you could probably get a new bearing, extract the outer race from the wiper arm and the inner race from the other one and press in/on the new one but it is likely that a new part from Mercedes is going to be the only practical repair.

Easter weekend, Don't you just love it. Only Christmas/New year week is worse for parts availability...

and yet my family has owned fords for 30 years+ and never had an issue with a wiper arm breaking...

Scuzi · 1 Apr 2018 at 08:48

Update:
Went to Mercedes and bought a new wiper arm. £63. Was expecting more so even though I should be mildly annoyed I’m not. Fitted the new wiper arm and tried to sort the electrical problem. Pulled the fuses for the front signal acquisition module (based on google research) with no joy.

The first RAC guy didn’t fill me with confidence so I called them back. The guy who came this time was much more thorough and professional. He read the codes, cleared a wiper fault (motor blocked) and replaced the wiper motor fuse. The fuse had failed but the previous guy had missed it. I should have checked it tbh but because the first guy said it was ok I assumed it was ok.

In short, clearing the code and a new fuse sorted it. I have wipers again.

I really think I need to look at some sort of OBD tool that can read and clear codes. I have an eBay special but non of the iPhone apps seem to be able to read and clear a lot of Merc codes.

Thanks for your help

My wipers exploded - help

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