Help needed with Wiper Arm

[tr808]

Hi - new to these boards; just got the (soon to be) wife a Mazda 3 earlier this month. Anyway, I'd appreciate some suggestions with a problem I've got.

So she swears that she cleared the ice away... which she probably did, but she didn't lift the arm to break it free. She apparently turned on the wipers and only one moved... The driver's side now moves freely on it's own (if you move it with your hand).

I've looked at it briefly and the first thing I see is that the nut (contained in the black plastic cap) was loose. I took that off and it appears that the bolt that turns the wiper arm rotates properly when the motor is on - it's just turning without the wiper arm. I tried tightening that bolt down by hand, but it didn't do anything.

I think I need to take the arm off and see what's going on there. Does anyone have any suggestions or links to some service documentation that I could look at? Seems like the arm should just lift off that bolt, but it doesn't seem to want to come off too easily - I'd rather have suggestions before I apply any force to it.

I've got some time since a dealership won't be open until like Tuesday so I figured that I may as well have a look to see if it's fixable.

Thanks for your help!

 

[wongpres]

Unfortunately, that sounds pretty serious - definitely have to visit the dealership unless you can get it resolved this weekend.

Welcome to the forum though, and please add your location to your profile as it helps everyone provide local-specific info for any of your questions (although this one in particular is universal). Add location by User CP->Edit Profile->Location

 

[tr808]

Unfortunately, that sounds pretty serious - definitely have to visit the dealership unless you can get it resolved this weekend.

Yeah, that's what I'm thinking too. Thanks for the reply & Happy holidays!

 

[ccmazda]

Re: Wiper Arm Problem

Tr808,
I had the exact same problem as yourself with my wiper arm after the ice last Thursday. I took it to the dealership today and they fixed it in 2 minutes, popped off the plastic cap and tightened that bolt with a good wrench. They did the other side for me too because apparently a lot of these cars are being delivered from the factory with loose bolts on the wiper arms. I was very relieved (whew!) because I thought I had a serious problem too. I hope yours gets fixed as easily.

 

[tr808]

Tr808,
I had the exact same problem as yourself with my wiper arm after the ice last Thursday. I took it to the dealership today and they fixed it in 2 minutes, popped off the plastic cap and tightened that bolt with a good wrench...

Yep - That's exactly what they did for mine as well. I noticed that it was loose, but didn't go much beyond hand tight when I tried to fix it - I can't believe that the only thing keeping the arm moving is the tightness from that nut... Anyway, I guess I'll know for next time that it just takes a wrench to fix. Seems like a problem with the design though that it should com loose so easily.

 

[badAzLava3]

Every car on the planet with wipers made since 1955 is designed that way.

If you have a better idea, time to patent it, get rich and share it all with your poor Mazda 3 bretheren.

 

[smazzle]

Wiper arm

A similar thing happened to me, except the inside of the wiper arm thingy got stripped, and no longer grips onto the cog that turns it. So no matter how much I tighten that bolt, it will come loose because it's gripping onto nothing. I have to order a new wiper arm --- but the dealer sent me the wrong one. Costs $80 from them, and can't find it anywhere online.

Apparently this is a common problem for those of us with the auto-windshield wipes. It prevents the wiper motor from becoming over strained.