Wiper Arm Replacement

[jimL]

Hi there,

We have a 2005 Mainship 430 Aft Cabin Trawler. I need to replace the wiper arms. There is a plastic cover that covers the where the arm connects to the stud. When I lifted the plastic cover it shattered and exposed the joint. I didn't see or feel a screw or nut that holds the wiper arm on. The blurry pic shows what it looks like a ball that maybe you have to press?

Has anyone replaced their wiper arms? Is there a trick to this?

Thanks,

Jim

 

[Tonic1]

On my 07 Pilot, the wiper arms had a small setscrew holding the arm on the splined shaft. Assuming it's the same style arm, the "ball" you are seeing is the end of the shaft. When removing mine, the Allen wrench stripped out the head of the setscrew, and I ended up having to drill it out. This damaged the shaft, but I was replacing the motor anyway. You can spray it down liberally with WD40 or some other lube and make sure the Allen wrench fits snugly before trying to loosen the screw.

 

[C lectric]

I don't know yours but many arms have a clip that drops over the spline drive on the motor shaft end. The clip needs to be held back out if the way with a slot screwdriver and then a lot of wiggling should get the arm off.

My current and new arms are Ongaro which use a SS screw to clamp the arm to the spline so no more fighting with the clip.

 

[Marco Flamingo]

I can't tell from your blurry picture which type of attachment system you have. My 1981 boat has the older style AFI motor that has a smooth shaft. I haven't been able to locate any new wiper arms that still use that system instead of the larger spline attachment. I went through this with a collector car and found that hot rod shops carry a pricey little adapter to convert the old smooth shaft to splined shaft. Having the splined shaft opened up lots of choices in arms and therefore blades.

https://www.speedwaymotors.com/Spec...MoqioBtUiwmuToyYR30K7OiaK9zVd4bBoCLskQAvD_BwE

I had another boat replacement situation where I had difficulty finding the set screw because it was on top and so close to the coaming overhang that I couldn't get a screwdriver on it. All I could figure is that the original installation required attaching the wiper arm with the motor twisted sideways and then attaching the motor.