A heads up tip regarding leaving the van out in snow/icy conditions:
lift the wiper arm up enough to prop the blade-end nearest the pivot against
the windshield. That way the blade can never freeze onto the windshield.
Snow or ice also cleans off the windshield better when it hasn't fallen
onto the windshield with the blade sitting on it. Or you can just pull
the wiper arm all the way up and leave it up, but that runs the risk
of falling back onto the windshield and freezing there.

There are a lot of posts in the archives about fixing stripped
wiper arms.

bob

On Mon, Dec 7, 2009 at 10:26 PM, Robert Stewart <robertmstewart@mac.com>wrote:

> So after a the first snowfall and freezing temperatures it appears I
> may have damaged or broken my passenger wiper.
>
> Need your input.
>
> I removed the snow and ice from the front window but it may have left
> some residual snow which may have melted and re-iced up around the
> passenger side wiper. I noticed some moisture on the outside of the
> window when I went to drive the van tonight and I turned on the wiper
> not realizing it was actually frozen water droplets. But it was too
> late.
>
> Well the wiper went on and only the drivers side moved, I thought I
> heard a pop or something out of the norm and the passenger side wiper
> never even moved. I looked at it later and I think something may be
> stripped.
>
> I tried to move the arm to see if there was any play and there was,
> then I tried to see if the drivers side had play and it had none. So
> is it possible the inner part that is inside of the wiper arm that
> connects to the motor is now stripped?  How would I fix this?
>
> Replace it or just put some plumbers tape on it?
>
> Looking for some ideas and feedback.
>
> Thanks,
> Robert
> NY
>