At 19:13 7/2/99 -0700, Davidson wrote:
>Any suggestions for adjusting a drooping wiper blade?
>My passenger side blade droops down onto the lower windshield seal.
>I tried adjusting it outside where the arm mounts to the shaft, but it keeps
>drooping down.

Hi Bill -- This is the same as the Japanese cars use, if my memory isn't
fooling me.  The shaft is splined with very thin sharp tapered splines, and
the head of the arm is made of/filled with pot metal.  A new one is smooth,
and as you tighten the nut the splines bite into the soft pot metal.   If
something forcibly torques this joint -- either the arm is stuck to the
windshield or something forces it externally -- it's designed to shear out
the pot metal to save the rest of the mechanism.  Now, the problem is that
at this point all the little splines on the shaft are full of pot metal, so
it doesn't bite in properly.  But there's plenty of metal on the arm to do
this a number of times, it's still fine.  You have to use a pick of some
sort to clean the metal from between the splines on the shaft, then bolt
the arm on firmly again to make new splines in the soft metal.  And you
should be set.  You can take it off and inspect the arm to see if you
brought it down firmly enough, but I think you can tell while tightening
it.  It will get very firm but still turn for a turn or two, then tighten
up fairly quickly.  You need to be firm and get it to bite, but of course
you don't want to twist the threads off the shaft unless you like taking
dashboards off. :-/

Hope this helps
david
David Beierl - dbeierl@ibm.net