[bradvincent]

My girlfriend's Equinox's passenger side wiper stopped working. She went to Autozone, and they told her she needed a new wiper arm, which she ordered. She expects me to replace it as soon as the new part arrives. I am guessing it is simple, but I have to do it at her place, which means I can only use the tools I bring with me. Does anyone here know what I need?

 

[ChevyMgr]

Re: Wiper arm replacement

What year?

 

[bradvincent]

Re: Wiper arm replacement

2006

 

[ChevyMgr]

Re: Wiper arm replacement

Ok, I am guessing no warranty then. There is only one nut to remove. Sorry I don't know the exact size but something around a 10 or 11 mm I suspect. Here is a pic.

 

[bradvincent]

No warranty, and it isn't the arm. Any ideas how to troubleshoot this? There is only 1 motor for both wipers, correct? If so, I know the motor is good since the driver side works.

How does the motor drive the wipers? Where is the motor, and what is between it and the wipers?

 

[RIT333]

Is the shaft that the wiper arm slides onto turning?

If no, then it is probably the linkage for that arm that is broken.

If yes, then it is either the male or female spline that is stripped. If you put on a new arm, then it it probably the male spline that is stripped. If neither looked stripped, then maybe the bolt that hold the wiper into the shaft is not tight enough.

You will have to watch it trying to operate, and figure out what is not correct.

 

[bradvincent]

I am assuming the shaft is not turning and the linkage is broken. There is a cowling under the hood, do I need to remove that to get at the linkage? What else do I need to remove?

I don't have the vehicle, the only information I have to go by is what my girlfriend remembers the Autozone guy saying and what I remember from when I last saw it.

 

[lou-in-usa]

I found pictures on my phone from a few years ago when I fixed this issue. I tried simply buying the Dorman replacement button bushings, but after running the wipers on high a few times, one of the arms popped out again. Note: Nobody lists these bushings as a replacement for these vehicles, and while they are better than the old worn out bushings, the male part will still pop out after a half dozen wiper sessions. So just replacing the bushings with the Dorman parts available at most auto parts stores isn't enough, you still need to make clips to keep it all together.

Picture #1 shows the type of flat-stock I happened to have from a garage door opener bracket scrap I had.
I cut the bracket and left about half the hole in place to clip around the wiper-arm tit.
And in picture #2 and #3, you can see how I drilled and bolted the clips to the arms.
I did a clip on every bushing point including the one on the motor and never had a problem since.
All the metals were soft enough, they were no problem to drill through.
I used vice-grips or a clamp to hold the clip to the wiper-arm while drilling.