The wiper blade arm on my car is very hard to remove from the motor spindle, possibly because that part of the arm is aluminium and the spindle is steel. Would greasing the spindle be wise and would it make much difference waht grease I used?
They are generally on a taper. And difficult to get a straight pull with your fingers. Try levering either side with a pair of screwdrivers. Copper grease is generally the best thing to prevent seizing.
Are you talking about once off? The problem is that they need to be held on there firmly as any small movement that starts will very quickly get worse. I guess you could use a drop of Copper grease to stop the water getting in but I'm not sure if it would be recommended. It also might mean you could fit the arm tighter as the same torque setting on the retaining nut might result in a tighter fit on any taper and so might make it even more difficult to remove in time?
I think I have used Copper grease but only in instances when it was very obvious that there was a reasonably sized spline and both faces were in good condition.
If not, something like Plus Gas would help you remove it but you may also need a puller.
Cheers, T i m
It would be wise to grease the spindle after you've got the thing off for future ease of removal. Before that it's not going to make the slightest difference. Neither will all the releasing agents under the sun.
Not always.
Duh.
It can be used in the dark as well and whilst no release agent is going to make such a thing just fall off, it *WILL* make a difference re how easy it is to pull off (even with a puller).
You could ask me how I know, if you didn't have all the answers already ...
Cheers, T i m
Copper grease is a bad choice for aluminium though.
Extractors are available. Using too much muscle power could f*ck the motor up.
They're not directly driven so I can't see any harm coming to the motor at all. Even the linkages should be safe.
Unless it is positioned wrongly, normally the only time you have to remove them is if you are replacing the motor (or possibly getting access to something behind it). I'd always change blades "on the car".
But yes, penetrating oil such as Plus Gas or WD40 should help, also a puller. Then wire brush to remove corrosion products. Petroleum jelly AKA vaseline is a neutral and reasonably water resistant grease. You are sure it is not held on by a nut under a flip-up cap of course?
I've replaced a couple over the years - both times because the spring has weakened and so there has been a lack of pressure of the blade on the screen.
SteveW
Fair point; I think I replaced one many years ago (fatigue crack in spring hook).
Really? It's the standard choice for wheels.
I had to pull a pair to replace part of the linkage that failed.
What you need is to borrow a Baboon from a safari park, they seem to have no problems with this. Brian
From Pistonheads.com :-
mikecassie
454 posts105 months
[report] [news] Thursday 24th February 2011 quotequote all I wouldn't use copper grease when in contact with aluminuim components. I work in the offshore industry where a lot of aluminuim is used and we use a different type of grease, apparently the copper accelerates the corrosion of aluminuim when in contact with salt water. I'm not an engineer or chemist, but have had it drilled into me for many years not to do that, so I use the same principal when working on my car. No copper grease near the Alloy wheels etc. I managed to source high temp grease without copper to use on the pads etc when I had alloy calipers. It seems to be as good as copper grease.
Depends on vehicle. On my current car has to be done to replace windscreen. On the previous version of the car it was also needed to replace battery. I did not have a problem removing the wiper blades on the previous model.
Use copperease/copaslip. You can also buy a puller tool to remove them, but if you copper-grease them before refitting you'll not need it next time.
The biggest danger is cracking the screen or nearby plastic if you try forcing it and slip.
I have some of that and I think it's 'ceramic' or somesuch?
Cheers, T i m
Think that chap shouldn't be allowed near a car.
Any grease used on brake pads shouldn't get near the calliper. It goes between the piston and pad, and only the merest of smears. Neither of which is ally. Just the calliper body.
If a grease is required for the calliper mechanism and may come into contact with the body, you used the correct stuff for that job.
I've used copper grease between wheels and hubs for many a year. If it caused any problems, would have been rather obvious.
BTW, pure aluminium won't last 5 minutes in salt water anyway.
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