Hello...I just thought I'd share this with the other n00b TDI owners on here.
A couple of weeks ago, we had our first real rain of the season here...and, while driving to work, I turned on my windshield wipers and was quite surprised. They moved VERY slowly, and even stopped in mid-swipe a few times. They'd stop for maybe 3 seconds and continue on at their slow pace.
I figured something was wrong (the stopping seemed like a circuit breaker being tripped and reset), so I did a search and found this thread. Apparently, the wiper linkage assemblies have a tendency to seize up over time, and surprisingly, the motors are genearlly not a trouble spot on these cars.
Tonight, I finally took the time to do something about it...for less than $60 for a new linkage assembly from idparts.com, I figured that trying to save what I had wasn't worth the trouble. So, after getting the new assembly, I pulled the old linkage, removed the original motor from the old assembly and installed it in the new assembly, and installed the new assembly in the car, following the instructions in the thread I linked to. I then went to wash the car, and used the wipers to clean off the windshield afterwards...and
HOLY MARY the difference was night-and-day! The wipers moved MUCH faster than I had ever seen them move before, and no stopping or stuttering or whatnot.
I'm not sure how widely this is known, so just thought I would share my experience
A couple of weeks ago, we had our first real rain of the season here...and, while driving to work, I turned on my windshield wipers and was quite surprised. They moved VERY slowly, and even stopped in mid-swipe a few times. They'd stop for maybe 3 seconds and continue on at their slow pace.
I figured something was wrong (the stopping seemed like a circuit breaker being tripped and reset), so I did a search and found this thread. Apparently, the wiper linkage assemblies have a tendency to seize up over time, and surprisingly, the motors are genearlly not a trouble spot on these cars.
Tonight, I finally took the time to do something about it...for less than $60 for a new linkage assembly from idparts.com, I figured that trying to save what I had wasn't worth the trouble. So, after getting the new assembly, I pulled the old linkage, removed the original motor from the old assembly and installed it in the new assembly, and installed the new assembly in the car, following the instructions in the thread I linked to. I then went to wash the car, and used the wipers to clean off the windshield afterwards...and
HOLY MARY the difference was night-and-day! The wipers moved MUCH faster than I had ever seen them move before, and no stopping or stuttering or whatnot.I'm not sure how widely this is known, so just thought I would share my experience
