Windshield wipers not working properly

[therobpaulson]

Hello I recently started having issues with my windshield wipers. The passenger side wiper keeps getting "stuck". The motor seems to be working since you can see the wiper struggle to complete the full cycle. However, the wiper usually stays at its starting point or moves up a bit and seems to get stuck again. Any thoughts on what could be causing this? I'm currently in a cold environment (< 30 F is normal, 20 F is not unusual, lots of ice and snow).

Thanks!

[MetroMPG]

You mean the driver's side wiper goes through its normal arc while the passenger side remains in place?

If so, sounds like stripped splines where the wiper arm attaches to the pivot. This happened to a few of my VW's in the past - I ended up cross-drilling through the arm & pivot and putting a small bolt through.

If you're lucky, then only the arm is stripped, and you can clean up the splines on the pivot and put on a new arm. I wasn't lucky.

[john_johnson]

Good News !
Hey, I know this is an old thread, but I just had the same problem 2 weeks ago, passenger side wiper arm started to get out of rhythm and eventually quit moving at all. It was caused by having too much wet heavy snow on the windshield when i tried to use the wipers a few weeks ago. Anyway, the Good News is that -- all these aveos seem to need to fix this -- is a tightening of the Bolt that holds down the arm to the pivot shaft !

I popped the plastic cap off where the arm attaches to the shaft, and there was a nut that was hand-loose. I finger tightened and then used a metric socket on it to tighten it further (also aligning the arm so as to be in the right off-position placement) and within 5 minutes my bad wiper arm was fixed ! It appears there are no threads like on other cars, its just a smooth conical shaft design (which is I think is brilliant) - because that means it does not strip like other cars -- and usually just a tighten of that nut should fix it !

-JJ

[JRamage]

Thanks for sharing this tip! My driver side wiper did half an arc today - and then stuck beside my side window! Not good on a snowy highway! Will fix in the morning!