So I've had the 348 for just over a month now, and had some issues. No suprises, type of stuff that comes up on a car this old. The first problem is that the drivers side wiper came off when I took the car out a few weeks ago and it started raining. From the research I've done, this is a pretty common problem. The secondary arm that turns the blade as it goes across the screen sheared off at the mounting point.
The research I found suggested that a new arm is around $400. The bad news is that they don't make this part anymore. The good news is that the wiper arm from the 355 fits and only cost 150GBP which is around $220. (Which is still outrageous for a wiper arm) The part number is below. Image Unavailable, Please Login
I read somewhere it was a good idea to put a towel over the windscreen to protect it from the wiper arm snapping back. I couldn't find a towel so I used an IKEA bag. In order to get the wiper off, you have to twist it. Image Unavailable, Please Login
With the nut and washer off, the secondary arm broken, and the washer fluid tube off, you can now get the arm off. It's on a spindle so it doesn't twist but comes up. If you put a screw driver underneath you can gentle lever it up Image Unavailable, Please Login
I gave the secondary arm mounting point a good clean to get all the crud out of there. Image Unavailable, Please Login
My base was looking a bit worn so I thought I give it a blast with some Matt black paint. Image Unavailable, Please Login
This picture looks better than it actually came out. I need to work on my painting skills ! Image Unavailable, Please Login
I did a thread on this subject, about a hundred years ago... nice update, good pix! You couldn't find a towel? Seriously, I wouldn't risk the windscreen without more protection than that Ikea bag. So, are you installing a whole new arm, or have you figured out a way to replace the broken pin? Looking forward to the next installment. But what a dumb design, no way to lube that pin, it will fail eventually unless you disassemble the whole thing and clean it and lube it.
Hi. Thanks for the replies. When you take the car for an inspection here they check the wiper blades so it would be bad if the arm fell off. Oddly enough they don't check if the wipers work, so if it breaks again perhaps I will just super glue it on ! Ok. Back to the pictures.....
the secondary arm didn't exactly just "pop in" to the base. First I applied some grease to the base using a cotton bud. Image Unavailable, Please Login
I was having some trouble getting the arm into the base, so in the end I put it in the vice ! I should point out that my vice has plastic protectors so this worked well and allowed the arm to go into the base evenly. Image Unavailable, Please Login
At this point I thought I was nearly done. Just reattach everything and on to the next job. Hmm. So the problem was that the spindle which is attached to the motor assembly had dropped and so I needed to take the carpet out of the luggage compartment in order to get to it.
The carpet seems to be in two sections. The upper part and lower part meets half way down the luggage compartment. Where they meet are metal strips to cover the join. There are three metal strips each with three screws. I would recommend getting a drill to remove the screws as they are long and doing it my hand takes forever. Image Unavailable, Please Login