1997 Buick Century windshield wiper issues

Last year I replaced my wiper motor and all was great until today. On my way to work the wipers stopped working and after removing all the plastic molding I found that the screw that holds the wiper arm gears to the motor came lose.

After replacing the screw and putting everything back together, now when the wipers are in timer mode, the wipers pause in the middle of the windshield. Other then that the wipers work ok.

So I have two questions:

  1. How do i fix the pause location? 2. Which side does the longer wiper are go in? I wasn't sure if I mixed them up. I have the larger arm on the passenger side. Is this correct?

Thanks for any help you might be able to offer.

Cheers, David

1997 Buick Century
Reply to
MrWho
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Took everything apart and still no change. Any advice?

Reply to
MrWho

I don't know if any of this will help, but perhaps if you read through it, if you missed something, you will notice. This is the info I found on

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It's a handy site, and all you have to do to look at there complete repair guides is sign up (it's free). There are also a few pictures on there write up. Go to the site, sign up, then go to Repair Guides, then the "Chassis Electrical", then "Windshield Wipers and Washers" to get this info, as well as the pictures. I would also check to make sure that screw holding the wiper arm gears isn't too tight, and the AutoZone write up says this in one of the pictures: "Use a suitable tool line up the holes in the module carrier plate and bell crank." I'm not sure if it means anything to you, but it might. Good luck, friend.

Write Up: The windshield wiper/washer system consists of a permanent-magnet depressed-park wiper motor assembly, wiper/washer switch, washer solvent container with a pump, wiper arms and blade assemblies and a wiper drive system (also called a wiper transmission). The wiper drive system is installed on the vehicle as a complete assembly called a module. The wiper drive system module consists of a wiper motor assembly and wiper transmission assembly assembled on a tube frame. The wiper/washer system is a pulse (delay) type. Pulse timing and demand wash functions are controlled electronically. The pulse type windshield wiper/washer system includes an operating mode in which the wipers make single sweeps with an adjustable time interval between sweeps. The time interval is controlled by a solid state timer in the wiper motor cover assembly. The duration of the delay interval is determined by the delay resistor in the wiper/washer switch assembly. The length of delay time between sweeps is controlled by the variable pulse delay resistor. The delay is adjustable from 0 to 25 seconds.

REMOVAL & INSTALLATION Remove the wiper arms from the vehicle using the procedure found earlier in this section.

Remove the air inlet grille panel retaining screws (or plastic push-in retainers) and remove the panel from the vehicle. The panel may be in two pieces, left side and right side.

Detach the connectors from the wiper motor assembly.

Remove the three screws and the wiper drive system module from the vehicle.

The wiper motor crank arm is attached to the wiper drive by a ball-joint type connection that snaps together. GM recommends their special tool J

39232 which is a pliers-like tool with U-shaped jaws that are placed between the components. When the handles are squeezed, the jaws separate the components. Use care if using substitutes.

Remove the nut from the wiper motor crank arm.

Remove the three screws and separate the wiper motor from the tube frame.

To install: Install the wiper motor assembly and bracket onto the tube frame with three screws. Tighten to 106 inch lbs. (12 Nm).

Install the wiper motor crank arm onto the wiper motor assembly with the nut and tighten to 18 ft. lbs. (25 Nm).

Snap together the wiper motor crank arm onto the wiper transmission. GM recommends their tool J 39529. Use care if using substitutes.

Install the wiper drive system module onto the vehicle and tighten the three screws to 106 inch lbs. (12 Nm).

Assemble the electrical connectors and verify that they are secure.

Install the air inlet grille panel. Use care to align the clearance holes to the wiper arm pivot shafts. If the grilles are in two pieces, look for a small connecting pin which aligns the two pieces and make sure it is correctly registered into its mating opening.

Install the wiper arms to the vehicle.

Reply to
80 Knight

Reply to
jackgibbons009

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