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w123 Cowl Drain Grill Removal & Wiper Arm Linkage Quick Fix
Yesterday morning I was returning from the store in the rain and the driver side wiper arm made a pop sound and remained in the up position.
I figured the linkage must have come undone. Here's what I did to fix it. This will also answer the questions about how to remove the cowl drain grills. My wiper arm stuck in the up position: Pry up the cap and remove the 1/2" nut. The plastic cap lifts up easily. The wiper arm has a tapered hole in it that slides onto the wiper shaft. I used a channel locks to grip it and wiggle it to pull it off. Remove the plastic shaft boot and then remove the 4 clips holding the grill in place. You just push the center pin all the way through with a small screwdriver or drift. They'll drop into the cowl recess and you need to pick them up before you forget about them. Then you can lift the clip out of the grill. The grill comes out by lifting the clip side up first and pulling it toward the front of the car. The grill has "fingers" that slide on the windshield side of the cowl opening to hold it in place with the pin clips locking it in position. Here's what the clips look like. When the pin is pushed flush with the top of the clip it pushes out the tabs and grips the body of the car to hold the grill in place. The linkage on my wiper had popped off so I cleaned and lubed the ball and socket, popped it back on and used a zip tie loosely tightened to keep the joint from popping off again. I made sure to check the movement to ensure the zip tie wouldn't bind anything. Then I put the grill back in place, put the clips in which only fit in with the tabs oriented so they open front to back, pushed the pins in flush and put the shaft cap back on. I put the wiper arm back on without pushing it on completely so I could make sure I had the position correct for the full windshield wipe motion. Once I was sure it was positioned correctly I put the nut back on and closed the wiper arm cap. Easy fix and the cowl drain grills are very easy to remove, even if just to clean under there which is a good idea. Hope this helps someone.
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Chad 2006 Nissan Pathfinder LE 1998 Acura 3.0 CL OBK#44 "Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work." - Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) SOLD 1985 300TD - Red Dragon 1986 300SDL - Coda 1991 - 300TE 1995 - E320 1985 300CD - Gladys |
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Nice write up Chad. I always wondered how those clips came out.
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'83 300D 198,000mi Howard '03 Saturn Vue CVT 75,000mi(wifeys) |
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Geez Chad, you're getting down right handy with these pictorials. Keep 'em coming. {Dave's been quiet lately}
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Jimmy L. '05 Acura TL 6MT 2001 ML430 My Spare Gone: '95 E300 188K "Batmobile" Texas Unfriendly Black '85 300TD 235K "The Wagon" Texas Friendly White '80 240D 154K "China" Scar engine installed '81 300TD 240K "Smash" '80 240D 230K "The Squash" '81 240D 293K"Scar" Rear ended harder than Elton John |
#4
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Timely info and good pictures.
I need to replace the driver side grill on mine. Summertime hailstorm punched some holes in it a few weeks ago.
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Palangi 2004 C240 Wagon 203.261 Baby Benz 2008 ML320 CDI Highway Cruiser 2006 Toyota Prius, Saving the Planet @ 48 mpg 2000 F-150, Destroying the Planet @ 20 mpg TRUMP .......... WHITEHOUSE HILLARY .........JAILHOUSE BERNIE .......... NUTHOUSE 0BAMA .......... OUTHOUSE |
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Nice fix, I hope it holds.
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83 SD 84 CD |
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I hope it lasts too. I lubed the back of the zip tie to hopefully keep friction from rubbing through it. If the zip tie snaps and the joint pops, I'll replace the necessary parts. It seems to be holding fine after one day.
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Chad 2006 Nissan Pathfinder LE 1998 Acura 3.0 CL OBK#44 "Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work." - Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) SOLD 1985 300TD - Red Dragon 1986 300SDL - Coda 1991 - 300TE 1995 - E320 1985 300CD - Gladys |
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What's wild is, no dents in the sheet metal. Are these things tanks, or what??
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Palangi 2004 C240 Wagon 203.261 Baby Benz 2008 ML320 CDI Highway Cruiser 2006 Toyota Prius, Saving the Planet @ 48 mpg 2000 F-150, Destroying the Planet @ 20 mpg TRUMP .......... WHITEHOUSE HILLARY .........JAILHOUSE BERNIE .......... NUTHOUSE 0BAMA .......... OUTHOUSE |
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I also happen to have one I pulled from a TD, no less.
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83 SD 84 CD |
#9
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Actually, I should get a linkage set before I HAVE to. Please PM me if you're interested in selling it.
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Chad 2006 Nissan Pathfinder LE 1998 Acura 3.0 CL OBK#44 "Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work." - Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) SOLD 1985 300TD - Red Dragon 1986 300SDL - Coda 1991 - 300TE 1995 - E320 1985 300CD - Gladys |
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Jimmy L. '05 Acura TL 6MT 2001 ML430 My Spare Gone: '95 E300 188K "Batmobile" Texas Unfriendly Black '85 300TD 235K "The Wagon" Texas Friendly White '80 240D 154K "China" Scar engine installed '81 300TD 240K "Smash" '80 240D 230K "The Squash" '81 240D 293K"Scar" Rear ended harder than Elton John |
#11
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I'd be happy to buy one from him if he's willing to pull one for me. I don't really get the opportunity to get to junk yards due to my kids and I can't take them with me.
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Chad 2006 Nissan Pathfinder LE 1998 Acura 3.0 CL OBK#44 "Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work." - Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) SOLD 1985 300TD - Red Dragon 1986 300SDL - Coda 1991 - 300TE 1995 - E320 1985 300CD - Gladys |
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Thanks for the helpful write up chad, I have to do this today to clean my drains. The rainy season has started here in the NW and yesterday when I went to drive my car I found a puddle in the rear seat foot well. Then when I turned on the blower water sprayed out of the vents in to my face. Guess I know where the leak is...
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1979 240D- 316K miles - VGT Turbo, Intercooler, Stick Shift, Many Other Mods - Daily Driver 1982 300SD - 232K miles - Wife's Daily Driver 1986 560SL - Wife's red speed machine |
#13
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On a side note, the zip tie repair on my wiper linkage is still holding strong through quite a bit of rain and high speed wiper usage.
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Chad 2006 Nissan Pathfinder LE 1998 Acura 3.0 CL OBK#44 "Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work." - Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) SOLD 1985 300TD - Red Dragon 1986 300SDL - Coda 1991 - 300TE 1995 - E320 1985 300CD - Gladys |
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All I can say is if you live in a wet climate you should pull the vents and motor cover off and clean in there. Man was mine nasty! I think my leak was from the drain tube for the low spot under the right wiper. I cleaned it all up and found some rust beginning to form that I am in the process of killing with some por-15 now.
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1979 240D- 316K miles - VGT Turbo, Intercooler, Stick Shift, Many Other Mods - Daily Driver 1982 300SD - 232K miles - Wife's Daily Driver 1986 560SL - Wife's red speed machine |
#15
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bgkast,
Can you tell me what this drain tube looks like ?? I have EXACTLY this problem (water being spurted out from the middle air vents after a heavy rain) so I took the air-grille off but couldn't see any such drain tube. from where is it meant to collect water from ?? I believe my car has had a respray (I've not long had the car) and am wondering if the air grilles were removed before it was resprayed, maybe this drain tube that everyone is talking about was taken off and not put back !! Thanks, Jez Last edited by Jez(UK); 11-13-2008 at 11:35 AM. |
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