Headlight wipers repair - final adjustment please help

Post Fri Aug 11, 2006 1:38 pm

Hey!

I removed my headlight wipers to try and finally get them working. They have not worked since i bought the car and the car is otherwise in great shape. After taking the motor housing apart everything has gone fine, except i cannot seperate the operating shaft/arm from its hollow metal housing. I left it immersed in oil for a week and have been trying to hammer it out without trying to damage or bend the operating arm. I also immersed it in boiling water like another person suggested and got maybe 3-5mm on it, but i cannot seem to seperate them. Has anyone any suggestions or tried to do work on these wiper motors before???? its driving me mental!!!

Thanks!!

Post Fri Aug 11, 2006 5:44 pm

not something i would bother with myself but my bro likes everything to work and he tried this on his and had same problem and i gave it a go aswell and couldnt do it, seized up solid!

Post Sat Aug 12, 2006 9:34 pm

There is anticle about repairing headlamp washers at http://www.totalbmwmag.com/Pages/Tech.html. From what I have read the design was never very sucessful. I have them on my touring. I would remove them but one of the wipers is holding a headlight in place.

Post Sun Aug 13, 2006 10:43 am

That link does not work. Use http://www.totalbmwmag.com/ then navigate through Download - Tech.

Post Sun Aug 13, 2006 10:59 am

link was ok but had a (.) that it didn't need
http://www.totalbmwmag.com/Pages/Tech.html

good find by the way
cheers
toby

Post Sun Aug 13, 2006 1:35 pm

yeh i used that download and its very helpfull thanks very much. just separating the operating arm from the outer hollow metal housing is a nightmare and its not as simple as just tapping it out with a hammer. i left mine immersed in penetrating oil for a week and just got the first one separated but its a nightmare of a job. hooked up the motor (without wipers) to the car and tested the motor and cog mechanism and its working fine when i hit the wash sequence! ill keep you updated.

Has anyone got working ones????
Ive never seen an e30 with working headlight wipers!

Post Sun Aug 13, 2006 3:35 pm

Mine were working but i took them off because i didnt like em! Prefer the smoother look!

Post Mon Aug 14, 2006 4:18 am

Finally got them seperated, the moment of truth in the morning....up too late doing this crap!!

Post Tue Aug 15, 2006 6:39 pm

I am about to go insane! I seperated the once fused operating shaft from its hollow metal housing it was fused to with rust. I followed that article exactly the whole way through. Cleaned the motors etc etc, the motors were tested before remounting and all was a success. I switched them on, and both were working 100%. However it seems everytime i mount them to the car and begin to attach the wiper arms to the operating shaft that they stop working. yesterday it was the left one not working today its the right one. all is fine both will work at the same time but when i mount the wiper arms on them at the very end either both will not work or only 1. are they this tempermental????? Now i have to remove the front grilles again and reopen them and remount them and etc etc etc......its seriously driving me mental!!!!!!!

Post Wed Aug 16, 2006 10:25 am

irish-e30 wrote:yeh i used that download and its very helpfull thanks very much. just separating the operating arm from the outer hollow metal housing is a nightmare and its not as simple as just tapping it out with a hammer. i left mine immersed in penetrating oil for a week and just got the first one separated but its a nightmare of a job. hooked up the motor (without wipers) to the car and tested the motor and cog mechanism and its working fine when i hit the wash sequence! ill keep you updated.

Has anyone got working ones????
Ive never seen an e30 with working headlight wipers!

Yep...mine work...

I started by refurbishing the ones on the car cos they had seized up...It wasn't so hard dismantling them, but when I reassembled although they worked fine on the bench on the car the left hand motor had lost the synch. position adn kept stopping at random places...
Seems the synch is done by a small cam and peg gear and the peg was either worn or broken...so I bought a working s/h pair (of a zoner) and they are now working perfectly...

I have a spare set (left hand side no sync. remember)...but they would be good for spares if you need them...

My next problem is that the washer non-return valves are blocked and the water pisses out from behind the grilles rather than from the jets....

Post Wed Aug 16, 2006 1:02 pm

My next problem is that the water for the jets doesnt come down near the lights at all and instead pisses out over the engine back towards the windscreen. I dont know how im going to fix the hose as its under the bonnet or built into it.

Post Thu Aug 17, 2006 2:18 am

Does anyone have a right wiper motor they can donate to the cause?? The synch is not working, ive the left one working fine but the right one stops short of completion and sometimes wont restart on the second attempt so this whole restoration project is useless

Post Thu Aug 17, 2006 10:58 am

irish-e30 wrote:My next problem is that the water for the jets doesnt come down near the lights at all and instead pisses out over the engine back towards the windscreen. I dont know how im going to fix the hose as its under the bonnet or built into it.

sounds like a little white return valve is burst. The little white valves are set into the washer jet pipes. Follow the pipes from the motor and you'll find the leak.

Post Thu Aug 17, 2006 11:11 am

irish-e30 wrote:Does anyone have a right wiper motor they can donate to the cause?? The synch is not working, ive the left one working fine but the right one stops short of completion and sometimes wont restart on the second attempt so this whole restoration project is useless

Yeah try another motor. I've had the same experiences as those above. Don't worry it will work in the end. Try partial reassembly to save time on retests dude. I'm not sure if mine are working at the moment on my current car and can't be bothered to fix as I don't use the car often or get it dirty. Keeping them on incase I ever do an HID lighting upgrade, when wipers become useful (or is it obligatory?).

Have a search on the 'parts for sale' section and good luck.

Post Thu Aug 17, 2006 9:34 pm

Both the wipers work on my '88 325iSE, bought recently for Ã‚£700

I'm going to try to make sure I use them at least once a fortnight in an effort to keep them operational (I think lack of use probably contributes to their demise.) However, the nearside one on my '87 320iSE has packed up, as had the one on my first '84 320i - the main problem seems to be with the shaft seizing due to corrosion, though this can also find its way into the cogs inside - the metal ones corrode and the nylon ones seem to self-expand and become tight to turn!

I've attempted to repair them and wished I'd never bothered - they're a bit like rebuilding old clocks. Even getting the casing apart is a bugger of a job, requiring much levering and prising with umpteen screwdrivers! IMHO you're better off getting a working replacement from a breakers or e-bay, etc. Note though, just to make it even more awkward they come in two connector types; 3-pin (up to '87) and 4-pin ('88>)...

Post Fri Aug 18, 2006 2:30 am

the weird thing is the one on the left is 3 pin and the one on the right is 4 pin or vice versa!!!

Post Mon Aug 21, 2006 1:54 am

anyone with a right headlight wiper and motor?