Turning into the hardware store today the wipers quit mid stroke. It was a light drizzle and I only had to jump out and squeegee at a red light once on the way home. I haven't bothered to take the cowl off yet as it started raining nonstop since I got home. Based on what they sell on RA I assume I need to replace the linkage bushings. At least I hope that is the case. BTW is it worth it to buy those arms on RA or should I just paint the ones I have? I ask because I have a vague memory of someone complaining about Dorman wiper arms.

 

Paint the ones you have. I was the guy who found out that the ones they sold locally from Dorman were crap; out of the box the splines were about non-existent.

Pick the bushings up at the dealership, or order the original Mopar bushings; the Dormans will cost you about the same out of pocket (the six you buy Dorman in three, two packs vis the four you actually need from Chrysler), be sure to use some lube when you reassemble (white lithium is probably the best.)

Make sure you note which way the arms go when you take it apart.

RwP

 

Thank You Ralph. I'll go to the dealer tomorrow and order them after I pop the cowl and make sure that is all that has gone wrong.

 

Got the cowl off and it seems that an arm had fallen off. The arm that connects directly to the motor arm. Is this pictured piece one of the bushings I need to replace? I'm guessing I will need to remove the two male parts with mating splines to get at the other 3?

 

Yep, that's what they look like after about 25 years of being used and abused.

Biggest secret will be to make sure that the windshield wiper motor has cycled down before you reconnect the arms. Three screws per drive, and I'd try to soak it in some really thin lubricant (I soaked in some silicon lube myself) while it's apart.

You'll need 3x 3799089 and one 5211015 . Dorman numbers are 49439 (for the 5211015) and 2 packs 49440 (each pack has two, to replace the 3799089).

Again, don't forget some lithium grease in there as you reassemble.

RwP

 

OK so the guy at the store sold me some dorman bushings with a different number 49440 that he said fit. They look to match the 118301 bushings. The fourth one with the hole all the way through seemed good so I lubed it and put it all back together. I had to use my vice to push the ***** in. Then I go to install it and the drive link arm is rubbing on the one under it. !!!! I have no idea why. I thought maybe I had unbent a slight angle on the end so I bent that arm a bit no luck.
I have them with the bottom arm between the two mounts for the wipers with that U facing up and the drive link arm with the U facing down. I am embarrassed I did not pay attention when I took it apart and baffled as to what the issue is though its clearly how I arranged the arms. Just maybe its the bushings so i am including pics as they look exactly the same to me. Shoot now that I have uploaded the pictures the side view looks like its a tiny bit shorter than the OE one.

 

I found a picture of the linkage online as you see. So I took it out reversed the drive link and it went in and made some noise. So I took it out removed the bend I added and it now runs silent. So here is a picture of the 1st gen wiper linkage for future reference. It is not laid out in the way it would go in but you can see how the links go together.

 

Well, yah, that's why I listed the 49440 part number - it's the sealed ones.

49439 is the open one.

Glad you worked it all out.

RwP

 

Thanks Ralph