Wipers Arghhh!

[glemon]

So I am putting my car back together and I figure today is windshield wiper day. I take the motor off to see if it works, in addition to being old and ugly it is stuck, so some cleaning and polishing of bearing and motoor parts and then a paint job later and voila!

A fine looking and properly functioning wiper motor, I am feeling pretty good about things, I even show the wife, she is so impressed she is speechless (or maybe she is becoming numb to my constant focus on the minutae of getting a 40 year old car back on the road, but I like to think awestruck and speechless).

SO anyway I go to check the wiper cable and boxes, they are COMPLETELY G&***D*&#%D STUCK, FROZE, IMMOBILE, you get the idea, any tricks here to get things moving again, car is a TR250, pretty sure the wiper mechanism is the same as a 4A and maybe early 6 as well, but the cable part and the boxes are pretty much the same on most TRs Healeys, and MGs, except on my TR it is STUCK.

Any ideas or tricks for making it unstuck appreciated.

 

[Tinkerman]

I suspect, and others will chime in, that you are going to have to take the cable and wheel boxes out take them apart and clean and re-grease them. To do that you will have to take the heater out and the demister hoses also. Since you have to do all that you might as well re-furbish the heater and put in new demister hoses since they are probably pretty well shagged out, etc. etc.
Nice job on the motor by the way!

Tinkerman

 

[TR3driver]

Dick is probably right, but I would start by putting a few drops of penetrating oil at the base of each wiper, and trying to work each arm back and forth. You might be able to work it loose without having to remove everything.

Wipers are probably more important in Nebraska; I still haven't bothered putting mine back on the car. Two policemen saw me driving in the rain with no wipers a few months ago, and yelled out the window that I should get some Rain-X :laugh:

 

[Gliderman8]

I have to agree with Dick and Randall... unless you are looking to do a major undertaking by removing the heater core in order to get to the wiper boxes I would first try what Randall suggests. Spray some PB Blaster or similar and just give it time to work and then try to gently tug on the cable and maybe give it a little help by gently pushing on the wiper arm.
Gaining access to the wiper boxes is a PITA.