The issue is: My driver side wiper does work, however it is very 'loose'. By that I mean I can get out and move it across the windshield without it being on. It also can be slightly 'off' its normal sweep pattern, but easily adjusted back, still a nuisance.



My question; how can I correct, or fix this? What are the part(s) needed, where best to get them, etc? Also, is this something I can do, I am not a stranger to fixing things, replacing things, and have just about every tool out there, and use them often. Just hoping to get good info on doing this.


A piece of snow fell off the roof and slid into the wiper, it did remove it, eventually, just went about half way, then down, then up about 3/4, then finally up near 100% of the way. It was a smallish piece of snow, just to give some idea of its lack of strength.


This issue just started, due to me not clearing the ice off my wiper before starting my truck. So I know I did this by thinking I could get my truck warming up while I cleaned the snow and ice off, but forgot that I had left the wipers on.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

Well either the splines on the wiper arm are stripped out, or the wiper transmission isn't working. I'd say look at the splines coming out of the transmission and see if they're moving interdependently of the wiper arm. If that is the case, see which part is stripped and replace it. Otherwise look into the transmission and see if you can find anything that's broken.

 

What he said.

 

Thank you for the quick replies. It is what I figured, just didn't know the name of it, spline. The transmission works just fine, need to now figure out how to get the thing off, no one has a schematic on the thing would they? (I realize that is a tall order, and I am searching the internet for it as well).

 

I can't particularly remember what the wiper arm on your truck looks like, but on mine, there is a tab that comes out of the bottom of the arm just above the splines. You pull out on that tab and it unlocks the arm from the splines/transmission and you should be able to pry/pull it off. If yours has a bolt on the top of the arm, just remove the bolt and carefully pry up on it. Sometimes it is necessary to use a battery post puller to pull the wiper arm off of the transmission if you have the through bolt style.

Sorry I don't have any pictures though. If you want, I can take a picture of one of my '96 style arms and show you the clip that you have to pull out on.

 

2001 Silverado has a nut on the wiper arm and will need a puller to remove the arm off the splined shaft.

 

To update...

I went to the parts store to get a new arm, figured I'd start there before taking things apart. One of the people in there mentioned they had the same problem a few months ago and all they had to do was tighten the nut holding the arm on. So I tried that, and that did the trick. I did take it apart later, just to check out the splines, etc, they were worn some but not enough to be a problem. So, and I cannot believe I didn't check this first, the tightening of the nut was what did the trick for me.

Thanks to all who helped, it did give me some work on an area I wasn't too familiar with and I learned something new.

 

That's awesome. Glad it wasn't a big ticket fix.
Thanks for coming back to let us all know what the fix was. I'm sure this thread will help somebody else too.

 

I have always managed to get them off with a big flat head screw driver.