During our recent spate of icy weather my wife tried to start the
wiper when the wiper arm was frozen in place. After that the
intermittent wiper stopped working and the wiper would not park.

Another older symptom: periodically the wiper would stroke once upon
activating the turn signal.

A search of this group yielded some ideas for a fix: loose wires
behind the panel above the driver's feet; bad wiper relay; bad fuse. I
saw no loose wires, replaced the fuse, and cleaned the relay contacts
but the problem persists.

Ideas for a next step? A guy at the auto parts place suggested
tightening a 15mm and a 13 mm bolt/screw somewhere on the wiper
itself; I took the wiper covers off and saw torx heads holding that
operating together but no screws or bolts. Is this worth pursuing?

Same guy at the auto parts place said "it may be the wiper motor".

Is this likely to be the stalk switch (given the earlier symptom of
wiping upon turn signal), or the motor (since the intermittent stopped
working when the blade was frozen in place)?

Thanks-
Dave O

DaveO wrote:
If you are able to move the wiper arm by hand the plastic wheel of the
gear has gone. You need a new motor. You are lucky its a cheap 1996.

To change the motor remove the complete plastic drain in front of the
windshild. The complete unit is then easyly demounted.

--

Roland Franzius

I am able to move the arm, but not very easily- it takes a bit of
force, not like it's a wet noodle. Does that still mean the motor is
gone?

The parts guy said $214 for a motor. They come more expensive than
that?!

DaveO wrote:
Yes.

I bought a new one for 120 EUR. Found out that the models 1998 and later
use another model for 240 EUR. Aftermarket products are around 40 EUR,
but one has to be cautious with third party products because the
electric noise generated could cause problems with the computer bus
system CAN.

One should grease and oil to the mechanics of the giant wiper arm
regularly. The service poeple dont seem do it. Too much pressure on the
windshield by a blocked spring mechanics causes the steel screw on the
motor axis to eat the big plastic wheel in the worm gear on the wiper axis.

--

Roland Franzius

I learned about lubricating the large wiper arm when it seized and
stopped working. Luckily we caught it in time to apply lube and it
continued to operate. I have since passed the information on to other
MB owners so they can be aware of it too.

Thanks for your help, Roland!

Go to the bottom of this thread past the chatter about lubricating which you
already know. It talks about the tightening of the bolts.

http://www.club202.com/forums/showth...13cf4a5db8966c

If that doesn't work and you have to start replacing stuff, make sure you
get a good return/exchange policy on the parts. I am guessing it may be the
gears vs. the actual motor itself.

Doug

Doug, thanks for that link! The photos are great. That last post about
tightening up the bolts may be right on target: I'll try that tonight.
Who knows, maybe I'll get lucky.