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Date: Mon, 22 Mar 1999 17:23:37 -0500
From: Alex Niedzwiecki <alexn1nopsamaone.net>
Subject: Wiper assembly (repairable?) story


Recently my driver side wiper blade just stopped moving mid-sweep (while it was snowing, how do they know?). I had a look, and diagnosed that the aluminum alloy pully had simply pulled off the steel rod to which it normally is attached. Thinking that this was just a matter of re-organizing the small drive cable, and press fitting the two parts back together, I decided to have a dealer to the work. Seemed like about .5 hours work, and it WAS snowing. They (Charles River SAAB- Watertown, MA) informed me that they never reassemble these parts, and that a complete new assembly was about $180. Also, the labor was 2.5 - 3.0 hours, bringing the total to close to $400. I confirmed with a local independent (Swedish Motor Works, Concord, MA) who does SAABs and Volvos and got about the same story - although both parts and labor were about 10%-15% less. Getting really tired of this story, I decided to do the fix myself. Result? It took me an honest 40 minutes to remove the assembly from the car, 15 minutes to evaluate the problem, reattach and readjust the cable, press the aluminum pully and the steel rod back together (with a vice, minimal banging - I've broken parts like that before with a hammer), and about 50 minutes reinstall. The reinstall tripped me up because I could not get the thing back in there without temporarily removing the wiper motor from the assemly housing. But other than that, smooth. It's been about three weeks, and although I still don't have 100% confidence that these things will never separate again (it's really missing a circlip, or some other retainer, in my opinion), I am happy with the results (and $380 richer). Don't get me wrong, I don't think that either garage was trying to take me for a ride, and in general, I have had good experiences with both shops. I just wish that these businesses would take a second to really look at the problem in a more objective (read: less profitable) manner from time to time without immediately saying, "Whoops, need a new part." Hope this may help someone someday. Alex

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