2003-2011 [Subscribe to Daily Digest] |
Folks,
Sharing a lesson learned from my experience replacing the windshield wiper linkage, aka, armature on a 2007 9-3.
One of the cheap plastic ball joints on the original linkage broke, and the ball joint cannot be fixed. So.....ordered a replacement linkage from eEuroparts. The replacement fits great and comes with all necessary hardware, except....the bushing/dust cover for the drive shaft of the wiper motor.
You know what's coming.....despite taking great care, I tore the old bushing in trying to remove the old wiper linkage. Figuring that it would take a couple of days to order and get a new bushing, I went to the local parts store. An hour of searching on numerous parts databases turned up no replacement bushing. The only place the bushing can be found is on a replacement wipe motor. Grrrr......
I looked around the parts store for substitutes, and settled on 2 items: a generic tie rod dust boot that fit a 9/16 inch shaft diameter (NAPA part 650-1176), and a PCV valve grommet for a Toyota (NAPA part 630-1041). It took some cutting and trimming of the two items, but I was able to get a trimmed grommet inside the dust rod boot, and have the trimmed dust rod boot cover the wiper motor drive shaft. Total cost was about $7.75 US plus about 40 minutes of labor to trim and fit the two new parts.
If you find yourself in circumstances similar to mine, you may wish to explore the dust cover and grommet rack in your auto parts store to effect a similar work around. Be sure to bring the old bushing/dust cover with you for comparison purposes.
--Koop
posted by 74.96.20...
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