FIAT PUNTO WIPER MECHANISM

[s.waring3578]

HI There,

I wonder if anyone could help. Basically just one of the windscreen wiper blades does not work on my Fiat Punto Sporting. I have looked under the bonet and one of the arms has fell out of the ball joint on the wiper mechanism. Would I need to buy the complete mechanism and motor. Or could I just replace the arm. I'm not very good with car repairs, but would this be an easy thing to do?

Cheers,
Simon.

 

[^neo^]

Its a pig of a job and you need to replace the whole mechanism.
Its around £100 if i remember right.
The way we got round it was to drill and tap the ball of the joint, and whack a bolt through it to stop the linkage falling off............... sod paying fiat that much for a new mechanism!

 

[Kes]

Hi,

My daughter's Punto had the same problem. I refitted the arm to the ball joint a few times, with the aid of a large pair of pump pliers, but in the end had to buy a new motor/mechanism, for about £60 I think.

If they had designed the mechanism so that the arm lay on top of the ball joints instead of hanging off underneath then a loose joint wouldn't be such a problem.

Fitting the wipers is dead simple with only a couple of bolts. However removing the black plastic closure strip is indeed a pig, so remember the elastoplast.

Rgds.

 

[wesdag]

Its a pig of a job and you need to replace the whole mechanism.
Its around £100 if i remember right.
The way we got round it was to drill and tap the ball of the joint, and whack a bolt through it to stop the linkage falling off............... s** paying fiat that much for a new mechanism!

Hi Neo,

I've got the same problem at the moment.
How did you manage to drill the ball of the joint? Did you have to dismantle it first?

 

[Stivino]

I've done that job on the 99 on model (MK2) and it's a piece of cake. No need to replace whole mechanism, I got the arm from Fiat for a few pounds.

 

[donnyr]

Hi, Re Punto wiper problem look in Ebay shops under Wipex who supply a new set of linkage arms without the need to replace the wiper motor. They cost £27.99 + postage and take about 30 minutes to fit thus solving the problem without getting ripped off by Fiat dealerships by having to replace the whole wiper assemble at a cost of well over £ 100.

Donnyr

 

[Tim9878906]

As a quick fix whilst awaiting a replacement mechanism, you can attach a 10-13mm hose clip tightly to the 'post' of the joint to keep the arm in place. Mine's only been on for about 30 miles of driving in the rain so far but it got me home when the mechanism failed such that it wouldn't stay in place for more than three wipes.

 

[elsie]

thanks Donnyr

I got replacement arms from wipex (£34inc vat p&p) in 24 hrs and mechanic fitted them for £30 so saved over £100 on quotes from 3 garages.

It seemed such a waste to replace the whole linkage for one worn plastic washer!!!!

 

[tryingnottobeafool]

always a scrap yard as well

 

[WendyG]

I have just had to have my windscreen wiper linkage rod replaced on my Fiat Punto - it cost me £165 including labour and VAT - the part itself was £106.00, think I may have been ripped off!

 

[tryingnottobeafool]

scrappie a good bet for about £10 to £15

 

[chrisaw]

I wonder if anyone can offer any expert advice? Last year our 53 reg Fiat Punto's wipers failed, and we replaced the failed wiper linkage with one from Wipex.

This morning my hubby rang me from work to say that the wipers had failed again (on the motorway). I've rung Wipex who have said they'll send a replacement out, or if we send the failed set back to them, refund us for the originals. The genuine Fiat linkage assembly would cost just over £100 and the garage we use would be able to get hold of it today for fitting tomorrow.

Should we go for the replacement Wipex linkage or the more expensive Fiat one? Our confidence in Wipex has been a little shaken. Whichever way we go, they'll be fitted by the garage, so we'll be forking out for labour. Both me and my hubby know next to nothing about cars and turn into indecisive ditherers whenever we have to make any sort of decision about ours, so any help would be appreciated.

 

[bailsoft]

If you look at the end of wiper link that has fallen off you'll notice the reason, the upper lip of the bearing is worn. The simple answer to this problem is to turn the link over and refit it (with a bit of grease). Good as new!

 

[harryhotspurs]

I had the same problem and I refused to pay a garage £££ to sort it.
This is what I did.

1 - Take off the wiper arm/blade by undoing the nut on it. (under a black cap)
2 - Pop the lock washer off. Its stiff but stick with it. It will come eventually. Make sure you dont break it because ull need it again. And make a note of the order the washers come off.
3 - remove the L shape arm with the ball joint on the end.
4 - drill tiny hole in the end where the ball joint is. Make sure it doesnt interfer the arm when you put it back on.
5 - Put a split pin thru the hole. Open the legs of the split pin when thru the hole.
6 - Reassumble. Remember order of all the washers.
7 - happy days.

It is easier said than done but with patience you can do it.

Good luck.

 

[marrer]

easiest fix .....................push wiper link arm back on link place a 10mm washer on the link ...there is 10mm shaft about 3mm long after the ball of the link mix a small amount of body filler and push on the shaft and washer to secure washer on link arm ...........there is no force on the washer as it is only stopping the link arm falling of