I am in the middle of disassembling my 1973 Mach, and I am stuck with the wiper motor and wiper arms. I have been looking here and elsewhere for tips, but I cannot seem to find any existing threads. What's the trick for getting these off?
Ok, lets see if I can describe this clearly, as these can be a pain in the butt. Especially if you ain't never messed with them before. As I remember the 71-73 mustang wiper arms have a tiny clip on the bottom edge of the wiper arm, that keeps it from comming off the stub/spindle that turns it. First you have to bend the wiper arm to a 90 degree position, to relieve the tension against the windshield. Now look at the part of the wiper that goes over the spindle, find the little clip, and pull it back away from the spindle, and wiggle the entire wiper arm assembly back and forth while pulling up on the assembly, to work it loose from the spindle. It may be pretty tight, but will usually loosen with a little effort. Now onto the wiper linkage, If I remember correctly at the wiper motor, it has a clip that holds the arms to the spindle. The clip slides into a groove cut into the shaft, and as its slid in place, the arm on the clip slips over the top of the shaft and pops over, to stop it form sliding backwards and comming off. All you have to do is take a small straight screwdriver and slip it under the clip end and raise it over the shaft and slide the clip back and off. Then simply unbolt the motor and the wiper transmissions from the cowl. Your done, hope it helps. Oh they can be a pain to wiggle the arms and transmission from the cowl, just keep trying you'll get it. Lets us know if you hit a snag. and we'll give it another shot. JTS 71 Mach1
JTS...sounds like you have done this before. Why Ford made it so difficult in the later years to remove the wipers arms who knows. Is it true that the 73's wipers have winter and summer adjustments?
Hey Mike, yes i have done this a couple of times. I really can't say, I ever heard of, or remember anything about winter or summer adjustments???? I just don't know. Anybody else ever heard of this? JTS 71 Mach1
I don't think there is a clip on 71-3 wiper arms
You tilt them up and then slide them off the splined shaft.
Usually you need to pry them up at the back of the arm.
Don
(03-01-2015, 02:10 AM)JTS71 Mach1 Wrote: Hey Mike, yes i have done this a couple of times. I really can't say, I ever heard of, or remember anything about winter or summer adjustments???? I just don't know. Anybody else ever heard of this? JTS 71 Mach1
The reason I ask if it's true is I ran across this post while researching why it is so difficult to remove wiper arms on the 71-73 Mustangs:
fun fact... the wipers are adjustable for summer and winter driving.
the arm that the wiper body sits on has 20-30 degrees of adjustment in it.
For winter you set the arms so the wipers are above the hood line. this keeps them in the sun and melts the ice that sticks them to the glass
for summer you set them so they remain hidden under the hood line..
not like any of us really drive these in the winter. (well i did a few times).
to set the arms you pop off the wipers body like you saw with the little clip. then set them at the angle you want above or below the hood line. if you flip the wiper body over and look at the place the arm attaches it looks like a gear profile with multiple adjustment points.
Modern cars have the same function you grab the wiper arm and tug on it and it will pop into the summer or winter position above or below the hood line.
lets see if I can describe this clearly, as these can be a pain in the butt. Especially if you ain't never messed with them before. As I remember the 71-73 mustang wiper arms have a tiny clip on the bottom edge of the wiper arm, that keeps it from comming off the stub/spindle that turns it. First you have to bend the wiper arm to a 90 degree position, to relieve the tension against the windshield. Now look at the part of the wiper that goes over the spindle, find the little clip, and pull it back away from the spindle, and wiggle the entire wiper arm assembly back and forth while pulling up on the assembly, to work it loose from the spindle. It may be pretty tight, but will usually loosen with a little effort. Now onto the wiper linkage, If I remember correctly at the wiper motor, it has a clip that holds the arms to the spindle. The clip slides into a groove cut into the shaft, and as its slid in place, the arm on the clip slips over the top of the shaft and pops over, to stop it form sliding backwards and comming off. All you have to do is take a small straight screwdriver and slip it under the clip end and raise it over the shaft and slide the clip back and off. Then simply unbolt the motor and the wiper transmissions from the cowl. Your done, hope it helps. Oh they can be a pain to wiggle the arms and transmission from the cowl, just keep trying you'll get it. Lets us know if you hit a snag. and we'll give it another shot. JTS 71 Mach1
![[-]](https://mach1club.com/images/collapse.png "[-]")
