David Brodbeck said: > Kevin J. Slater wrote: >> 1) The passenger side wiper arm is not moving, but the driver's side >> does. >> Is this a common issue? (I hope not expensive to fix.) >> > > Haven't heard of that one on a Benz, but I've had it happen on a Volvo. > If you're lucky maybe it's just stripped the wiper arm. On most cars > I've had, the wiper shaft is splined, tapered, and made of steel, while > the wiper arm's center is very soft aluminum. The steel shaft actually > cuts splines into the arm when the nut is tightened. If the arm is a > little bit loose and the wiper gets frozen to the windshield, the arm > will strip. The cure is to remove the arm, clean any metal shreds out > of the splines on the shaft, and reinstall. Every time you do this the > arm will sit a little lower on the taper. If it gets to the point where > it won't fit snugly anymore, shim with aluminum foil. (That said, I > don't know if Benzes use this particular arrangement.) > > If you're unlucky the linkage has come apart under the cowl. It still > might not be too hard to fix.
I suspect you've correctly diagnosed this. On the way home my son and I were discussing this and he mentioned to me that when the wiper arm was pulled back from the window, it did move some. That indicates to me that the linkage under the cowl is ok and maybe the arm is just in need of remounting. At worst possibly a new arm. > >> 2) The left side turn signals worked fine, when the right side turn >> signal >> was activated, it just buzzed from under the dash near the glove box? >> > > Buzzing relays often are a symptom of a bad ground somewhere. I'd clean > the ground connections and bulb sockets at the fixtures. If you've got > one where the parking lamp or four-way flasher doesn't work, start there. > > Some people have also reported successfully curing turn signal problems > by cycling the four-way flasher switch repeatedly for a while, like a > couple hundred times. The turn signals are routed through there and > dirty contacts sometimes cause problems, since that switch is rarely used. I believe the right front marker light was out as well as that turn signal didn't work so we'll start looking there. Hopefully either just bulbs or dirty contacts. >> Also, we noticed that the fog lights were clear, this doesn't seem >> typical. Comments? >> > > Could be they're clear fogs, or maybe someone replaced them with driving > lights. Do they throw a wide, flat beam like a fog lamp, or a longer, > more penetrating one like a driving light? > Bright, sunny, middle of the day lighting made this difficult to determine. But I think we'll have a chance to check it in the coming weeks. ...Kevin
