The front wiper motor (is there just one or are there two??) has been making a strange grinding noise from the drivers side for a couple of weeks and is gradually getting worse.
Any idea what it is??
Also, i've just had the front tyres changed and I've been left with the steering wheel quite a bit off centre. Any idea what that one is as well?
Car is a 1995 Toyota Corolla.
Thanks for any help.
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1. Assuming the Corolla is like any other normal car, it will have only one wiper motor with metal rods connecting the two wiper arms. If you're lucky, the driver's wiper arm might be loose (tighten it), or its spindle might be stiff (oil/WD40 it). Less lucky if the joints on the rod links are seized up or worn (try oil again, you never know). Unlucky if it's the wiper motor itself (but check where the motor is located - if it's on the passenger side, it can't be the motor, because the noise is coming from the driver's side).
2. If the steering wheel was straight before you had the tyres changed and you haven't run over any bricks or kerbs recently, then either:
2.1 The garage adjusted your tracking and made a botch job of it (check your invoice).
2.2 The garage ran your car over a brick or a kerb, and bent something in the front suspension.
2.3 The new tyres are so badly fitted they are running out-of-true and pulling the car to one side (this could also be happening if the two front tyre pressures are badly mismatched).
Ian
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Could be that the old tyres were badly worn and making the wheel crooked. New tyres will go in a nice straight line untill the same fault (wheel alignment?) wears then unevenly again.
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Thanks for your help,
I ran into a kerb a couple of weeks a go and bent the wheel. That never made the steering wheel off centre (probably messed the tracking up though) as it was fine when I put the spare on.
It wasn't until Kwik Fit put 2 new front tyres on it that it went off centre.
I haven't noticed it pulling to one side at all, I'll take it to the Toyota garage and let them to sort it out!
Thanks again.
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Assuming that nothing is bent;
As I understand there is adjustment at both track rod ends. The steering wheel should be placed in the correct position for straight on and both track rod ends should be used for the adjustment if required.
If only one track rod end is used, then the steering wheel will be skewiff.
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I've just had the steering fixed and tracking done, nothing's damaged etc.
The b***** wiper is going to cost £200 if i have it done at the Toyota garage. It needs a new wiper linkage (??)
Is there any way I can get this done cheaper apart from DIY ?
Thanks for your help.
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Did the Toyota garage do a good job on the tracking. i.e. is the wheel now in the straight ahead position when going down a straight road. No pulling to one side etc?
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Yes its all fine. Steering wheel straight, no pulling to one side.
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First, check if Toyota intend to replace both the motor and the linkage for £200 - it seems a lot just for the linkage. But the motor and linkage may not be available separately.
Second, try the oil/WD40/grease option in my previous posting. If your wipers are moving smoothly across the screen, the linkage can't be all that bad. So just suppressing the noise might see you through another couple of years (or until you sell the car).
Ian
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If it does not pull to one side then you probably just need to get the steering wheel put to centre with the wheels straight ahead. It is very common (on vws anyway) for steering wheel to go off centre if the track rod or suspension are worked on.
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Depends on the car, i don't know about toyotas but with vw golfs only the right hand track rod end should be adjusted.
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Thanks, the wheel was fixed when they did the tracking. My dad said it happened when he had it.
I'll try to locate the wiper motor and grease it up a bit, there's no way I'm paying that much for it while they're working fine. I'll just up the stereo a bit!!
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Agree. Oil wiper motor bearings. My old escort made similar worn bearing sounds. Oiling ensured it continued working but it still grumbled! Happily I live in normally dry essex so wipers not used much.
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