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‘96 U295 Windshield Wipers

January 18, 2020, 01:44:52 am

Today, while driving through mist, fog, and rain I had my wipers on for several hours. First position, intermittent. All was well. Stopped at Love's in Rockwell (yes, I did Dallas, 635, and the PGBT at rush hours on a Friday-work sometimes makes my departure ability inconvenient. I digress, after stopping at Loves and restarting the wipers were behaving peculiarly. They would swipe from center out, come  in,  and nearly stop in my line of site, they also seemed a bit abrupt in their operation. When I turn them off I don't feel like they are going "home" to the same position.

Any advice? Or similar experience ?

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Re: ‘96 U295 Windshield Wipers

Reply #1 – January 18, 2020, 04:37:34 am

Sounds like the nut has came loose on the electric motor where the arm that drives the wiper attaches.  If that is the case it is a pain to get to for repair. At one time (long ago) seems like there was a factory recall for coaches built along when yours was to replace/check the lock nut.

Mike

Here is the link to the recall for ice causing the shaft to slip if the nut isn't properly torqued but the same nut needs to be checked. https://www.foreforums.com/index.php?action=media;sa=media;in=3339

Here is one for the 02/03 years  but still about the same system as you have. https://www.foreforums.com/index.php?action=media;sa=media;in=3362

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Re: ‘96 U295 Windshield Wipers

Reply #2 – January 18, 2020, 07:36:25 am

ThNK YOU Pam & Mike! I'll check it out!

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Re: ‘96 U295 Windshield Wipers

Reply #3 – January 18, 2020, 08:50:17 am

Mine just did this during our trip west this fall.  Luckily FT was on the way.  They re-indexed the wipers and secured the nut.

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Re: ‘96 U295 Windshield Wipers

Reply #4 – January 18, 2020, 09:31:07 am

my wipers failed in the same fashion, going wonky at first and then becoming useless. this
incident happened more than 10 years ago, so my recollection is a little hazy. once the
upholstered part of the dash is off, you will see where foretravel left a small hole in the
plywood where you can access the nut. mine was almost completely stripped.
i ordered a new nut from f.o.t. , and was baffled that it had no threads. i called and was
told that it is self tapping. they could not give me the torque value. anyway to make a long
story longer, i put it on and torqued it to what felt good, and it has worked well since then,
although, rain does makes me nervous now, and i use the wipers sparingly.
my 93 u-280 had a much better design for the wipers.

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Re: ‘96 U295 Windshield Wipers

Reply #5 – January 18, 2020, 02:25:43 pm

A few years ago I had to replace some parts of the wiper system, the posts and the arms.  From that experience, one of the ways to access the wiper motor and the mechanism to the posts is to swing the CB panel in front of the passenger seat out of the way.  It is held in place with a few wood screws.  Disconnect the batteries and kill all the electric first.  There is enough wire to the panel that will allow you to move it out of the way.  You may also have to remove the padded dash,  it is held in place by velcro.  FT used 2 pieces of thin plywood to make mine and it is easy to bend in the middle and the plywood is just butted together. I also had to remove the instrument panel hood first in order to remove the dash panel.  Use care not to bend the panel.  Check the nuts on the posts that hold the arms in place first, if they come off or loose the arm can get out of position.

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Re: ‘96 U295 Windshield Wipers

Reply #6 – January 18, 2020, 08:01:31 pm

On our 91GV, I had a problem where the wipers were fine in the constant position, but were squirrely in the delay mode.  They wouldn't wipe the full travel and wouldn't dock properly.  I was unable to get a new switch for them and am not sure at this time if that is where the circuitry is to control the docking part.  I installed a separate switch for the passenger side wiper and use it to dock that wiper.  I then use the wiper switch to dock the driver's wiper.  Docking the driver side takes a little practice on timing to get it all of the way down.  There may be other solutions out there, but this works well for me.  These wipers have independent motors and do not wipe in the same position at the same time  on the windshield, so independent switching negates that problem/situation.  Have a great day  ----  Fritz

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