!Tommy

Well, now that it's wintertime, there are days where you get lots of snow on the car. This happened and I didn't realize this until it happened and then read about it on carcomplaints.com. Apparently if you have snow or ice on your windows and you use your wipers, you'll most likely damage them and they won't park right. I just spent over $400 to fix it. Not only that but they said if I don't keep it clear down by the wipers and clear the window of snow, it'll just happen again. What's up with this? My previous car was a 1994 Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera and I could literally have a foot of snow on the window and I could use the wipers to clear it all from the windows and I never had this problem. Why now on this car? Is GM making crappier parts or what? If it's that easy to damage your wipers, why didn't I see this in the manual?

Anyone care to share their experiences and frustrations on this matter and why it happens?

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77Impala

Turns out there are plastic gears in the wiper motor that jump easily when under stress. Because the wiper motor is sealed you cannot get into it and realign the gears, only fix is to replace it.

Now why would they tell you in the manual about this since they can sell you a new wiper motor? Most dealers make more money by selling parts and service than they do just selling cars.

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1977 Impala Sedan, 5.0L, TH200, 3.25:1, 79K miles, 26 Lifetime Warranty Parts.
1997 Dodge Ram B2500, 5.2L, 36RH, 3.21:1, 348K miles, 9 Lifetime Warranty Parts.

Lingenfelter

NAIOA has an easy fix for a problem similar to, if not identical to, this very issue.

What's happened is likely causing your wipers to rest in the full up position, and it's repairable at home IIRC.

Wipers are not designed to clear heavy or wet snow from your windshield, and presumably, you're the same guy who leaves that foot of snow all over the rest of the car to make driving more dangerous for everyone else.

A little bit of courtesy would have saved you 400 bucks and saved everyone else the hassle of driving blind behind you.

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Top 10 poster at NAIOA.
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!Tommy

Actually, I do clean my car off in the winter. I'm not that dumb. But when you have snow on the roof sometimes some of it gets pushed onto the front windshield or the defrosters break some of it up and it slides down where the wipers are and it just stays there so it's just really easy to leave it and then just have the wipers shove it off when you get into the car. Truthfully, that kind of thing makes me perturbed as well when someone leaves a bunch of snow on their car, but the biggest things that ticks me off is people that drive without headlights. That's why I love daytime running lights on this car. I think all cars should come with them but that's beside the point of this thread.

Yeah, I can believe that. I personally think it's wrong after you spend a bunch of money for the car in the first place. Then they wonder why nobody buys new cars but they don't take in consideration with the price of a new car, then there's the biggest racket in the world, insurance, which is extremely high on newer cars. Then you have registration and license. Before you know it, the only thing your money goes to is the car. Anyway, I'm going to stop there.

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Lingenfelter

Commendable that you clean off your car properly. Thanks on behalf of your local drivers.

The Daytime Running Lights are due to the car being built in Canada, where all vehicles have to have daytime running lights (aside from old models from before it was law).

I will poke around and hopefully find the article you need to adjust the wipers when they do not come to rest in the cowl.

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GMPP Duals, GMPP Handling Kit, NAIOA FWI V2, Silverstar Hi/Lo/Fogs, Viper 5900 Remote Start/Security.
Top 10 poster at NAIOA.
Top 10 poster at NewImpala.

Lingenfelter

Here's a link that has a few additional links within it:

http://www.naioa.com/v2/modules.php?...=21397&start=0

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GMPP Duals, GMPP Handling Kit, NAIOA FWI V2, Silverstar Hi/Lo/Fogs, Viper 5900 Remote Start/Security.
Top 10 poster at NAIOA.
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77Impala

It is nice to see that there is a simple repair.

It would be great if someone had pictures of the repair that we could add to the forum.

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1977 Impala Sedan, 5.0L, TH200, 3.25:1, 79K miles, 26 Lifetime Warranty Parts.
1997 Dodge Ram B2500, 5.2L, 36RH, 3.21:1, 348K miles, 9 Lifetime Warranty Parts.

PushrodPower

We had an ice strom last December and it froze my wipers to the windsheild. Me being a dummy turned them on and broke one of the blades off. But I didn't/haven't had any problems with the park position. Maybe I'm just lucky

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!Tommy

Yep, I make sure I'm courteous to other drivers. I've noticed people that don't clean their cars off and it's very hard to see them.

And I kinda figured that that's the reason for the daytime running lights since that's a law in Canada and I know all 7th generation Impalas were manufactured in Canada. I'm not sure about the 8th+ generation though.

Thanks for the link, I'll definitely check it out.

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77Impala

Actually no, most all Dodge full size Ram Vans were built in Canada but those destined to be sold in the United States do not have or are required the DRL's to be installed. My van is one of them.

GM did start having all of their vehicles equipped with DRL's as a standard feature in the late 90's. Personally I like the newest ones that use the turn signal lamp instead of the headlights for the DRL's.

__________________
1977 Impala Sedan, 5.0L, TH200, 3.25:1, 79K miles, 26 Lifetime Warranty Parts.
1997 Dodge Ram B2500, 5.2L, 36RH, 3.21:1, 348K miles, 9 Lifetime Warranty Parts.