When testing the wipers after fitting a couple of new blades they jammed up completely. The crank on the driver's side wiper spindle looks like it had gone the wrong way and jammed up against the housing. I notice that there was a lot of play in the driver's side spindle and some in the passenger side. Not had any problems in this area before. There doesn't seem top be any play anywhere else . Is this a case of a new pair of spindles or could there be more problems? (£42.00 each)
Don

Hi Don, are all clips that fix arms in good condition?

I had exactly the same issue a few years ago. It was spindles in my case. When it jams, it also cases the wiper motor to get very hot if you don't disconnect the power. I can't remember if the park mechanism runs from an un switched supply.

There is a constant (ignition fed) live feed to the motor, which is cut off, (by a little cam on a switch inside the unit), when the wipers are in the park position, so if the linkage jams in any other position, the motor will keep trying to turn until it burns out or until it's feed is disconnected. The quickest way to disconnect it is to remove the fuse.

Thanks for ther replies.
Looks like I'll have to invest in a couple of new spindles. Luckily I wasn't driving the car at the time so I switched off the ignition as soon as I realised there was a problem. As that normally stops the wipers in the middle it looks like that cuts off the supply to the motor. I had a spare assembly but the spindles on that had seen better days but one was a bit better. Wasn't as difficult as I thought it might be to get the assembly out so swapped one spindle as the motor on the spare didn't sound too healthy. Hopefully that will keep us going for the time being.
Don
All the other spindles look ok but the little circlips are a bit fragile.

Received the spindles in the post Wednseday, after the Christmas close-down. The weather warmed up so replaced them today.
The spindles came complete with all nuts washers and circlips. Handling the tiny circlips with cold hands a bit tricky, I could see them flying accross the garage never to be seen again but in the end it all went well. A bit pricey but better than risking a burnt out wiper motor.
Don