# How to remove windshield wiper arms? I tried unbolting....



## LaRon (Aug 22, 2002)

My wiper arms are fading and silver is showing so I need to repaint them. I removed the caps on the end of the arms and unbolted the 12mm nut but the arms still won't come off. I checked all other possible means of it being bolted down and can't figure it out. Anyone here throw me a bone?


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## landlord (Jun 11, 2002)

be careful not to bend and yank really hard....sometime you have to show it whos boss.


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## LaRon (Aug 22, 2002)

Well, I tried yanking REALLLY hard and they didn't budge. Also... this is on a 98 200sx SE if that matters. Anyone else have any other method?


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## Ashitaka (Feb 21, 2003)

Flip the wiper arms up and they should come off.


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## LaRon (Aug 22, 2002)

Tried that too.....

This is what I did......
Removed cap on the arm.... removed the 14mm bolt, tried yanking up on them and wouldn't budge. Next I tried putting vice grips on the arm to help to try to remove the arm by pulling up with the grips and also on the part of the arm that's bolted down. Then that didn't work so next up I tried putting a screw driver under the arm by the bolt and tried prying it off and that didn't work either. 

Eggghhhh need these things off the paint coming off and they so ugly


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## LaRon (Aug 22, 2002)

Also..... I was doing this while the arms were down (off)... should I crank the car, turn on the wipers, and kill the car while they up on the windshield? Would that allow them to come off by chance?


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## landlord (Jun 11, 2002)

man thats weird, try everything, the last time i took mine off i just got pissed and started calling them names and pulling really hard and eventualy they came off, soooo

try calling them bad names! it workes for me every time!


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## krylonkoopaa (Sep 13, 2002)

maybe if you spank them a lil talk dirty to them .


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## LaRon (Aug 22, 2002)

krylonkoopa said:


> *maybe if you spank them a lil talk dirty to them . *


If you don't have anything WORTH SAYING then keep yo mouth shut.


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## go4broke44 (Jan 14, 2003)

lol, i thought it was kinda funny. the arms are prolly like rusted on or something, i remember hearing somewhere that it takes some force to get them off


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## nastynissan (Jan 26, 2003)

Spray some PB blaster on them... Let sit overnight...... Flip them up and WIGGLE the hell out of them..... Pull and Wiggle, Pull and Wiggle...... They will come off..


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## Shawn (Sep 18, 2002)

Once you figure it out LaRon, let us know. My wiper arms are also showing silver, and have been for a long time.


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## LaRon (Aug 22, 2002)

Will do, about to go give it a shot again here in a few. I'll let you guys know how it turns out.


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## zeno (Sep 17, 2002)

> maybe if you spank them a lil talk dirty to them .


I have a different approach, I have to be smooth like Billy Dee, I whip out the Barry White and the Colt 45.....works every time.










.....actually, they are probably rusted, they should be able to be pulled off.


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## go4broke44 (Jan 14, 2003)

WD 40!!!!


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## LaRon (Aug 22, 2002)

Alrighty, just got back in and FINALLY got dem punks off! This is what I did....

1)Turned wipers on and turned the ignition off when they were fully extended

2) Uncapped the cap over the 14mm bolt, unbolted 

3) Pulled wiper arms up, lubed up REAAALLL good with quick lube (WD40) both on top of the bolt and under the arm on the bolt

4) Wiggled, pulled, wiggled, pulled, wiggled, pulled...

5) Lube up again REEAAALLL good

6) Wiggled, pulled, wiggled, pulled, wiggled, pulled.... POP off!

I thought I was never going to get the driver side off. Took me about 15 mins or so to get them both off. They weren't rusted though. All it took was to get that lube down between the really REALLY small space between the wiper arm surrounding the bolt and the bolt itself, Then they just came straight off. Takes alot of working though to get it done.

Now, the arms are laying in the shop primered up and I'm waiting on them to dry. Once they dry, I'll paint them a few coats of black and then spray a few coats of clear on them and reinstall. 

Also... a good idea if any of you are following this project, is to paint the caps that cover the bolts. My exterior accent colors are silver, so I'll be painting the caps silver while leaving the arms black because my 200 is black . I'll get some pics up of the finished project for you guys of before/after. So far they looking real good.


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## go4broke44 (Jan 14, 2003)

whats an AIT resistor?


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## go4broke44 (Jan 14, 2003)

"if you dont know what to think, give it a drink"
-my dad on WD-40 , i swear he worships the shit. where he works they have a filing cabinet full of wd-40, drawers sorted by size of the bottle, and then labeled on the front


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## LaRon (Aug 22, 2002)

AIT resistor is a little mod that I found through some friends. It's an actual resistor that you put in place of your AIT sensor that plugs into your intake. What it does is resist readings through your AIT sensor therefore sending a signal to your ECU that you are getting denser, colder air.. when you're actually not. The result is a little more throttle response and slight bit of acceleration. After installing it only thing I felt really different was better performance through 2nd gear. The car didn't seem to bog as much, and had a little more go. Not real sure where you can find these things, I got mine from a friend at the parts store.


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## krylonkoopaa (Sep 13, 2002)

look at my avatar its just for you.


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## guarneriman (Jul 7, 2004)

LaRon said:


> Alrighty, just got back in and FINALLY got dem punks off! This is what I did....
> 
> 1)Turned wipers on and turned the ignition off when they were fully extended
> ......
> ...


Sorry guys, i know this post is really freaking old...but my wipers are fading too. First, How hard was it to get the wiper arms back on? Second, did you paint them shiny black or flat black. Also, will just any brand of paint/clear coat work? THanks again.......(hey, at least i searched!)
Guarneriman


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## Radioaktiv (Feb 12, 2004)

those guys arent even around anymore to answer you
but kudos on searching


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## landlord (Jun 11, 2002)

guarneriman said:


> Sorry guys, i know this post is really freaking old...but my wipers are fading too. First, How hard was it to get the wiper arms back on? Second, did you paint them shiny black or flat black. Also, will just any brand of paint/clear coat work? THanks again.......(hey, at least i searched!)
> Guarneriman



really easy to get back on, tough to get off. as for paint what look do you want and what is your favorite brand? its up to you on that, stock was flat but i would give them a nice coat of clear.


p.s. im still around just not as much...


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## xt_out (Jun 23, 2003)

yeah...when i sold the sentra i switched the good (painted arms) to the SER. it was a bitch. i used a screwdriver and pryed against the firewall (hoping i didn't break anything) man...those WERE a bitch. i'd personally do gloss black with 2 coats of clearcoat. shiny would look good imo. get paint that's made for metal parts and you'll be fine. doesn't need any special heat resistant paint or anything one would think.


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## pete? (Jul 6, 2004)

i took myne off yesterday after reading this post and it was tuff but went and got my trusty little crow bar, put a towle underneath it, and pryed them off and they just poped off took about 5min if u do this be very very carful not to damage the plastic peice beneath the wipers and when the wipers pop off make sure you dont hit the windsheild with the bar that would be quite bad


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## spankytheking (Sep 25, 2004)

gotta be careful with those resistors they can stop ur fan from coming on at the right time and overheating ur engine  happened to me once on my commodore


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## captain_shrapnel (Sep 10, 2004)

guarneriman said:


> Sorry guys, i know this post is really freaking old...but my wipers are fading too. First, How hard was it to get the wiper arms back on? Second, did you paint them shiny black or flat black. Also, will just any brand of paint/clear coat work? THanks again.......(hey, at least i searched!)
> Guarneriman


Hey I had the same issue, but since I was afraid of breaking something I threw drop cloths over my car, stood the wiper arms up and masked the area around them good and painted them right on my car. Did 3 coats of krylon flat over primer and it looks sharp. Not a bit of overspray. FWIF...


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## luckysperm (Dec 2, 2004)

Why not just take a garbage bag and black spraypaint and shove the wiper arm through the middle of the trashbag and tape down and paint away. wait for 20 min and let paint dry and slide bag off. 

much easier than trying to fight those bitches to come off


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## Ninety-Nine SE-L (May 5, 2002)

The secret is yelling really loud. Yell at it as you pull the hell out of it. Sooner or later it'll break loose (or jus break).


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## Twiz (Aug 24, 2004)

I had a the same problem when I was trying to remove mine to paint. I bought a plumbing handle extractor from Home Depot $4.95. The tool comes in handy when you need to extract stuff which was pressed in really good. Don't try to pry it off from one side only then you might end up buying a new one. Good luck!


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## luckysperm (Dec 2, 2004)

look 2 posts back and save yourself the time... it works trust me :thumbup:


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## UofLsentra (May 25, 2003)

I tried taking those bitches off for like 3 minutes and then said fuck it. I sanded them down, wiped them off, then I got some old blankets, newspaper, and garbage bags and painted away. Easy stuff. Used regular old black spray paint we just had in the garage. Its stayed pretty good for like 2 years. Now its starting to fade, but not to silver like the original, just looking more like a chalk board. I put armor all on it and its back to normal. I know its not good for it, but fuck it.


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