Fixing My 2004 Saturn Ion Winshield Wiper Linkage

About a week ago, my driver-side windshield wiper starting behaving strangely.  The wiper would move too far to the left and not always go back to its wiper-home when turned off.  It also seemed to move in a delayed fashion when in comparison to the passenger-side wiper.  When passengers asked about it, I compared it to a lazy eye.

In the beginning, the wiper would clean the windshield for the most part, but it soon got worse.  I came back to my childhood home for Christmas to visit my parents.  As most parents would, my dad noticed the bad wiper and asked me why I didn’t fix it.  As most single twenty-somethings would, I said I’d get around to it; after all, I could still see good enough to drive.  In the meantime, my dad googled the problem and found several people who had the same problem.  As it turns out, the windshield wiper linkage broke.  Then can happen when you pull back the wipers off the windshield and reapply them without being careful.  I usually pulled back my wipers when it snows to prevent them from sticking to the windshield and then just pushed them back, in which they would smack the windshield.  I had good intentions, but poor execution; lesson learned.

My dad and I began to take apart the windshield wiper apart.  We confirmed the linkage was broken.  We then used the instructions from here to fix the problem.  We fixed the problem by repairing the broken part with two metal pieces and some bolts.  The repair worked and all is well!

You can click on the pictures below for a larger view.

Broken linkage

Removed wiper motor from car

Brackets to repair the break

First hole drilled in the linkage for the repair

Fixed linkaged reinstalled in the car