Flaky 4k wipers same as VW design?

[E Bavely]

Hello all...

The other morning there was a bunch of snow on my 4kq when I came out to
crank it up. I brushed off what I could then turned on the wipers only to
see the driver's side go up half way, stop then skewer the passenger side
wiper on its way back down. Wiper shish-ka-bob.

Now it seems like if there's anything that provides resistance to that wiper
on the windshield (other than water...i.e. ice, frost, snow, etc) it will
hang up.  Not good on the highway with spray coming up at you in rush hour.

I had the same problem on the 89 GTI a while back and found out that it is a
common problem on watercooled VW's.  What happens is that splines on the
wiper spindle actually machine/wear down part of the wiper arm which is
softer metal and then get "clogged".  This means that the metal shavings
effectively fill up the splines and the spindle stops gripping the arm
causing the wiper to slip.

I fixed this on the GTI by removing the arm, then taking a knife or awl and
cleaning out the splines on the shaft.  Easy fix, works fine.  Apparently no
need to buy another arm, more parts, etc.

Are the 4k's the same way? same design?  I didn't get the chance to look
(having a job does bad things to my hobbies) and wondered if anyone else had
the same experience or if there's something else I have to do to fix this?

Thanks in advance.

Elliott Bavely
Cincinnati, OH

86 4000CS Quattro
83 GTI FSP Racey car
83 GTI- under the knife for the 16V transplant
90 Cabriolet



noticed the other morning when I turned on the 4kq that t

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