Thor Forums

[Wrench]

The first time significant use was made of the windshield wipers they failed. This was at highway speed in a gusty rain storm. The wipers came to an abrupt stop with the driver’s side wiper nearly off the windshield to the left and the passenger’s side wiper disappearing from sight (from inside) down toward the grill. At the next available stop I wiggled the passenger’s side wiper to see if it had come disconnected from the wiper mechanism and was startled when both wipers began moving and went back to their normal resting place. It turns out this is because the wipers are on a self-resetting fuse and when the mechanism is stuck the fuse will apply power every few seconds and then promptly kick out again. That evening I looked at the mechanism under the grill and it looked OK and the wipers actually worked, which was a surprise. I did get and apply some Rainex for the trip home, however, and they did hang up again on the way home.

A careful examination of the wiper mechanism revealed that if the passenger side wiper received a little extra push right at the end of its travel (such as a gust of wind) it would go “over center” and would hang there, securely stopping the whole wiper mechanism until it was manually pulled back from over center.

Once again, I could have gone back to the dealer. Wiper problems for these coaches are extensively documented on the Web and a solution would have probably been worked out – subject to an unknown amount of time that the coach would be out of service.

My solution was to fabricate a small bracket with a stop on it that attaches to the existing mount that secures the passenger’s side wiper. The stop prevents the wiper from going over center. I also tightened the nut that holds the arm to the wiper motor. So far, after only light use in the rain, the wipers have worked fine.