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I was up mt Hotham this weekend and drove down the mountain in some intense weather, when i put my breaks on to stop to take the snow chains off a whole lot of ice slid off my roof and interrupted the motion of my wipers. Now when i turn them on all i can hear is the motor but the wipers don't work, and when i grab the left hand wiper i can move them up and down, this never used to happen. All i need to know is what is broken and what needs to be replaced, and how to access it and fix it.

Wiper linkage - fairly common on the Gen III's.
The bushes wear out and can't be replaced seperatley from Subaru.
They can be replaced, but you need abit of ingenuity and some "Dorman" bushes, #49446 or #49447 (go to Rock Auto and search for those part numbers), there's a thread on NASIOC about how to fit them (search "wiper linkage bush"), its for an Impreza, but i'd assume they'd all use the same bushes.

I just fixed my sons GT wipers

You have to take the plastic grill off when you do that there is the wiper arm coming from the wiper motor and going to the middle wiper

It is the plastic knuckle on the ends that cause the issue if it is both wipers loose then it is the one at the motor end

To get it out grab the arm close to the middle wiper twist and pull down it will come of fairly easy then do the some at the wiper motor end

Compare the two mine had the the small teeth missing i got an arm from the wreckers i don't know if you can buy just the knuckle from Subaru

The pic shows the good one on the left the bugged one only has one tooth left on it.

Hope this helps

Jan

Thats annoying isnt it!!
Cheers
AP

bobbyjimmy wrote:Wiper linkage - fairly common on the Gen III's.
The bushes wear out and can't be replaced seperatley from Subaru.
They can be replaced, but you need abit of ingenuity and some "Dorman" bushes, #49446 or #49447 (go to Rock Auto and search for those part numbers), there's a thread on NASIOC about how to fit them (search "wiper linkage bush"), its for an Impreza, but i'd assume they'd all use the same bushes.

Hi, I'm new to this forum. I find it to be very helpful!

I didn't realise that the wiper bushings problem is common. My wipers have been pretty noisy and slammed down hard after each rotation.

I have a 2002 Outback. On a recent trip up the NSW Mid North Coast, the driver wiper played up: it rotated past the post and got stuck there on the F3. Very dangerous in the rains!

Luckily an NRMA guy (at Walcha) tightened the nuts and suggested that when I got back to Sydney to put some locktite glue between the wiper arms and the motor bolts as the tapered holes appeared to have worn out.

I found a cut silicon cap (to selleys silicon no more gaps etc) can "replace" the damaged one.

I wonder if Subaru is aware of this common problem?