LT Windscreen wiper spindles

Bloody Nora! What were OKA thinking when they designed the LT windscreen wiper spindles/come fasteners to hold on the nose cone. What an absolutely naff piece of design! At the very least they could have machined a flat on each end of the threaded bush to hold it whilst tightening. Better still surely it couldn't have been that hard to make it so that the assembled spindle/bush could be mounted, rather than having to mount it & then assemble it in situ. And how hard would it have been to have separate fasteners to hold the hinged nose cone to the vehicle. Sheesh!

They were just warming up....wait till you need to replace the heater control tap......or service the air box bits.....but on their brilliant days they did stuff like invent quick fit seats and a hinged dash...

The big problem with the spindles is keeping them lubed, as they are sitting out in the weather they dry out and then start to wear rapidly. I shortened the small end of silicone spark plug boots and slid them over the spindles before fitting the wiper arms which stops moisture ingress and keeps grease in them longer.
If you have any side play in them then they are badly worn and need replacement. They are brass and apparenlty no longer available, I've tried everywhere so might have to machine some up.

Mine came with rubber boots fitted. They do have a tiny amount of side play. If you get any machined up I'll get a pair off you. Machine a couple of flats on one end to hold it whilst tightening the nuts.

Hi Peter. Your advice to give the motor some TLC was good, despite it's removal causing a few other issues which turned a relatively simple job into a saga. Not yet certain whether the wipers are faster, but the motor runs heaps quieter. What grease that was in there had gone hard after migrating away from the worm drive. Some on the contacts. Pulling the cover off the motor side was 'fun' .When the armature came off with the cover & the springs behind the brushes all went 'boing' simultaneously (at the same time as "Oh Shit' escaped from my lips). Luckily no springs lost though. Small cable ties & lots of patience (& a few more "Oh shits") were employed to assist in getting the armature back in with springs & brushes in place. Of course the freshly lubed gearbox had to come apart a second time to get the armature back in. Live & learn! Will be giving the windscreen & the wiper blades some TLC next, might go whole hog & put some new wiper blades on. LOL

While you have the bonnet and the panel above off take the big cover off that's in the centre behind the radiator and check the HVAC fan bearings, they dry out and get winey as they age. The motor and fans are freely available as they are a generic part.

Another thing to do while you are in there is to fit the third wiper on the passngers side, talk to Ian about the bits.

Ta, too late, it's all back together now. Taking another panel off is something I'll only do when I have to. Because of the way everything has been liberally sprayed with a thick black (& now hard) goop (more like a car yard refurb) - & the new white exterior 2 pack paint overlaps it, removing the wiper motor cover saw the new white paint come off in large chunks. I''ve resprayed it now with colour matched 2 pack aerosol, but because of the proximity to the HVAC cover to the edge, (the cover next to the wiper motor cover?) I'm certain the same thing will happen again.

Wipers are fractionally faster, biggest difference in the end was putting new wiper blade refills on. This after a major clean of the windscreen, even tried a clay bar (a first for me) .