# Refurbishing wiper blade arms



## Dasco777 (Sep 16, 2009)

Not sure if this is the correct Forum to ask this question, but here goes:

The wiper blade arms are discoloured and I’d like to return them to the original colour of black. What product would be best for this? The vehicle is a 1999 BMW. Thanks.


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## 123quackers (Jan 29, 2009)

Dasco777 said:


> Not sure if this is the correct Forum to ask this question, but here goes:
> 
> The wiper blade arms are discoloured and I'd like to return them to the original colour of black. What product would be best for this? The vehicle is a 1999 BMW. Thanks.


I normally take them off sand them down with some fine scotch brite pad and hang them up, 2 coats of satin black job done:thumb:


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## Dasco777 (Sep 16, 2009)

The problem is that the arms have been on for a million years, and the chance of removing them would be fairly slim.


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## 123quackers (Jan 29, 2009)

Dasco777 said:


> The problem is that the arms have been on for a million years, and the chance of removing them would be fairly slim.


Just pull the cover panel to show the nut, normally 13mm remove then lift the arm up give it a wggle and it will just come off.. its that simple take you less than 5 mins aside.. :thumb:


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## steve from wath (Dec 12, 2008)

if they are stuck 
try a little wd40
you can also get a little windscreen wiper puller
think draper make them

Draper 71462 WIPER ARM PULLER: Amazon.co.uk: DIY & Tools


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## johnnyguitar (Mar 24, 2010)

Might even be worth just buying some new ones - ok, they're not going to be the cheapest thing in the world, but around 20 - 30 quid each and not much if you want them to look 100%


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## VIPER (May 30, 2007)

123quackers said:


> Just pull the cover panel to show the nut, normally 13mm remove then lift the arm up give it a wggle and it will just come off.. its that simple take you less than 5 mins aside.. :thumb:


As above ^^ :thumb: I think you'll be surprised and they should come off with a bit of 'encouragement' and some penetrating oil. Just be aware that most sit on a finely splined shaft, so don't be too vigorous with the wiggling as you don't want to round off the splines, so try to pull rather than twist around.

Having said that, one of my neighbours tried to get his off a Ford Galaxy the other week, couldn't and ended up having to buy one of those pullers as in the link in the post above. I don't know if it worked though.


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## PWOOD (Apr 30, 2007)

Is the paint peeling? If not then try heating the wiper arm up with a hair dryer (heat gun is the usual suggestion but I dont think the rubbers will cope) and applying some Autoglym bumper care and letting it soak in overnight repeat as necessary. See how that looks.


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## blackcossiestu (Jul 28, 2010)

Ive had the wiper arms on a couple cars shot blasted and then powder coated satin black....look brand new and wont chip as easy as paint 

I got a bit carried away with my local powder coaters though...they weren't too impressed when I insisted that all the little brackets and clips for my mud flaps needed to be blasted then done black....thats alot of fiddly work for a place that normally does train components :lol:


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## Karmann (Apr 5, 2010)

I,ve used Plasticote satin black with good results , take off wiper arms use some 1200 wet n dry and sand away any loose bits lumps ect, if you go down to bare metal use a coat of primer firsrt. I hung them on washing line on a nice warm dry morning, dry to touch within the hour and re fitted them a few hours later.B n Q sell the spray as do Range.


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## *Das* (Aug 9, 2010)

Dasco777 said:


> The problem is that the arms have been on for a million years, and the chance of removing them would be fairly slim.


If memory serves me correct, and maybe someone can confirm or deny, but I think most wiper arms are on tapered splines, so are pretty easy to remove. Hence the reason that sometimes wipers stop working because the nut has come loose and the arm has moved up the spline.

Id recommend a small squirt of WD 40 and the wiggle method too.


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## robj20 (Jan 20, 2009)

Proper penetrating oil will work better than WD40, iv just recently done mine of a 1987 ford and they came off with ease after leaving the oil on for a few hours.


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