There are guides for a RHD B5 and a LHD B6 so I thought I'd throw together a few words for the RHD B6.
The slow wiper problem seems to be fairly widespread in the A4's, and is caused by the spindles slowly seizing tight in the sleeves of the mounting mechanism. The mechanism can be replaced for �70 ish or stripped down and regreased within a couple of hours.
You need some emery cloth or similar, and I used Coppaslip grease to regrease them. Apologies for the picture quality, I just grabbed shots as I went.
It would probably be sensible to disconnect the battery while you do this.
First off I marked where the wipers sat on the screen with some tape, to ensure they went back in the same place.
A little pick or something to remove the end caps on the wiper arms.
A 17mm socket to remove the mounting nut.
Getting the arms off can be tricky, don't twist them on the spindle as you may damage the splines. Wiggle them from 12 to 6 O'clock and they 'should' come off. If they're really on there then a tool like this will be required for about �10.
Once they're both off you're left with this: If you've got a battery cover fitted then you'll need to remove that. Start by pulling the rubber seal off;
The whole tray can then be removed:
The plastic scuttle cover at the base of the screen needs to come off next, there are three clips as shown below (ALL mine were missing
) Getting this off is pretty difficult, and I broke mine. When I get a replacement I will update with the part number as it's only about �15. It sits in a small few mm deep groove in the base of the screen, and mine had 7 years of crud holding it in place. Some users have had good results using warm soapy water first to help remove the cover.
Offside.
Centre.
Nearside.
This is mine coming out:
And the broken bit left behind, you can see where it has broken off leaving part of it in the channel.
Next step is then to remove the ECU cover, requires a torx driver.
The ECU clips out and can be folded out the way.
By now you should be able to clearly see the three 10mm bolts holding the whole mechanism in, remove all three.
The mechanism will now be loose, but trapped in. The base of the ECU box can be undone and shifted out the way enough to allow you to twist the mechanism out. Getting this out took me a few minutes, and you might find more flexibility by popping off a couple of the knuckles in the mechanism with a prybar. My hands were a bit grubby by this point so I've not really got any good photo's - but it's fairly self explanatory.
Once the mechanism is out you need to disconnect the motor. The plug has a catch on the underside which needs to be slid in the direction of the arrow to release it.
Once the mechanism is out you're here:
The passenger side wasn't too stiff on mine, but I had a job to move the drivers side. I've heard of some people needing heat to fee them off, so I guess I was lucky ..... There's a C clip to remove and a few washers and an O ring - make a note of the order they came off in.
I wound the nut right one and put the socket on to knock it through.
These are the parts to keep an eye on:
And this is the spindle, mine didn't look too bad compared to some I've seen.
Using the emery cloth I cleaned up the spindle, and also the inside of the sleeve:
Once this is properly done I lubricated it all plentifully with Coppaslip and reassembled:
As all good Haynes manuals say "Refit is the reverse of removal":
My wipers have never been so quick! In all it took me about three hours, but I was faffing about taking pictures, and also gave under the scuttle area a very good clean as I was spraying WD40 in there in copious amounts over the last 6 months in an attempt to keep the wipers moving!
The slow wiper problem seems to be fairly widespread in the A4's, and is caused by the spindles slowly seizing tight in the sleeves of the mounting mechanism. The mechanism can be replaced for �70 ish or stripped down and regreased within a couple of hours.
You need some emery cloth or similar, and I used Coppaslip grease to regrease them. Apologies for the picture quality, I just grabbed shots as I went.
It would probably be sensible to disconnect the battery while you do this.
First off I marked where the wipers sat on the screen with some tape, to ensure they went back in the same place.
A little pick or something to remove the end caps on the wiper arms.
A 17mm socket to remove the mounting nut.
Getting the arms off can be tricky, don't twist them on the spindle as you may damage the splines. Wiggle them from 12 to 6 O'clock and they 'should' come off. If they're really on there then a tool like this will be required for about �10.
Once they're both off you're left with this: If you've got a battery cover fitted then you'll need to remove that. Start by pulling the rubber seal off;
The whole tray can then be removed:
The plastic scuttle cover at the base of the screen needs to come off next, there are three clips as shown below (ALL mine were missing
) Getting this off is pretty difficult, and I broke mine. When I get a replacement I will update with the part number as it's only about �15. It sits in a small few mm deep groove in the base of the screen, and mine had 7 years of crud holding it in place. Some users have had good results using warm soapy water first to help remove the cover.Offside.
Centre.
Nearside.
This is mine coming out:
And the broken bit left behind, you can see where it has broken off leaving part of it in the channel.
Next step is then to remove the ECU cover, requires a torx driver.
The ECU clips out and can be folded out the way.
By now you should be able to clearly see the three 10mm bolts holding the whole mechanism in, remove all three.
The mechanism will now be loose, but trapped in. The base of the ECU box can be undone and shifted out the way enough to allow you to twist the mechanism out. Getting this out took me a few minutes, and you might find more flexibility by popping off a couple of the knuckles in the mechanism with a prybar. My hands were a bit grubby by this point so I've not really got any good photo's - but it's fairly self explanatory.
Once the mechanism is out you need to disconnect the motor. The plug has a catch on the underside which needs to be slid in the direction of the arrow to release it.
Once the mechanism is out you're here:
The passenger side wasn't too stiff on mine, but I had a job to move the drivers side. I've heard of some people needing heat to fee them off, so I guess I was lucky ..... There's a C clip to remove and a few washers and an O ring - make a note of the order they came off in.
I wound the nut right one and put the socket on to knock it through.
These are the parts to keep an eye on:
And this is the spindle, mine didn't look too bad compared to some I've seen.
Using the emery cloth I cleaned up the spindle, and also the inside of the sleeve:
Once this is properly done I lubricated it all plentifully with Coppaslip and reassembled:
As all good Haynes manuals say "Refit is the reverse of removal":
My wipers have never been so quick! In all it took me about three hours, but I was faffing about taking pictures, and also gave under the scuttle area a very good clean as I was spraying WD40 in there in copious amounts over the last 6 months in an attempt to keep the wipers moving!
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