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A Cheap Repair for the Windshield Wiper Pivot Seal.

Take a look under the windshield wiper arm where it is attached to the pivot shaft.  There is supposed to be a small plastic nut that seals the shaft against the intrusion of water and dirt.  If your seal is still present chances are that it is cracked or that the seal is worn out. Replacements are almost impossible to obtain and the complete pivot shaft assembly costs about $30

What I did to replace the seal was to order some sample COF-3/8 plastic pipe caps from www.caplugs.com.  These caps are not threaded and are intended to simply pushed on to the end of a tube or rod. They sent me four caps within a few days.  On the closed end of the plastic cap I precisely located the center using the centering device on my machinist's square, and made a small indentation with an awl (a sharp center punch would also work).  Slide the caplug on to the end of short length of 3/8" wooden dowel and clamp in vise. I then drilled a 15/64" hole through the closed end of the cap.  A brad point wood drill works best.  It is important that the hole is precisely centered.  Remove the drilled caplug from the dowel rod.

I then filled the cap with some synthetic grease, pushed it on the pivot shaft so the wiper shaft protruded through the drilled hole, wiped off the excess grease, and replaced the wiper arm.

Done.  About ten minutes total time, zero cost.

Contributed by Jay Reich