I'll say it again, the amount of knowledge and information contained on this forum is astonishing.
90% of the work that I've done on my 100 over the years began with a search here first. Spend $20 and buy a star. If you're anything like me, you've saved thousands of dollars by using MUD as a resource for fixing, building and using your 100 series.
I have two 100s that see pretty regular use. My built 100 is a 2004 and has been an absolute dream for 10 years. I've hardly had any problems with it. My daily driver 100 is a 2003 and has had a few minor things always popping up. The latest was an issue with the wiper linkage. The ball from the wiper motor popped out of the socket on the linkage arm. I had a slight "clunk" sound from the wipers the day before they stopped working. Once they stopped, I could still hear the wiper motor running although the wipers were not wiping. I knew it must have been a broken or separated linkage.
A quick search on here gave me these two threads which have some great info.
forum.ih8mud.com
forum.ih8mud.com
After pulling everything apart, my failure was the bushing, same as DWinn on his 2003. I tried sourcing the bushing, but could't find one that worked. It's pressed in and Toyota does not sell just the bushing. You have to buy the entire linkage for almost $300! That seemed silly and I was determined to find another option. I tried a few things but ultimately the ball kept seperating from the arm. I did figure out that the bolts holding the linkage to the body below the windshield were loose and that's what likely caused the clunk I was hearing and what ultimately destroyed the plastic bushing that held the ball and arm together. They need to operate level, even and together or the metal ball will eventually eat the bushing, causing them to separate.
A while back I replaced the hood struts on this 100 with some that I found on Amazon. They were like $25 and I thought it was worth a try. They've worked great ever since. I'm always nervous replacing parts with non-Toyota, but when it comes to parts like this that are not essential to keeping my vehicle running far from home, I don't mind trying something different. I found the wiper linkage on Amazon for $59 from the same company that I purchased the hood struts from. And again, since this is my daily driver and this isn't a crucial part, I thought it was worth a shot. Here's the link. wiper linkage
I replaced the linkage yesterday with the Amazon version. There were a few things to note. Everything looked good and matched up well. I'm still trying to figure out why Toyota charges so much. I did notice right away that the new linkage looked like it did not have any grease in the sockets, so the first thing I did was rebuild the new linkage similar to what the post above explains. What I found was a tiny spot of grease inside the plastic bushing, but it was never going to actually touch the bushing. It probably would have fallen apart within a year from the metal ball wearing away the plastic.
No grease.
Grease.
After rebuilding and greasing all the connections, I installed the linkage only to find the metal tab used to hook onto the body allowing me to push the motor ball into the socket was too short and wouldn't catch the body. I pulled the linkage out and just bent the tab a little bit with a flat head screwdriver to allow it to catch the body. Put it all back in and it worked perfect. The ball popped right in. You can see the tab here. It's too close to the arm and wouldn't catch the body.
The wipers wipe smooth and quiet and I have an extra $240. I did spend another $10 from my local Toyota dealer by purchasing 10 new clips that hold the weather stripping to the body at the plastic cowling. Don't bother trying to salvage these with needle nose pliers. They're like .88 cents from Toyota and you're going to break half of them trying to fumble them out anyway. Save the headache and buy new ones so you can just grab the existing ones with pliers and break them out.
It probably took me 2.5 hours start to finish. That includes setup, linkage rebuild and clean up. Remember that I work slower than most so YMMV. ~~> I only wrote that last part so I could use "YMMV".
Check me out @bluecruiser @woody! I'm on here closing loops and FAQ'ing like it's 2011. The good ol' days when Chris and I would get banned for 24 hours for saying things that we now say on the CB at HIH. We're like two teenagers in full grown man bodies. Still doing it after all these years.
90% of the work that I've done on my 100 over the years began with a search here first. Spend $20 and buy a star. If you're anything like me, you've saved thousands of dollars by using MUD as a resource for fixing, building and using your 100 series.
I have two 100s that see pretty regular use. My built 100 is a 2004 and has been an absolute dream for 10 years. I've hardly had any problems with it. My daily driver 100 is a 2003 and has had a few minor things always popping up. The latest was an issue with the wiper linkage. The ball from the wiper motor popped out of the socket on the linkage arm. I had a slight "clunk" sound from the wipers the day before they stopped working. Once they stopped, I could still hear the wiper motor running although the wipers were not wiping. I knew it must have been a broken or separated linkage.
A quick search on here gave me these two threads which have some great info.
Wiper linkage bushing failure (2003/175k)
cant believe I'm about to say this, but at almost 175k miles, my hundy had her first failure. Wiper bushing that connects to the arm for the motor failed. Onur is looking into parts, but will be posting back up with the solution since there isn't much for it yet on here. Looks like it will...
forum.ih8mud.com
DIY - Windshield Wiper Linkage Tune Up
Hi all, my front wipers were sluggish and squeaky so I removed the linkage and tuned it up. Took me about 1.5 hours from start to finish. Tools & supplies needed: 10 & 12mm sockets Flat head screwdriver Needlenose pliers Waterproof grease. I used some Phil Wood bicycle grease I had in my...
forum.ih8mud.com
After pulling everything apart, my failure was the bushing, same as DWinn on his 2003. I tried sourcing the bushing, but could't find one that worked. It's pressed in and Toyota does not sell just the bushing. You have to buy the entire linkage for almost $300! That seemed silly and I was determined to find another option. I tried a few things but ultimately the ball kept seperating from the arm. I did figure out that the bolts holding the linkage to the body below the windshield were loose and that's what likely caused the clunk I was hearing and what ultimately destroyed the plastic bushing that held the ball and arm together. They need to operate level, even and together or the metal ball will eventually eat the bushing, causing them to separate.
A while back I replaced the hood struts on this 100 with some that I found on Amazon. They were like $25 and I thought it was worth a try. They've worked great ever since. I'm always nervous replacing parts with non-Toyota, but when it comes to parts like this that are not essential to keeping my vehicle running far from home, I don't mind trying something different. I found the wiper linkage on Amazon for $59 from the same company that I purchased the hood struts from. And again, since this is my daily driver and this isn't a crucial part, I thought it was worth a shot. Here's the link. wiper linkage
I replaced the linkage yesterday with the Amazon version. There were a few things to note. Everything looked good and matched up well. I'm still trying to figure out why Toyota charges so much. I did notice right away that the new linkage looked like it did not have any grease in the sockets, so the first thing I did was rebuild the new linkage similar to what the post above explains. What I found was a tiny spot of grease inside the plastic bushing, but it was never going to actually touch the bushing. It probably would have fallen apart within a year from the metal ball wearing away the plastic.
No grease.
Grease.
After rebuilding and greasing all the connections, I installed the linkage only to find the metal tab used to hook onto the body allowing me to push the motor ball into the socket was too short and wouldn't catch the body. I pulled the linkage out and just bent the tab a little bit with a flat head screwdriver to allow it to catch the body. Put it all back in and it worked perfect. The ball popped right in. You can see the tab here. It's too close to the arm and wouldn't catch the body.
The wipers wipe smooth and quiet and I have an extra $240. I did spend another $10 from my local Toyota dealer by purchasing 10 new clips that hold the weather stripping to the body at the plastic cowling. Don't bother trying to salvage these with needle nose pliers. They're like .88 cents from Toyota and you're going to break half of them trying to fumble them out anyway. Save the headache and buy new ones so you can just grab the existing ones with pliers and break them out.
It probably took me 2.5 hours start to finish. That includes setup, linkage rebuild and clean up. Remember that I work slower than most so YMMV. ~~> I only wrote that last part so I could use "YMMV".
Check me out @bluecruiser @woody! I'm on here closing loops and FAQ'ing like it's 2011. The good ol' days when Chris and I would get banned for 24 hours for saying things that we now say on the CB at HIH. We're like two teenagers in full grown man bodies. Still doing it after all these years.
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