Hi. New to the forum and need a bit of help. I have a 1997 C280 and the single wiper has been slowing down when it gets cold (I live in the Great White North). Would someone be able to point me to instructions on how to re and re the assembly so I can take it out to have a look?
Thanks for any help offered.
Cheers, Scott

 

When I first looked at mine, I was thinking American, make it as difficult as possible to remove, but I found it not too hard (Germans are helluva engineers), if it's like my C230, it all comes out from the cowl, remove the air grill, then the plastic cover underneath, then three bolts or nuts holding the motor on. The electrical plug is underneath the black box next to the fuse box, just remove that cover, and unplug. Be forewarned though, you can get a new wiper motor at most auto parts places for around $125, through Mercedes though it's $400. Mine is a 98, but apparently built at about the time they switched production to the 99's. The 99-up have a different plug on the harness, which my luck would have it the auto parts stores could not get from their vendors. PS, I held off the enevitable for two years by squirting white lithium grease on the pivot points.

 

I just had this problem on a 99 C230K. In my case it was not the wiper motor, but was just a lubrication problem on the wiper mechanism. Many others on the various benz forums have also fixed their hesitating wiper with just lubrication. All I did was smear around the existing lubrication grease, which had been pushed out of the way by the mechanism. See the following site (not mine) for pictures and further explanation:

http://202tech.mkosonen.com/howto/wiper.html

Note: On step 3, I was unable to get the plastic cover off with my fingers, so I located the two little tabs using a small mirror to look underneath it, and then used a curved piece of metal that could reach under there and pull up and outward on the plastic cover to pop it off. In my case I used an "old style" can opener (you know, the type that punches a triangular hole in the top of a can) -- this pointed tool was perfect. Another thing, pay attention to the angle of the wiper in the procedure, as this is important as I recall. Also, when you are taking off the first (smaller) cover, it is important to slide it downward to get it off. Otherwise you could break it. You'll see why after you get it off.

Try this lubrication fix first before you go after the motor. It'll take only a few minutes and may be all you need!