I have a 1996 Camaro and I'm trying to replace the wiper arms for the post-facelift ones because I want to use good wiper blades. I've been trying to remove the arms for the past few days now with no luck. First, I tried just wiggling and pulling on them a ton but that didn't do anything. Then I bought the wiper arm tool from Advance and that didn't work because it doesn't fit far enough over the arm for the bolt to hit the stud. So then I put that on a mill and machined out about 1/8" to be able to fit it on further. That got the bold over the stud but as I was tightening it the tool was bending and ultimately cracked. I'm scared to try to pry them because I've read that people shatter their windshield. Has anyone went through this before? I'll try anything at this point, I already bought the new arms.

 

Anthony,

Yeah, I had that same problem. You will need another copy of your tool, though. I put as much crank on the tool as I though was valid (within the limits of the tool). Set the wrench aside. Then I got a portable propane torch, set a very small flame, and heated the outside of the wiper arm at the shaft. It took a fair amount of careful heating, but then it went POP! and I was in business. I did cut up a Pepsi can to make a cheap heat shield around the wiper shaft, to protect the car skin. Do not angle the torch flame down, tilt the flame upwards. HTH.
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Ok thanks I don't have a torch with me because I'm living at school but I'll be going home for break at the end of next week so I'll try then. One question though how did you get the tool to fit over the stud when you did this? Did you also modify it the way I did?

 

Might sound like a dumb question, but you are folding the arms off the windshield first so that they are not tensioned on the shafts right?

 

Anthony,

The tool that I bought from NAPA did fit, but not by much. It was vaguely similar to yours, but heavier. I seem to have hid it from myself for now, or else I would give you a Part Number for the tool. It's probably snowbound in my workshop/shed for now.
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No I'm not, but one of the other reasons I'm replacing the arms was because they have basically no spring tension and barely touch the windshield so I didn't think that would make much of a difference. Also I didn't think there was room to lift them when the hood is up to get to the nut but I'm realizing now that I never did actually try.

Ok thanks for the info I'll have to check there next.

 

You can get an ordinary propane torch cylinder at any hardware store or Walmart cheap but you will also need the nozzle and lighter (or match).

 

Yeah I know I just don't want to buy one because I know I already have one at home and it's not a huge deal to wait a week.

 

Hit them with PB Blaster, then use this. I ended up breaking the bar (kind of cheap), then grinding the top to the threads so I could jam 2 nuts together. I have been successful with 4 arms using this tool (the two on my car, and two off a junker).

 

And that fits in the tiny amount of space under the hood on the driver side?

 

No, you will need to remove the hood to get it to fit. While a bit of a pain, it’s only 4 bolts and a second set of hands.

 

I've never actually tried to remove the wiper arms from my Camaro but I know on any other car where I have, the arms do not want to come off while they are tensioned on the splined shafts of the wiper motor linkage. Springing the arms up off the windshield usually makes a big difference.

 

When I originally rebuilt the engine in '04, I was able to get them off without much effort, but 16 years later (car garaged almost the entire time), even with the tool it was effort. With how much force had to be applied with the tool, there was a negative percentage that I would have been able to do it without.

 

Alright so I know this is way late but everything got a bit crazy with the whole coronavirus situation and I haven't had time to work on my car. Long story short I finally got them off and replaced them today, so thank you all for the help! I got the tool that Drew recommended and I had my dad help me with the hood which was way easier than I expected. Excited to be able to see in the rain finally with my new LS style wipers and good blades! IMO they look way cleaner too.

 

Awesome stuff, and thanks for letting us know how it went. I know it’s only windshield wipers, but you should post some pics of your handy work