Wash/wipe stalk.

[jgbff7]

I checked through the car ready for the MOT only to find the wipers were not working. The washer worked but not the wiper, which was odd as the power supply is common to both.

Toby has a video about removing the stalk. It is a 5 minute job. The shroud comes off and the stalk just unclips.

A new one is available for £22 plus vat and carriage. But I wondered if the removed one could be repaired.

Yes it can. The electrical part at the end of the stalk is in two halves and can be levered apart easily. Inside I found enough verdigris to prevent any connections being made. Contact cleaner and wire wool cleaned the whole assembly and it just snapped together.

Refitting the shroud is a real pain, but at least the stalk now works properly.

[dapinky]

You beat me to it......

..... removing the shroud and the stalk, cleaning the contacts and replacing it is certainly a quick job.

Until.....

..... you try to re-attach the cowl halves!

One of those jobs that may work first time, or may take half a day - you just never know!

[jgbff7]

Yes, half a day for me.

Three of the fixings are M4 set screws and screw into tapped holes in vertical retainers. I put M4 studs into those tapped holes so they would pass through the lower shroud and be held with nuts. Longer M4 set screws with their heads cut off would do.

The problem was getting the three new studs to line up with the holes in the shroud. I overcame this problem by putting a piece of thread on each stud and passing the thread through the holes in the shroud. Thus was alignment guaranteed. Three pieces of vacuum tube would do the same job.The remaining self tappers were not a problem.

[Tuga2112]

im surprised by the mention of refitting the shroud, i find aligning it is a bit odd, but wouldnt have thought it was that time consuming ? maybe mine is just in better condition then others ?

[dapinky]

I think you are either just lucky, or I am unlucky, Joao.

Getting one screw lined up is easy, getting the second isn't.... maybe the bracket is twisted, maybe it's a bit loose etc etc. I find that using a long thin metal stick (screwdriver blade?) to help line them up makes it a bit better, but still not easy - and then, just like magic, it all falls into place and goes well..... just a lottery as to how long ot takes to get there!

[Hector2021]

I did a similar job a couple of months back where i needed to remove the stalk unit. Getting that off was the bigger task of the two and it cost me one of the sprung plastic retaining clips. Fortunately its held totally secure with just one remaining clip. Getting the two halves of the shroud back together was nothing more than a little fiddly for me. Certainly a whole lot easier and quicker than replacing the tiny Boost gauge retaining clamp nut was!