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hey gents,

bit of a time critical thing im doing, long story short i am wanting to remove the cowl grille (black panel that sits under the wiper arms), & to get to it, i need to remove the wipers. i have taken the little cap off of where the nuts sit, removed accordingly, now as im trying to pull off the arms - they are not budging & i am using a fair bit of force + wriggling them about. also tried some wd40 & let it sit for a while, tried again to no avail. ive checked the FSM & im doing everything correctly.

is there a trick to removing these/have i missed something here/any tips?

cheers,
Jas.

Nope, thats how its done.

NitroDann wrote:Nope, thats how its done.

yeh shiza.. so maybe im a bit of a weakling.. ?!

Are you lifting the arms off the windscreen to the extended postion?

I usually find that you have to push down on the bottom of the wiper where the nut goes, to level it, so that you can pull it off straight to the sprocket. Sounds strange - push to pull - but that's how I do it ...

As per Kev's suggestion, but leave the nuts on a couple of turns so that it doesn't all hit you in the face when it lets go! the issue is with corrosion caused by dissimilar metals and sometimes a squirt of WD-40 and two beers may solve the problem. If all else fails, you could use a pully remover, but make sure that the nuts are loosened but left in place.
Greg.

Thanks gents .. Makes sense. Will give it a crack tomorrow.

Kuncha wrote:Are you lifting the arms off the windscreen to the extended postion?

This, as the tension in the spring (that pushes the wiper arm onto the screen) is considerable.

KevGoat wrote:I usually find that you have to push down on the bottom of the wiper where the nut goes, to level it, so that you can pull it off straight to the sprocket. Sounds strange - push to pull - but that's how I do it ...

Seriously?

Kuncha wrote:Are you lifting the arms off the windscreen to the extended postion?

This is the solution, as the tension in the spring (that pushes the wiper arm onto the screen and thus pushing against the mounting bolt) is considerable, so once you release this tension by pulling the wiper arm up, it should pop right off with minimal effort.
Kevgoat's "push it down to level it" is a ridiculous way of relieving this tension.

Some simple lateral thinking doesn't go astray.... Occam's Razor and all that... plus I doubt it's even considered a "tip or trick" as I'm sure any instructions will tell you to do it this way.

Okay wiper arms removed - all good. I think cause they haven't been removed for some time corrosion etc builds up on the seat area.

Now I'm stuck trying to get those damned small plastic covers off the panel.. What's the best way to do it.. Tried a small flat head screw driver.. But that will damage the plastic. Now onto a plastic card/ laminated paper sheet.. But still no luck, they are fixed pretty tight.. Any suggestions ?

Something so simple is becoming a pain in the ass.

Yes they can be a pain - one of mine even flew into the garden once & was MIA for a while, but try a very fine screw driver (like the so called jeweler's SD) although it's sometimes difficult not to leave a mark on the edge of the plastic.

Bust the covers off... it saves the risk of damaging the cowl its self and they are relatively cheap to replace.
I drill a small hole through the center of the cap then use a screw driver to pop them out. Once they get a couple of years on them that plastic looses its flex and becomes like concrete.

I know MX5 plus carry them in stock so I am guessing Mania down your way would too.
Or you can order them from www.amayama.com
NA01-50-797A Cowl Grille Large Screw Cover
B455-50-796A Cowl Grille Small Screw Cover


Luke.

Rolley wrote:Bust the covers off... it saves the risk of damaging the cowl its self and they are relatively cheap to replace.
I drill a small hole through the center of the cap then use a screw driver to pop them out. Once they get a couple of years on them that plastic looses its flex and becomes like concrete.

I know MX5 plus carry them in stock so I am guessing Mania down your way would too.
Or you can order them from http://www.amayama.com
NA01-50-797A Cowl Grille Large Screw Cover
B455-50-796A Cowl Grille Small Screw Cover


Luke.

thanks for the info dude. i actually made the decision to not remove it, due to the difficulty in getting these out.. i got one of them out without damaging (took me 30 mins!), but then i thought - its just too risky. there is no tool to cater for them to pop out, they way mazda has designed this is stupid (i recall my s15 having little indents so you can access the areas in order to pop them out with no hassle) + it's inevitable not to damage the panel. i might take your advice the next time i decide to give it a refresh. the whole point of the exercise was to give it a new coat of paint, instead i restored it using maguires plastic restorer.. 2 coats & bobs your uncle.