My wipers have just given out, looked at the mechanism and saw that the ball and socket joint have failed, anyone know where i can get a replacement? (not mazda!!)

Nick

Try a scrap yard mate

My wipers have failed today. I know it's not the fuse because I can hear a noise when I try and turn them on.

I fear it could be the motors.

I bet I know what you did this morning .... tut tut tut ... My ex girlfirend did this to her F - the thread on the join between the mechanism and wiper arm will be shot - usually happens when you try to move the wipers when it is frozen and they stay where they are...

Best bet is scrappy, from memory Mazda was bloody expensive :P

Cheers for the reply Dan, but they were working fine for about 20 mins and then just stopped, out of the blue.
I hope it doesn't rain later

I don't know if anyone has had a look at the front wiper mechanism (under the plastic trim - bottom of windscreen) before, but there is an arm coming from the wiper motor and the arm consists of two bars that are connected via a ball joint (enabling the bars to swivel back and forth).

And in my case this joint had disconnected and rendered my wipers useless. Does anyone have any info on these parts? like advice or part numbers?

Yeah Adam, scrappy will be your best bet mate...My last car,a pegueot 205gti had the same problem...the motor had seized ...i got a motor for £5 which took about 30 mins to fit....a electrical block to disconnect and pop the ball joint out.Then fit your motor and balljoint and replace your trim.I dare say it will cost a fortune from mazda......Best of luck

[color=blue]Adam, have a look at this thread, and hopefully it'll help with where everything is and what they look like, if there's a bit on here that you're after tell me the number and I can give you a price on how much it'll be from Mazda, just make sure you're sitting down if you do ask a price!! [/color]

[color=violet][url]http://www.club323f.com/club323f/forum/viewtopic.php4?t=2299[/url][/color]

Wow thanks, Steve! i searched but I must have missed that post....

I beleive it is part number 76-657 that I need

I suppose you can only get these from a mazda dealer or a scrapyard? I don't have any scrappies near me with 323's in them so I gotta get a new one really.

I would be very grateful if you could give me a price! My mechanic is already guessing in the region of £80! Just for the little ball joint thingy...

Thanks for your help :P

no harm in trying a motorfactors, is there?

Arty

I'm afraid you might find that the wiper parts are sold as a unit by Mazda - that's how they make their money - make a big complicated expensive assembly with one weak and feeble part that's guaranteed to break. Then you haqve to buy the whole assembly. That's why it's often better to get stuff like that from a scrappy.

[color=blue]Its 12.14am, been round round a friends who has beer and wine, my apologies for grammer and spelling!!
Had a look and its not bad news, well, not that bad, the part you require (76-657) is according to Mazda is part number[/color]

[color=darkblue]B01A-67-363 SHAFT, DRIVE NUMBER 1 @ £25.81, £30.81 including VAT.....[/color]

[color=blue]I maybe half cut, but I assure you I have triple checked the part number and price, this by the way is for my car (1998 ZXi) but the title is for a '96 on 323, though I can't imagine the wipers changing much over the lifespan of the car!! Sorry I can't give you a step by step guide on how to shenge it, but I am working on it!![/color]

Wow thanks Robbie I hope they are easy to change. I'll have to recheck that I have given you the right part number as my garage quoted me around £66!!!

[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v687/Steve_Zodiac/wiper-arm.jpg[/img]
Looking at this pic again, it seems I need to order the whole arm again as it's the ball joint that I need and this (like a ball joint in your shoulder) is made up of two seperate parts and they are attatched to the two arms

That explains why the high cost...

Best get saving