Danman1
Thorough noob
Afternoon,
My scuttle panel (the panel at the bottom of the front window screen) wasn't sitting flush against the glass, so I thought I'd remove it and take a few pictures as I went. I know it's a relativity easy job but sometimes it's just nice to have a look at what a job may entail. Took about an hour.
Start by removing the black plastic caps on the wipers, they easily come off with a flat bladed screw driver, to reveal the 13mm nut. Also remove the long black rubber seal along the scuttle panel that seals it on the underneath of the bonnet.
The wipers are on a tapered spindle and can be a pain to simple pull off once the nut is removed, mine wouldn't budge even after soaking in DW40. I used a special tool which I cant remember what it's called but they are cheap and available at Halfords. This essentially slowly pulls it off the spindle.
After both nuts and off and both wipers removed it's time to pull the scuttle panel from it's clips. The Scuttle panel fits well and has a grove which fits in at the bottom of the window screen, right across. If you put your fingers in the middle of the screen and work there way under the panel you will fell it 'pop' out of the grove.
with the scuttle panel now loose it's time to slightly bend it to get it out of the corners. I did one corner at a time, and don't forget that the heated washer nozzles are connected to the underneath of the scuttle panel. There is enough room to loosen the scuttle panel and rotate it 90 degrees on the spot, like below. This gives you access to wiper assemblage/pollen filter etc.
Give the insides a god clean, remove leaves etc. I also replaced my pollen filter while I was here. I also found why my scuttle panel wasn't sitting flush. The grove which the panel fits into had come away from the bottom of the screen, which you can see below. It was also full of dirt meaning it didn't sit well.
Cleaned and re-seated back on the bottom of the screen.
Clean the whole length of the grove with a tooth brush, getting it as clean as possible so the lip fits back into the grove.
Then I cleaned the under side of the scuttle panel, sorry I know it's not the best picture. But that long lip on the underneath of the panel is what sits in the grove I just cleaned, any dirt and it wont sit right meaning it wont sit flush on the window screen.
After everything is cleaned it's just the reverse of how you take it off. Make sure no leaves etc are blocking the drainage channels and look for rust. I applied waxoyl to as much as I could to prevent any rusting. Slide the corners in one at a time, bending in the middle to help with this. Make sure all the rubber bits are where they should be, then when it's in place start at one end and push the lip back in to the grove, moving across the panel.
This process worked for me, my scuttle panel now fits better than it did.
***NOTE*** When putting the wipers back on DO NOT over tighten the nut holding them on. Its a spindle so only needs 'nipping up'. Over tightening will result in the wiper arm cracking!!!!
Dan
My scuttle panel (the panel at the bottom of the front window screen) wasn't sitting flush against the glass, so I thought I'd remove it and take a few pictures as I went. I know it's a relativity easy job but sometimes it's just nice to have a look at what a job may entail. Took about an hour.
Start by removing the black plastic caps on the wipers, they easily come off with a flat bladed screw driver, to reveal the 13mm nut. Also remove the long black rubber seal along the scuttle panel that seals it on the underneath of the bonnet.
The wipers are on a tapered spindle and can be a pain to simple pull off once the nut is removed, mine wouldn't budge even after soaking in DW40. I used a special tool which I cant remember what it's called but they are cheap and available at Halfords. This essentially slowly pulls it off the spindle.
After both nuts and off and both wipers removed it's time to pull the scuttle panel from it's clips. The Scuttle panel fits well and has a grove which fits in at the bottom of the window screen, right across. If you put your fingers in the middle of the screen and work there way under the panel you will fell it 'pop' out of the grove.
with the scuttle panel now loose it's time to slightly bend it to get it out of the corners. I did one corner at a time, and don't forget that the heated washer nozzles are connected to the underneath of the scuttle panel. There is enough room to loosen the scuttle panel and rotate it 90 degrees on the spot, like below. This gives you access to wiper assemblage/pollen filter etc.
Give the insides a god clean, remove leaves etc. I also replaced my pollen filter while I was here. I also found why my scuttle panel wasn't sitting flush. The grove which the panel fits into had come away from the bottom of the screen, which you can see below. It was also full of dirt meaning it didn't sit well.
Cleaned and re-seated back on the bottom of the screen.
Clean the whole length of the grove with a tooth brush, getting it as clean as possible so the lip fits back into the grove.
Then I cleaned the under side of the scuttle panel, sorry I know it's not the best picture. But that long lip on the underneath of the panel is what sits in the grove I just cleaned, any dirt and it wont sit right meaning it wont sit flush on the window screen.
After everything is cleaned it's just the reverse of how you take it off. Make sure no leaves etc are blocking the drainage channels and look for rust. I applied waxoyl to as much as I could to prevent any rusting. Slide the corners in one at a time, bending in the middle to help with this. Make sure all the rubber bits are where they should be, then when it's in place start at one end and push the lip back in to the grove, moving across the panel.
This process worked for me, my scuttle panel now fits better than it did.
***NOTE*** When putting the wipers back on DO NOT over tighten the nut holding them on. Its a spindle so only needs 'nipping up'. Over tightening will result in the wiper arm cracking!!!!
Dan
