What have I done to deserve this hell? Everytime I drive my 94 850 I ask myself that. Over the past two years I have revisited the problem multiple times. Does anybody have any other ideas about how to fix this? It is unsafe (because the driver doesn't operatate the wipers properly due to noise advoidance) and quite frankly I am ready to sell a perfectly good 850 just because the problem is that bad.

Background:
The driver side wiper blade chatters across the windshield and leaves approximatley twenty lines in its arc. It is loud. I mean really loud. It does it on intermitent and low settings at all times (unless there is a downpour - ie. when you shouldn't be using intermt or low anyway). Even when there is a considerable amount of water on the w/s, it still does it. It does not do it on high (unless the w/s gets wiped very dry). The passengers side has never, not once, never, made any sort of noise, no matter what wiper blade was on it.

Things I have tried:

I tried all these things over the past two years and it produced zero, or almost zero, change in the above senario. Meaning, no matter what I do, i get the same chatter on the drivers side and no-chatter on the passengers side. Here they are:

1) Cleaned the blades many times
2) Purchased three different sets of blades (a bosh micro, a teflon coated something or other, and some other brand, too).
3) Switched the blades (drivers and passengers)
AND REPEATED 1-3 multiple times.
4) Done the Bay 13, bend the arm, protocol.
5) Bought a brand new arm for it
6) Tried cleaning the W/S with alcohol and windex
7) Put Rain-X on the W/S.

And this has never made one bit of change. Clearly, there is something that I did wrong or that is a factor in this system that I am unaware of.

Ideas?

Hi Cruiser,

Appologies for the error in my earlier reply.
I have experienced this problem on a variety of cars and fixed it without replacing the arm, the cause is that the blade is not perpendicular to the glass and digs in as it sweeps over the windshild.
If you turn off the ignition when the blade is at the top of the arc (vertical), lift the blade off the glass, then set it back down again you should be able to see which way the blade is leaning and which way you need to twist the arm to set the blade at 90 degrees to the glass.
If it is noisy from park to vertical then you need to twist the arm clockwise when viewed from the blade tip and anticlockwise if the noise is from vertical to park.
New arms require to be adjusted in this way after fitting to ensure smooth operation.

Best regards,

Rod.

Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!!!!

Yesterday I drove 6 hours in the rain and didn't hear wiper blade chatter one time! Not once!

The answer in my case wast to twist the blade as Rod described. This was the "eye-ball" method and worked. Another person posted the more accurate, technical fix, which I would have resorted to if necessary. I am glad that it wasn't a problem with the wiper motor needing removed and shimmed. Although future visitors to that thread may find help there too.

Silence is Golden. I love my 850 again! Thanks to all who responded.

Volvo came out with a service bulletin several years ago on this topic. They want the wiper top side to be at an 86 degree angle to the windshield in the parked blade position. Lacking the special volvo guage, you can make one by starting with a square of thin cardboard (cereal box kind of stuff) and cutting 4 degrees off one edge so you have an 86 degree corner. Measure your blade angle by placing the guage between the side of the blade holder and the windshield, with the guage perpendicular to the windshield and the blade. Bend the arm to get the angle right. A 4 degree angle is 0.7x rise in 10x distance, or 23/32 inches in 10 inches, or 0.7cm in 10cm. Althugh I found the blade holder side easier to see, you may also remove the blade assy and measure against the side of the U shaped clip on the arm's end.

Hi Cruiserparts,
I have experienced this problem on a variety of cars and fixed it without replacing the arm, the cause is that the blade is not perpendicular to the glass and digs in as it sweeps over the windshild.
If you turn off the ignition when the blade is at the top of the arc (vertical), lift the blade off the glass, then set it back down again you should be able to see which way the blade is leaning and which way you need to twist the arm to set the blade at 90 degrees to the glass.
If it is noisy from park to vertical then you need to twist the arm anticlockwise when viewed from the blade tip and anticlockwise if the noise is from vertical to park.
New arms require to be adjusted in this way after fitting to ensure smooth operation.

Best regards,

Rod.

Is the wiper arm loose on the post? Does the blade always travel the same path and always park at the same place every time when you turn the wipers off? Also if you take the arm off the post, is there some play in the post - that is, is the bushing worn? On my 850 the driver's side arm got loose repeatedly and sometimes made noise. I shimmed between the arm and the post with a little piece of waterproof aluminum oxide paper, the kind you use for wet sanding. On a previous car I had erratic wiping because the bushing in the wiper drive wore eccentrically. Cure was to replace the wiper drive (keeping the motor) $$$.

Hi,

I was also thinking along those lines...

The wiper arm nut is definately secure.
The blade travels a similar path and parks without variation.

I can check for slop in the drive pivot.

I'm not sure what you mean by shimming the arm. Is this for a loose arm or worn pivot?

Is the wiper drive easy to access? Was the $$$ in labor or part? Is it possible to just replace the bushings in the pivot/motor?

Thanks

I meant shimming to keep the arm in place on the knurl at the end of the shaft under the attachment nut - in case the inner surface of the arm or the knurl on the shaft was worn or both. This would not help if the drive bushing was bad.

You can remove the black plastic scuttle under the wipers after you remove the 2 arms. There are 4 or 5 screws. You would lift this just at the passenger end to replace the pollen filter if you have one. The whole thing lifts off and gives you ready access to the wiper motor and drive. 2 or 3 screws and a locating pin allow you to slide the entire wiper system out after disconnecting one connector. I don't know which parts if any are available as replacements. The wiper assembly, not the labor, is expensive.

Under the scuttle is a resistor which I suspect is for the 2 speed wipers. There are also a couple of other sensors there (at least on my car). I did not disturb them in case they had to do with the airbags or pretensioners. I have not seen them described anywhere.