After a snowfall, the windshield wipers would not park, stood straight up and obstructed my view. I called buick and was told to take it to my dealership and it would be repaired. When I picked up the car, they told me that the previous year's model had been recalled for this problem. They would not repair the wipers. I have been told by two mechanics that my car has the exact issue as the previous model. I find that this is a danger to myself, my children and other drivers/passengers and feel that it should be on the recall list.
1998 Buick Century: windshield wiper failure
7 of the 217 complaints about the 1998 Buick Century describe windshield wiper failure.
- owner complaints
- 7
- of this car's complaints
- 3%
- recalls
- 0
Is there a fix? 14 service bulletins cover this area of the car. See below
Windshield wiper failure by model year
What owners say
Windshield wipers are not functioning properly. My left wiper bangs a few inches up then smacks back down. This is not snow related because I've learner to cover all aspects of the wipers and windshield because of my first time waiting for snow to melt. This has been ongoing since I acquired the car from my grandmother in dec. 2008. She purchased the car, but is too old too keep up with recalls and such. I see there are many other complaints and I was almost in a crash with my children due to a sudden rain shower causing the visibility to be awful.
Consumer states that while driving and no warning the windshield wiper will work intermittently and it will hard for the consumer to see during rainy weather. Dealer notified. Mr
In sudden downpour (approaching tornado) outside of nashville this a.m. Visibility was severly reduced with wipers on lower setting. When wipers turned to high to increase visibility wipers locked and stripped, forcing driver to pull off the interstate and wait for the rain to stop. This is the second time this has happened. The first incident was in march 2001 - right after purchasing the used vehicle. We encountered heavy rain at interstate speed of approximately 55 MPH. The wipers locked together and the mechanism stripped the right wiper so that it would no longer function. Upon resuming driving with just the left wiper, the left wiper then proceeded to go off the windshield entirely and driver had to pull off the on the side to tighten bolt. The primary driver of this vehicle remembered the first incident and never uses the higher wiper settings so has not incurred any further problems. The auxiliary driver, myself, had forgotten that this was a problem. Not being able to use the highest setting makes for dangerous visibility in heavy rain though and the design of the wiper operation should be investigated as even being able to safely pull off the interstate is severely hampered.
At 7:00 pm (dark and heavy rain), windshield wipers in motion and right wiper locked into left during heavy rain creating zero visibility.
Driver's side wiper arm becomes loose and eventually becomes inoperative. Dealer has adjusted this three time previously on warranty. In the latest incident I was passing an 18 wheeler during a driving rainstorm at night when the driver's side wiper suddenly locked up and stopped working. I am lucky to still be alive. Had I had an accident and been killed no one would have known or suspected the cause. On a previous occasion the driver's side wiper became enmeshed with the passenger side wiper and both wipers suddenly quit working. Had this happened and both wipers quit in this latest incident I very likely would have been killed. This happened in a 1998 buick century, but any gm car with a similar wiper design could potentially have this same problem. Any time a wiper arm is removed for any reason, care must be taken to ensure that it is properly tightened or it will begin to slip and eventually cause this same potentially fatal problem. Gm needs to issue torque specs for wiper arms.
In rainy weather conditions the windshield wipers became inoperable, cause unknown. In addition, while driving on highway vehicle went completely dead due to short in electrical system.
Service bulletins that may apply
- Poor radio reception or radio static/ increased interference with rear window defogger on or some rear...
- Manual dual zone fan and mode knob replacement
- Parts availability for sunroof repairs
- Some customers may comment on the time it takes the right side door glass to defog
- Subject regarding HVAC temperature difference side to side and/or diagnostic trouble codes B0361, B0441 set
- Information on diagnosing wind noise from the outside rearview mirror area
- Some customers may comment that the black plastic housing around the outside rear view mirror turns chalky...
- Some customers may comment on radio clock gains an excessive amount of time
Related recalls
No recalls on record for this model year.
Questions about the 1998 Buick Century wipers
Is windshield wiper failure a common problem on the 1998 Buick Century?
7 of 217 owner complaints about the 1998 Buick Century (3%) mention windshield wiper failure. The model year with the most reports is 1997.
Is there a recall or service bulletin for this on the 1998 Buick Century?
There are 0 recalls and 14 service bulletins for the same area of the car. Check them below with your VIN.
Other symptoms on the 1998 Buick Century
VIN decoder
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