How to Install a Wiper Arm on a 1987 El Camino

Damaged wiper arms on an El Camino will need to be replaced. You will likely not have to swap them out as often as you would the wiper blades, but a bent or broken wiper arm will compromise a blade's ability to remove water or snow from the windshield. This is not only important for driving safety--a faulty wiper system will cause a car to fail a state's yearly inspection. While replacement arms may not be widely sold, installing them is fairly simple and can be done in less than ten minutes.

• 1

  Approach the El Camino's driver side wiper arm and remove the cover at its base.

• 2

  Remove the wiper blade: To do this, lift the arm vertically, unlock the safety clip at the center of the blade and pull the blade off the arm. Set the blade aside for later use.

• 3

  Hold the wiper arm in one hand, and with your other hand remove the nut located at the base of the arm, using a socket wrench.

• 4

  Slowly rock the the base of the arm back and forth until it detaches from the bolt. Discard the damaged wiper arm.

• 5

  Place the replacement arm onto the bolt, and re-screw the nut on with a socket wrench.

• 6

  Reattach the wiper blade that you removed in Step 2. How you do so depends on the type of connection featured on the new wiper arm. If you bought an arm with a "J-hook" at the end, simply push the wiper's center connection into the hook at the end of the arm. If your new arm features a small pin, slide the pin through the hole in the side of the wiper's center connection.

• 7

  Lower the blade and the newly installed wiper arm onto the windshield, then repeat these installation steps for the other the wiper arm.