how much torque on wiper arm nut

[TOW'D]

Howdy Gang,
 Anybody have an idea on how much I can tighten the wiper arms on a '85 Golf? I tried to hand tighten but it still slips, I don't want it to shear off.
I turned the key on to glow the plugs and was going to scrape the icy windshield and but the wiper was on.
thanks
hank

[600K]

15 ft lbs. Snug with a regular length wrench. Easy to over tighten and break.

[Vincent Waldon]

The nut is really just there to hold the serrations in the wiper arm against the serrations in the wiper shaft, and what happens over time is that the serrations in the wiper arm (being aluminum) shear off.  A couple of "wipers frozen to the windshield" sessions make this happen real quick.

 When the serrations are gone no amount of torque will reliably lock it down ever again... time for new wiper arms unfortunately.  Some folks buy themselves a bit of time with some red locktite... but in my experience first freezing rain and it all busts loose again.   YMMV.

[TOW'D]

okee dokee
thanks
new arms it is because grooves are worn off as you said in the arm mounting holes

[clbanman]

Get a small screwdriver or knife and remove all the aluminum strips from the serrations on the pivot, then use red loctite.  I've been running for over a year like this.   If you get new wiper arms you still need to do this or the new arms will just slide on the smooth surface.   You need to clean up the mounting on the car to allow the serrations on the arm to seat into the mating serrations on the mounting.

[macka]

I paid 16 bucks at the dealership for 2 wiper assembly studs. I set in a good set of used wiper arms I reconditioned. I take a few seconds in the winter to flip the wipers over so they don't stick to the window.

[fatmobile]

Later A2s had larger wiper studs,..
 needs a 13mm wrench to tighten.