I was driving down the highway, when all of a sudden my driver side windshield wiper arm, moves all the way to the far left, then fell on top of my driver side mirror, just barely holding the wiper blade from falling off.

I pull off to the side of the road to further inspect, thinking it was just my blade that fell off, being it was windy and rainy. I quickly found out it was more serious. The driver side wiper arm, doesn't move any longer but the passenger side wiper arm, works perfectly.

Now i am confused as i thought there was one motor, that operated both arms but it seem to be two motors that operate each arm, independently.

Or maybe i am right and something else broke? its obvious that something broke but what? could someone fill me in on my theory of 2 or 1 motor and what i need to replace/repair?

How much am i looking at for replacement parts? is there a DIY on how to repair myself?

Rain was coming down pretty good too, it was the worst time it could have broke on me!

 

Take a look at this. Its for a B6, but i'd bet the wiper assembly hasn't changed that much.

AudiWorld Tech Articles

 

Thanks for the DIY article. Do you know the answers to some of my other questions? So i guess the bracket is broke and needs to be replaced.

why does the passenger side wiper arm, still function and not the driver side arm?

 

I don't know what's going on. And this is not one of those failures where all B5 owners know what it means when the driver's side wiper flops around. But since it is one motor and both wipers are driven by gearbox mechanism shown in that DIY, I'd say something has let loose in that gear box. Only other explanation is that the splines on that wiper have stripped and the wiper just can't be driven. Either way, you've got to dig in and see for yourself.

 

I'll take a peek before i buy that transmission bracket from the windshield wiper arms. I don't want to buy something that doesn't need to be replaced.

Thank you for the suggestions. Its different from the common symptoms, ive read about on online with the B5 A4. Like getting "Stuck" or "slowing down" mine just plane doesn't move on the driver side but works on the passenger side. I am just curious if all of those symptoms are connected to the transmission bracket but i won't know until i follow that DIY you posted.

if anyone else has experienced this kind of failure of their windshield wiper arms, please chime in.

 

Something has broken on the windshield wiper "transmission", more commonly called the linkage. Looks like this:
The motor attaches to the center with 3 bolts.

 

I see....So does this mean i have to replace the whole linkage transmission bracket or is there a part that i can replace on the linkage, itself?

 

Here is a small clip of my driver side wiper motor arm, which has come loose from its ball joint. I need to know which part to replace? since the driver side wiper arm is uneffected and works perfectly, can i just replace the driver side? and not the whole transmission linkage assembly?

If i can just replace one side, which part should i be looking for? if i need to replace the whole transmission linkage assembly, which part number do i need to search for the whole thing?