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Some new car models have the wipers positioned north to south in the parked position. This is better than the horizontal position. Dirt accumulates on the blades thus creating scratches on the windscreen. No matter how clean you keep the blades, the dirty rain water traps along the blades, dries and scuffs across the windscreen when in use. During rain I park the wipers vertically to minimise the damage this causes. But I wish the manufacturers would align the wiper arms along the A posts to illiminate this annoyance.
Edited by Ben10 on 22/02/2008 at 00:05
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"But I wish the manufacturers would align the wiper arms along the A posts to illiminate this annoyance"
To do that would require some very clever design (and expense) to avoid leaving a very large unswept 'V' in the centre.
DC
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Some years ago Saab (I think), developed a windscreen which had a shallow groove along the bottom of it, in which the parked wipers sat.
The idea was that as they emerged from the groove, the blades cleaned themselves. I don't think that the idea caught on !
Edited by none on 22/02/2008 at 20:12
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I can't recall one instance in the 23 years of motoring where the wipers have scratched the windscreen. Previous owners getting too heavy handed with the ice scraper, yes, but not the wipers themselves.
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Dave. The grit lies along the blade following rain or debris thrown onto the screen. Salt is a good example, and when the wipers sweep across the screen, the grit/minute stones are dragged across the screen. Look into bright sunlight through the screen and you will see an arch of scratches following the line of sweep. Its a fact. I can't believe you haven't noticed this in 23 years of motoring. I believe SEAT fitted vertical wipers on the Leon along the A post.
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The SEAT Altea has the wipers parked in the A pillar.
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I can't believe you haven't noticed this in 23 years of motoring.
Well sorry Ben. As previously said, haven't noticed. It can't be that much of an issue otherwise everyone would be jumping up and down for a design change.
If I look through a heated Ford windscreen however, then that does bug me.
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Agree with Ben. V fine scratches seem unavoidable, especially on cars not garaged and whose owner likes a nice clean screen (like me), so does a screen wash/wipe. I'm seriously considering manually washing the screen before journeys.
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I get very annoyed with my Golf's wash wipe system. When driving, for example, if I initiate that function, it spays the screen and the wipers automatically wipe 3 or 4 times but they then stop for some seconds and then give one final wipe. It is that annoying final wipe after this interval, that sometimes smears the windscreen with dirty residual water left near the A pillars - grrrrrrrrrrhhhhhhh!
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O, yes, I dislike "wash / wipe" systems and much prefer the old fashioned, separate wash and wipe controls. That way you can give a darn good squirt then set the wipers running for as long as YOU want rather than what is programmed in. You also get plenty of water on the screen before you set them running unlike wash/wipe which sets the wipers running on a dry screen as the water emerges. Change is not always in a forward direction unfortunately.
As for parking vertically there are some good points but A pillars seem to be getting unreasonably thick. Which manufacturere is going to be first to offer A pillar cameras!?
JH
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I recently hired an Altea and it has the most brilliant wash/wipe system I've ever seen. Wipers parked vertically, a dazzling seven or eight washer jets and a very good swept area. Plus the final wipe to "finish off".
Washer jets fitted to the wipers themselves (Peugeot 405) seem to have gone out of fashion - a pity, as so many cars, especially at high speed, tend to wash the car behind rather more effectively.
I saw a car/DIY programme today on which a presenter claimed you can prolong the life of wiper rubbers by "filing" them with fine wet and dry sandpaper. Don't know if I'd risk trying this, but an original idea, if nothing else.
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I saw a car/DIY programme today on which a presenter claimed you can prolong the life of wiper rubbers by "filing" them with fine wet and dry sandpaper. Don't know if I'd risk trying this but an original idea if nothing else.
It does work but you have to be careful to sand them evenly along the blade.
Back in the seventies one of the car mags (could have been Car Mechanics) gave a little plastic device away that had a vee with wet and dry in that you ran along the blade, it also had a retractable pin that you could use to align or unblock your washers with.
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I can't recall one instance in the 23 years of motoring where the wipers have scratched the windscreen. Previous owners getting too heavy handed with the ice scraper yes but not the wipers themselves.
Same here, in the last 35 years of motoring. Maybe it's because I use my washers and wipers often and don't drive in the spray of other vehicles unles it's unavoidable. I also clean or change my wipers as soon as they start smearing. The only scratched by wiper screen I've ever seen was by abuse. It was on the passenger side of a mate's car where he carried on using a wiper for months after its rubber that had split and separated from the blade and the metal part was wiping the screen.
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"Dirt accumulates on the blades" - I thought I was alone in noticing this, thanks for confirming my impression! :-) About half an hour parked seems to do it - in summer or on a dry day it's dust, in winter salt, in light rain any dust on the roof runs down onto the screen - only a seriously heavy rain shower seems to wash most of it off.
"I'm seriously considering manually washing the screen before journeys." - I think this is a good idea and something personally I always try to do. I keep a small bottle of neat screenwash handy and if I haven't got time to do anything else I'll chuck a capfull of this over the swept area, wait a sec for it to run down onto the blades, rinse the area with water and then wipe the blades and the area at the bottom of the screen where the blades sit with a soft cloth.
I think screen washers, whilst an essential safety aid, are only a last line of defence in keeping the screen clean. On a motorway run at this time of year, I expect to have to stop and wash manually at least every second or third service area.
"Washer jets fitted to the wipers themselves (Peugeot 405) seem to have gone out of fashion" - I recently hired a 57 plate Mercedes Sprinter van which had these, and very good they were too up until the point they froze up on the M5. Not sure if the washer jets being that little bit further away from the engine because they're on the blade rather than next to the bonnet, or higher up because it was a van meant they were more exposed/away from the heat of the engine. I checked the washer resevoir and the water in it was blue, so the hire company had obviously put a decent amount of additive in.
Finally, my impression is that those new style wiper blades with two blades on one (as fitted to Golf IV, Ford Focus II for example) seem to be very effective and longer lasting. For those (like me) on conventional blades, I'd recommend fitting Bosch with spoilers both sides - the current set I have on beats every previous pair I've had. I replace the drivers' side every 4-6 months (with the drivers' blade then becoming the passenger blade, and the ex-passenger blade going into retirement in the boot as a spare). I'd also recommend keeping the bonnet and roof of the car clean in between trips to the car wash, as well as the lights, windows, mirrors etc. I do c.20,000 miles a year at the mo, I guess for lower mileages blades would last longer.
As a result, I can only afford to drive an old car, 'cos I spend all my money on wiper blades :-)
P.S. I still think the best screen washing idea of all was the Mk I Fiesta Popular which as I recall had a button on the floor to the left of the clutch to wash the screen rather than a stalk on the steering column.
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On a motorway run at this time of year I expect to have to stop and wash manually at least every second or third service area.
That seems a little over-concientious to me, unless the services are many hundreds of miles apart...
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For those (like me) on conventional blades, I'd recommend fitting Bosch with spoilers both sides - the current set I have on beats every previous pair I've had. I replace the drivers' side every 4-6 months (with the drivers' blade then becoming the passenger blade, and the ex-passenger blade going into retirement in the boot as a spare).
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Many cars these days (don't know if it is most) have different sized blades for driver and passenger side. And often a third size for the rear window. Grr.
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>>Many cars these days (don't know if it is most) have different sized blades for driver and passenger side. And often a third size for the rear window. Grr.
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My 98 Mondeo has 19/21 blades so not a new problem.
I am happy wth Bosch but they do not work on the Focus rear screen.
Yaris rear wiper blade seem like it has to be Toyota OE only. Grr
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The rear wiper blade on my Honda doesn't come off at all - you have to replace the rubber.
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