Wiper woes

January 31, 2018

Hi, newbie here, bought a 2006 T4 a few months ago and really enjoying it.

However, we had some snow the other day and I managed to foolishly damage my wipers, now they only run on high, and do not park. I guess it's the motor, but I thought I'd try the relay first just in case. I have secured a replacement but was wondering if anyone could tell me where it is located before I start removing panels.

Many thanks

Paul

February 1, 2018

18 hours ago, veg said:

we had some snow the other day and I managed to foolishly damage my wipers

It might be helpful to know how did you damaged them?

February 1, 2018

Probably the good ol' "I activated the wipers but they were frozen to the windscreen and broke" situation... usually it just tears the wiper blade apart so it's a bit unusual it's damaged the actual mechanism!
Or the OP didn't clear the snow off first and tried to use the wipers to do it... that would put an out of spec strain on them for sure...

February 1, 2018

9 minutes ago, Cyker said:

Probably the good ol' "I activated the wipers but they were frozen to the windscreen and broke" situation... usually it just tears the wiper blade apart so it's a bit unusual it's damaged the actual mechanism!
Or the OP didn't clear the snow off first and tried to use the wipers to do it... that would put an out of spec strain on them for sure...

That's correct Cyker. Cleared most of the snow first and tried to finish the job with the wipers. Have done it loads of times over the years with at least a dozen cars and never had it happen before - Lesson learned!

February 1, 2018

Yeah, it's happened to all of us at least once I wager!

I currently use those fancy PIAA silicone wipers and it's one side benefit of them that the silicone layer it lays down over time stops the blade sticking to the window even when it's freezing. I haven't had a wiper stick to the screen since! *touch wood, throws salt over shoulder etc.*

February 1, 2018

5 minutes ago, Cyker said:

Yeah, it's happened to all of us at least once I wager!

I currently use those fancy PIAA silicone wipers and it's one side benefit of them that the silicone layer it lays down over time stops the blade sticking to the window even when it's freezing. I haven't had a wiper stick to the screen since! *touch wood, throws salt over shoulder etc.*

Cheers Cyker, I hope you haven't cursed yourself there!

Will look into those wipers

5 minutes ago, Cyker said:

February 1, 2018

They're worth a try at least - I think they're awesome! They do have some bad sides as well tho'.

Good things:

Clears water better than any wiper I've used and doesn't start to streak after a couple years like most wipers
Silent, no screeching, even when light rain makes the windscreen a bit tacky
Forms a water-repelling silicone layer that water just beads off; It's like a self-applying layer of RainX! You don't even need to use wipers at 70mph because the water clears itself faster than the wipers!
Last far longer than normal wipers with minimal performance loss - The set on my old car I put on when I bought the car - Never changed them in the 6- 7 years I had it and they were as good on the last day as the day I bought them!
The silicone is a lot hardier than normal rubber; Even when the wiper is iced up it won't get pulled apart, just stretches and pulls free. It helps that it's water repellent so the ice can't stick it to the screen as strongly.

Bad things:

Very expensive for wipers (I think I paid £15-20 just for ONE wiper blade refill! ).
As the silicone layer gets thicker, can also cause a misting effect as the wiper passes over - I had been flagged on the MOT for this ("Wipers smearing"); During normal use (i.e. driving) the mist disappears immediately but obv during the MOT the car is stationary so it doesn't evapourate so fast. (If I cleaned the car more often I probably wouldn't have this problem tho' )