MK3 wiper blade removal

[MikeSh]

I want to change the blade as it's starting to not clear properly. I think it's the original, so at 6 yo probably time.

Bought a Bosch replacement.

Watched a couple of YouTube vids about changing.

Failed 🥴 . Can't get the old one off.

Had a quick search of the forum but can't find any info about this, so it must be me.

The videos show the blade just pushing out of the U after lifting the trim, but mine won't budge. Looking at the replacement there appears to be a nib that locates in a hole in the U which will need pushing up to release. Because of the location it's hard to see what's what in there, so I've tried pushing various bits and some feel a bit springy but still don't seem to release the blade from the U.

Someone please tell me the magic words as the ones I've used, which I won't quote as the snowflake filter would commit hari-kari, have had no effect.

[anchorman]

8 hours ago, MikeSh said:

I want to change the blade as it's starting to not clear properly. I think it's the original, so at 6 yo probably time.

Bought a Bosch replacement.

Watched a couple of YouTube vids about changing.

Failed 🥴 . Can't get the old one off.

Had a quick search of the forum but can't find any info about this, so it must be me.

The videos show the blade just pushing out of the U after lifting the trim, but mine won't budge. Looking at the replacement there appears to be a nib that locates in a hole in the U which will need pushing up to release. Because of the location it's hard to see what's what in there, so I've tried pushing various bits and some feel a bit springy but still don't seem to release the blade from the U.

Someone please tell me the magic words as the ones I've used, which I won't quote as the snowflake filter would commit hari-kari, have had no effect.

A photo would help Mike but there’s two types.  If it’s a Denso, no amount of pushing will do, you have to lift a tab on the top side.  If it is one of many that has a tang like your new one, you do just squeeze and push and it’s simply stuck.  If it’s one of those you can just wreck it but I’d like to see it before telling you to do the latter.

[Guest]

If it's the same as mine and like the pictures?

Prise the hinged lock up from the end of the arm and with a bit of manipulation the fixing/blade should just slide out of the hook on the arm. Maybe it's been changed and there is some kind of locking tab now, I don't know?

I lift the arm off the windscreen to make it easier. Place a thick towel on the windscreen in the area where the end of the arm positions. If that arm springs back or is knocked it can damage the windscreen.

[MikeSh]

5 hours ago, anchorman said:

A photo would help Mike but there’s two types.

OK, here are some. It doesn't seem to be like @Slartybartfast's. The hinge up part is just a trim.

These are looking 'into' the open end of the U (from the left side of the previous photos). Hard to get a clear pic here, even on macro mode. (The flash went off on the second one.)

 

[flash22]

lift off the screen, flip up the flap, push the blade away from you

 

What secures it is a tab into a square hole

https://youtu.be/3vE5gmRTBOs?si=Yc3UZmQQmy_LPxdO&t=64

 

[anchorman]

Come back if you struggle.  

[MikeSh]

OK, got it. A bit of universal adjusting did the trick.

I tried this again:

2 hours ago, flash22 said:

push the blade away from you

to no avail. (The video linked was actually one of the ones I watched before.)

Then I tried various ways of using different sizes of screwdriver to prod, poke or lever it out during which process I dislodged the trim piece - green arrowed in the pic:

Up till this point I hadn't been sure if this was trim or a 'structural' part, but now it was clear. I was then able to work it onto the arm (to the bottom of the picture) leaving the U section clear.

I had previously tried to lever the clips (blue arrows) but now they were in the clear I put a small piece of wood across them (grain at right angles to the clips) and a couple of taps with a small hammer got things moving.

I guess that after 6 years together they had grown very attached.

New one went on easily - maybe too easily 🤔 . I'll test it next time I'm out.

[anchorman]

14 hours ago, MikeSh said:

OK, got it. A bit of universal adjusting did the trick.

I tried this again:

to no avail. (The video linked was actually one of the ones I watched before.)

Then I tried various ways of using different sizes of screwdriver to prod, poke or lever it out during which process I dislodged the trim piece - green arrowed in the pic:

Up till this point I hadn't been sure if this was trim or a 'structural' part, but now it was clear. I was then able to work it onto the arm (to the bottom of the picture) leaving the U section clear.

I had previously tried to lever the clips (blue arrows) but now they were in the clear I put a small piece of wood across them (grain at right angles to the clips) and a couple of taps with a small hammer got things moving.

I guess that after 6 years together they had grown very attached.

New one went on easily - maybe too easily 🤔 . I'll test it next time I'm out.

A picture paints a thousand words - especially a well labelled one, 10/10 for that.  Crikey, I’ve just fitted my first wiper blade after 6 months and 6400 miles.  I can’t be doing with a radar trace at night, it had to go but I can buy the inserts when I’m in the US.  I wonder what @Parts-King charges for them (26 inch Denso).

[anchorman]

10 minutes ago, Parts-King said:

No fishing here 🐟, Don, I will charge you double for cheek 😉

What did I say?  I was being serious!

[Parts-King]

1 minute ago, anchorman said:

What did I say?  I was being serious!

Was only kidding, £27.61 

[anchorman]

10 hours ago, Parts-King said:

Was only kidding, £27.61 

For the rubber inserts?

[flash22]

No the mk3 uses a single 26" flat blade, the Bosch aerotwin is £16-18 quid

[TonyHSD]

For the difficult removal of the original wiper this wd-40 silicone spray could have helped a lot. 

[ashmj]

I struggled with the original one on ours to be honest. It was you tube that helped me.

[MikeSh]

53 minutes ago, TonyHSD said:

For the difficult removal of the original wiper this wd-40 silicone spray could have helped a lot. 

That assumes that:

a) you know it's just stuck and not a mechanical latch that needs releasing,

b) you are happy to squirt WD40 or the like near your windscreen.

For a, I didn't know (the one I removed was apparently a friction/spring clip and the replacement has a positive latch) and for b, I wouldn't be happy doing that (though I might try a very small drop of oil on the likely places).

[Guest]

To be fair, Mike, Tony did suggest WD40 Silicone spray. Not the originalWD40 lubricant/water dispersant (WD).

I use WD40 Silicone aerosol spray, and other similar, for many applications involving plastic, rubber etc..

[MikeSh]

1 hour ago, Slartybartfast said:

I use WD40 Silicone aerosol spray, and other similar, for many applications involving plastic, rubber etc..

Yes, I have a different brand of silicone spray for that. But I wouldn't use it next to my windscreen.

[TonyHSD]

1 hour ago, MikeSh said:

Yes, I have a different brand of silicone spray for that. But I wouldn't use it next to my windscreen.

You can place a towel under the wiper blade and carefully spray once or twice, no harm to the windscreen even if you mist it little bit.
Replace wiper and clean the entire screen with windows cleaner and you are good to go.  
The silicone spray makes rubber and plastic parts so much easier to work on. Another place that silicone spray is ultra helpful is along the air intake ducts, if you remove throttle body for cleaning procedures for example.
Just a tiny bit of spray makes fitting the rubber hoses much easier. 
 

[MikeSh]

1 hour ago, TonyHSD said:

Replace wiper and clean the entire screen with windows cleaner and you are good to go.

Oh great, more work ... 🙂 

But as I explained earlier this all supposes you know what's holding it. From what @flash22 had said I was potentially needing to break a tab which would need some applied brute force. (I'm not sure if that was the case or not as a brief post-removal inspection was inconclusive.)

[flash22]

the plastic insert when new does flex and acts like a spring pushing outwards, age and UV hardens the plastic

 

just as an example this is what clips into the hook on the wiper arm

the tab locks into the square hole on the arm

[Guest]

21 hours ago, TonyHSD said:

You can place a towel under the wiper blade

Which is what I suggested anyway to greatly reduce the risk of a broken/cracked/chipped windscreen if things go awry.

[Parts-King]

On 4/26/2024 at 7:26 PM, anchorman said:

For the rubber inserts?

Rubbers are twice the price, I kid you not. We only do the Optifit blades these days

[MikeSh]

A few weeks ago I noticed the replacement wiper blade seemed floppy and found it had worked its way a little bit out of the U section. I don't think it would have separated from the arm but it obviously wouldn't work so well.

On closer examination (it's hard to get a clear view) it seems the little tang that should engage with the square hole in the underside of the arm wasn't going into it. I'm not sure if this was just it hadn't been pushed up enough for it to drop in (though I had checked it by trying to push the blade off after fitting) or it had somehow worked its way out. The 'spring' tab holding the tang (it's all one piece of plastic) doesn't seem enthusiastic.

So I pushed it firmly back into position while pushing the tab down so I could see the tang had gone into the hole. Then I wrapped a small cable-tie over the top of the tab/tang and under the arm so the tang is positively held in place.

SWMBO has taken the car away for a fortnight, so I'll see how it is on her return.