I've just bought my first set of replacement windshield wiper blades and find that they're not as perfect as I would have expected. Whilst the downstroke leaves the glass completely clear of water, the upstroke is slight smeared around the middle third of the blade. The smear disappears in just a second or two but is noticeable. Is this a fault or am I just expecting too much?
Thanks,
Ken
Try cleaning the wax from the windshield. All you are doing is scraping it up onto the new blades so they can smear it around.
|On 11/4/03 3:04 AM, in article | snipped-for-privacy@posting.google.com, "Kooky45" | wrote: | |> I've just bought my first set of replacement windshield wiper blades |> and find that they're not as perfect as I would have expected. Whilst |> the downstroke leaves the glass completely clear of water, the |> upstroke is slight smeared around the middle third of the blade. The |> smear disappears in just a second or two but is noticeable. Is this a |> fault or am I just expecting too much?
You need to tweak it a bit. It is not sitting perpendicular to the surface, but rather is angled. Lift the wiper and twist it toward the bottom of the windshield. You want to twist the arm slightly so it ends up more of a right angle to the glass. When you get it right it will wipe smoothly in both directions. Rex in Fort Worth
Approximately 11/4/03 01:04, Kooky45 uttered for posterity:
Sounds like the blades may be a bit too hard or the spring holding them against the window may be fubar.
Did you replace just the individual rubber pieces, the entire wiping part, or the arm and all?
And what brand? Some work better than others.
And if you hate replacing blades so often, or would just like blades to match your paint job, get the silicon type in either black [local parts store] or color [J.C. Whitney].
Don't see how you could be expecting too much if the old wipers worked perfectly when new....
"Rex B" news: snipped-for-privacy@news.txol.net...
Good advice from Rex. If the rubber is angled (and not perpendicular) on the windshield, it will have a bouncy (and noisy) upstroke.
Also, since it smears only in the middle, make sure the rubber insert can move freely and is only securely attached on one end. If it binds then it cannot change it's length and cannot follow the curvature of the windshield.
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