Arg!

[Shad]

A little bit of rain and everyone starts driving at 20mph - WHY?!?!?!

Every journey is taking twice as long, why must everyone drive like this, it's just silly

[Zak33]

normally its because of one thing.....

people dont get new windscreen wiper blades every year...and they should.

Its not a grip thing....not at 20mph/...so I feel for ya Shad.

It's cos you would NOT BELIEVE how many people have 3 or 4 year old wiper blades on...and CANT SEE.....the screen is all blurred and the rain just moodges all over it....

I hate cars like that.....I detest them. and its more than half of the UK public

[Moby-Dick]

RainX seems to help too !

dont forget that heavy rain after a hot spell can create some very slippy roads.

I still think its about driving at speeds appropriate to the conditions.

just because the speed limit is 30 doesn't mean that you have to drive at 30 ( unless there is a minimum speed limit as there is on certain tunnels etc )

In a similar vein why do stupid kids feel they have to drive at 70 in fog on the motorways.

its amazingly stupid and shows their complete lack of road experiance.

[dkmech]

If you are feeling so self-rightrous zak maybe you can help me. I have wiper problems. The old wipers that were on the car i changed as they seemed to be scratching the windscreen. I bought some budget ones which i dont think fitted properly. I then went and bought proper wipers from kwik fit or halfords, i forget which. That didn't really help, and after struggling with those i went and bought a new set of blades from halfords. Replaced them and still it smudges Its ok on the up movement, then it goes down and smudges everything. I tried cleaning the glass with the wipes and drying it with paper towels, i tried pulling the blades to make em more tense again, i try to keep crap away from them - nothing helps. What would you and anyone else for that matter suggest?

[Jiff Lemon]

Just to echo the above, trundling home last night in a downpour, had the pleasure of seeing the aftermath of a quite serious accident - One driver decided to "just nip out" from a t-junction, Appears he planted it - Lots of wheelspin, little movement - just enough to put halfway across the road. Needless to say, the end result was quite nasty.
Better to be 10 minutes late in this life, than 20 years to earlier for the next.

[Jiff Lemon]

If you are feeling so self-rightrous zak maybe you can help me. I have wiper problems. The old wipers that were on the car i changed as they seemed to be scratching the windscreen. I bought some budget ones which i dont think fitted properly. I then went and bought proper wipers from kwik fit or halfords, i forget which. That didn't really help, and after struggling with those i went and bought a new set of blades from halfords. Replaced them and still it smudges Its ok on the up movement, then it goes down and smudges everything. I tried cleaning the glass with the wipes and drying it with paper towels, i tried pulling the blades to make em more tense again, i try to keep crap away from them - nothing helps. What would you and anyone else for that matter suggest?

Likely to be one of two things - The wiper arms themself have become weak, or you've got wear in the wiper spindle bushes.

What car and how old?

Stop the wipers (switch ignition off mid sweep) at several points across the screen and make sure they sitting squarely against the screen.

[dkmech]

Peugeot 106 1995. I'll try the ignition trick, cheers.

[Zak33]

Jiff's right.....its cos the wiper blade aint on the glass square.....

and you can tell because it works so well one direction and then ballses it all up on the return.

Things to remember.....not that it'll help, but its good to know

In summer, your wiper blades spend very little time moving....they are parked.

As they move to the bottom of your screen, they bend, as they should. being made of rubber....BUT they then stay there, sometimes for days or weeks, and the rubber blade is STILL bent...and its summer so the rubber gets hot, and bends more, then it cools and it sets!

Which is WHY, if you leave a car for along time, you SHOULD lift the wiper arms OFF the screen, to let the rubber wipers sit straight...and then put them down lwhen you next drive.

NOT THAT I CAN BE ARSED TO DO THAT MYSELF, but it does work.

Jiff's point about the wiper ARM being worn is good and the SPINDLE< ie the AXIS that the wiper blade clips too, gets worn and allows the wiper blade to flop left and right , or up and down as the wiper changes direction.

[dkmech]

If it is the weak arms or worn spindle - is there a way to adjust them or would they have to be replaced?

[Jiff Lemon]

Weak arms can be replaced - sometime you can pick up replacement arms from helfords and the likes, depends on the car.

If its spindles then its a main dealer jobby I'm afraid

[Barakka]

Seeing as how this has turned into a wiper discussion, mine have started going too far down when I put them on full speed, so they hit the plastic shroud at the bottom of the windscreen every time... any ideas ?

But on topic took me ages to nip out at lunch with all the people doing 10mph with their headlights and FOG lights on, FOG lights? when clearly the only fog is between their ears !!

[Jiff Lemon]

Seeing as how this has turned into a wiper discussion, mine have started going too far down when I put them on full speed, so they hit the plastic shroud at the bottom of the windscreen every time... any ideas ?

Ask a nice mod to move it to the pitstop sub forum

[Zak33]

Seeing as how this has turned into a wiper discussion, mine have started going too far down when I put them on full speed, so they hit the plastic shroud at the bottom of the windscreen every time... any ideas ?

Take off the pastic thing at the very bottom of the arm...its got a NUT under it...normally an 8mm

Loosen it...pull the base of the wiper arm up and off the spindle, put it back on, move the wiper round a bit until its where ya want, and then tighten.

The spindle its on is conical....its pointy..so the base is wider than the top which is narrower. The very top has a boltl tread on for that nut.

The bottom of your WIPER arm is ALLOY....its soft metal.

The Spindle (the thing that turns) is STEEL and has grooves up its length.

When you re align the wiper arm and re tighten the nut, it cuts into the alloy and holds there.

So do it up tight

Te reason they are like this is that people put wipers on in winter when the blade is forzen to the screen....and in an ATTEMPT to stop it burning out the wiper motor, the alloy at the bottom of the wip arm burs over rather than blowing your motor.

Its doesnt always work tho