Hello everyone

Did I mention that the fluid worked just fine? It was ... ahem ... pilot error. Wasn't pushing the **** hard enough.

I do have another question -- drove in heavy rain today with the Xfire for the first time today and the left wiper doesn't glide on the glass, it goes thunk think thunk. It jumps instead of gliding like the the right one does.

Any troubleshooting help? And please don't send me to the dealer again.

Thank again,

 

Provided the wiper assembly isn't bent, you might just have road residue on the face of the wiper blade. AAA of Colorado just came out with a "quick Tip" that mentioned using a clean cotton towel and a light soapy cleaner/water mixture to wipe down the face of the rubber wiper blade to clean it and keep it flexible. Try this before hitting the dealer. If there is not a lot of residue on the face of the blade, check the glass to be
sure it is squeaky clean. A lot of older cars without coolant recovery systems can spray coolant when overheating on the road right in front of you and you might have picked some up in everyday traffic. Use a good glass cleaner. Simple tips from a simple mind. 8)

 

My windshield wipers make a funny noise too. I have not driven it in the rain yet, don't have much here, but when I spray the cleaner on them it scraps and rubs. May have to get new ones before the rain storms (LOL) come this fall!

 

Same thread : different question.

Do everyone else's wipers look different from one another?

 

Yep, I only have one airfoil, and it's on the passenger side.

 

Airfoil?

 

That would be the "concave wing" that runs along the bottom of your wiper. It's there to help counter the wind from lifting your wiper off of your windshield at speed.

 

Oh, gotchya. Wonder why the one on the right is smaller?

 

One smaller because the arcs of the arms are not the same.

Mine both look the same (no airfoil - one is longer)


Click for more

 

EDIT:

Q: Are those stock?

A: No. Self-correction. lol.

 

Mike, it should be on the driver's side.

 

Yeah I know, I guess my car was originally "destined" for the British crowd, then at the last minute they accidently put the steering wheel on the "left" side.
By the way Dan, it's good to see you posting again. What happened, "writers block"?

 

It never hurts just to run your fingers down the length of the blade, either. But, IMO, use Rain-X, you'll never worry about hard rains again since the faster you drive the less you'll need your wipers!

 

I don't know if I explain this with out some pictures, but it is kinda simple to adjust the wipers so that they no longer chatter or scrape in one direction.
First , think of the blades like a paint brush. As it glides across the windshield, it should be angled in the direction of the movement. Like you do if you are painting with a brush. You want to pull the brush across the surface and not push the brush.
If you have a wiper that chatters in one direction, take a small Cresent wrench (or similar) and at the bottom of flat part of the arm,slightly twist it in the direction of the chatter. This is a trial and error type of thing , but with a couple of attempts, you should be able to find the sweet spot that will allow the blade to naturally change directions to wipe better and with little or no noise.
If this doesn't make sense, let me know and I'll drag out the old overhead projector.

 

I only have the airfoil on one side (not sure which one right now...). Should the car have both?

 

ppro - Those look like the Bosch blades. Have them on our Mercedes. When we got the car (used) a few nights later we hit a rainstorm and mine did the same thing, noisey, not cleaning the window properly. I sprung for the Bosch on the Mercedes and they are now fine. For my Crossfire at the time they went my son was working for a car repair shop and he got me a pair of teflon tipped blades and they are incredibly quiet and efficient. I think I paid ten bucks for them. Point in all this is, the problem (if its not a bent wiper arm assembly) is probably the blades, time to treat your car to a new set.
Pat

 

Yes, the pasenger side wiper is longer than the driver side. All three of the Xfiires I have had had the air foil on the drivers side only as stock. I havent found any after market with the foils yet so am using generics. The rain dosent come back to Oregon for another 5 or 6 weeks, so I have time to look.

Thumbs up for the RainX also. It really does help keep all the windows clear.

MikeR

 

I believe one version of the BOSCH wipers (the ICON) in the style like the Michelin ones I have include an airfoil element.

The web site states:

Aerodynamic wind spoiler
Creates downforce, preventing blade lift-off
Protects tension springs from snow/ice build-up
Windshield-hugging performance in even the worst winter weather



(Click for BOSCH Wiper web page)

Thinking about relevance though, and my experience at speeds that would require an airfoil on the wiper, it seems doubtful I would be traveling that fast and need windshield wipers...your experience may of course be different...

 

PPRO, my first car was a 1963 Dodge, and it had an airfoil on the wipers. If they didn't work at "highway" speeds I don't think manufacturers would waste their money putting them on.
I got caught in some pretty hard rain Saturday night in Columbus, and I noticed that my passenger side wiper was cleaning the window perfectly (with the airfoil) but the drivers side was streaking terribly. (no airfoil).
I agree, RainX is the best alternative to a blade.

 

Mine only has foil on the driver side.

And I use rainX on all my cars in the rain seasons. hardly turn on the wipers.