Are the wipers not cleaning well? 5 ways to recover

Published: 02/17/2020

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A car is a complex organism, consisting of many individual parts that must work clearly and in harmony. Good visibility, which is provided by a clean windshield, is of great importance for safe driving. There are often situations when new windshield wipers perform their functions very poorly. The result of their work is stains and greasy deposits. To correct the situation, it is important to understand the reasons.

The most common reasons for the wipers not working properly

If the wipers do not clean the glass well, this indicates wear or deformation of the structure, which is why they do not adhere well to the surface. As a result, we see stains and sometimes scratches that will have to be eliminated. There are several main reasons why windshield wipers do not work properly:

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The presence of an oil film and other serious contaminants on the glass surface.
Loss of mobility of the frame rocker arms, which are responsible for uniform pressure to the surface.
Looseness in fixing the adapter and leash.
Reducing the stiffness of the spring that presses the wiper to the glass.
Damage to the working edge of the brush.

If the glass gets dirty, just wipe it with a special liquid and streaks will no longer appear when the wipers operate. If the movement of the rocker parts is lost, you just need to work them out by hand and, if necessary, add a little lubricant, making sure that it does not get on the glass.

This will ensure that the brush edge is pressed evenly to completely remove dirt. To fix other problems, you will need to do a few simple procedures, and if these do not help, you will need to replace the wipers.

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We increase the cleaning area of the VAZ 2110 windshield

Have you noticed that the windshield wiper blades of the VAZ 2110 do not clean the windshield well, or better yet, they do not clean the edge of the glass near the driver's pillar? As a result, over time, a thick dirty strip forms on the edge of the windshield near the driver, which significantly reduces the driver’s visibility. We'll tell you how you can increase the cleaning area of your windshield. If, in addition to the left pillar, you add a dirty strip that dozens of wipers cannot clean, then the driver’s visibility is significantly reduced, especially when turning left. On cars produced recently, this sector is cleaned better by wipers. You can increase the windshield cleaning area in various ways, it all depends on what the strip of dirt looks like, which the wiper cannot reach. I’ll start with the simplest method:

Increasing the cleaning area of the windshield (simple method)

One of the reasons why the wiper does not reach the edge of the glass is the old-style windshield (jabot). That is, the leash just rests on the frill. Solution: Cut off a small triangle where the leash rests on the frill. Another simple solution to the problem could be to install the driver's wiper higher than the initial position. Thus, the higher the initial position of the wiper, the more area it will clean near the pillar. However, not many people will like the raised wiper blade. It will also create additional air resistance, because is no longer located under the frill as before. In addition, the raised wiper will only clean the upper part near the pillar. As a result, the uncleaned area will resemble a wedge.

Uniform cleaning near the edge of the windshield

To ensure that the cleaning of the windshield near the pillar is uniform, that is, so that the brush and the pillar are parallel and not like a wedge, you need to bend the leash. That is, slightly (using the selection method) bend the leash next to the hook under the brush (there is a factory bend there, you just need to increase it a little). You will also have to slightly bend the end of the wiper spoiler up, because it can catch on the blade. Now the corner of the windshield near the driver will be clean, but there is one drawback - the driver’s wiper is constantly raised.

Why do wipers do not adhere well to the glass?

Often, the driver may notice that the windshield wipers do not do their job well. This mainly happens because they do not fit tightly to the windshield. There may be several reasons:

weakening of the wire spring - often car owners, leaving their car in the parking lot, raise the wipers and leave. They do this to prevent them from freezing. But this position of the windshield wipers leads to a weakening of the spring, so they do not perform their functions well;
the brushes are covered with an ice crust. Relevant for winter time - this mainly applies to frame products that have a whole “skeleton”;
oil got on the windshield - this option is possible if it was wiped with wax or smoke got in from the car in front;
The size of the wipers is not suitable.

Debugg

The correct operation of the wipers is ensured by a spring located in the leash of each device. With frequent use, they can weaken, so the windshield wipers do not adhere well to the glass, and therefore the quality of their work decreases. Such a malfunction cannot be noticed with the naked eye, since the brushes work well, but stains still remain.

You can often eliminate such defects yourself. In particular, if the wipers begin to work worse because oil has appeared on the glass, then it is not difficult to get rid of it. The way out of this situation is as follows: just wash the glass using detergent. It can be purchased at any auto store or gas station. It is also possible to degrease the elastic components of windshield wipers with white spirit.

After using it, it is necessary to apply a thin layer of silicone grease to the working area of the elastic band.

Drivers leave their cars with their windshield wipers up. This is correct, since they cannot always be adjacent to the windshield - this will help avoid deformation of the spring. But you need to do it correctly: the distance between the glass and the brush should be about 10 mm. To do this, you can place matchboxes under them.

Replacing the spring is also a good option. Some vehicle owners prefer to shorten it, but difficulties may arise:

For the manufacture of a tensile element, steel is used, which is processed under the influence of various temperature conditions. Therefore, it is not easy to shorten it;
This approach will not provide proper pressing, which can lead to rapid wear.

You can also press down the wipers. For this:

use the key to dismantle the system;
place it tightly in a vice;
using a screwdriver, press out the spring and install the washer on it;
install the spring back.

To check the correctness of all actions, you must turn on the cleaning system upon completion. The brushes should fit tightly to the glass.

In winter, frame window wipers become covered with snow and ice, which leads to loss of flexibility and poor fit. To solve the problem, just warm up the brushes and clean each element of the device with your fingers. The wipers should be in the warm air blowing area. The use of a defrosting agent is permitted.

Do not turn on windshield wipers that are frozen to the glass or tear them off. This will cause them to break.

It is important to monitor the serviceability of glass cleaners and, if any problems are detected, try to correct them. This will help make driving a car safe.

Functional windshield wipers are the key to safety and excellent visibility. Breakdown or poor performance of windshield wipers leads to poor visibility and often causes accidents. Many of you have probably noticed that windshield wiper blades stop performing their functions normally with the arrival of cold weather. We'll figure out why this happens and tell you how to make them work efficiently in the most unfavorable weather conditions.

Before talking about the reasons for the poor performance of the wipers, it would be useful to understand the design and operating principle of this simple device.

What are the features of using wipers?

In order for the operation of your wipers to be as effective and long-lasting as possible, you need to follow a few simple and very reasonable recommendations. In a situation where the special washer fluid runs out, you should not activate the wipers if the glass is dry.

How to clean windshield wipers? It is recommended to periodically lubricate the holder arm in the bend area. This procedure helps to improve the tightness of pressing the structural element to the surface being cleaned. The fluid supply nozzles must be adjusted so that the point of maximum pressure is concentrated in the area where the brushes move.

How to make a stove for a cauldron from old car wheels

Squeaking windshield wipers are a familiar phenomenon to almost every car owner. Perhaps the whole issue is a faulty mechanism or it is the result of natural wear and tear. In any case, the cause must be eliminated. An unpleasant sound is not so bad; the quality of the road view depends on the “quiet” operation of the windshield wipers.

Why do wipers squeak on glass?
Wipers squeak on the glass - what to do?
How to eliminate wipers squeaking on glass - additional recommendations
How to get rid of squeaking wipers - what to lubricate
Useful tips for motorists

Brush jumping on glass

Typically, the windshield wiper blade begins to jump across the glass, leaving radial streaks, in two cases. At high speed, the windage of the brush increases

and it is pressed away from the windshield - this effect is typical for frame windshield wipers without a spoiler. If you find yourself in such a situation, it is recommended to change the brushes to those with a spoiler or frameless ones with good aerodynamics. The second reason is a loose mechanism

rocker arms of classic brushes, mounting unit or arms of the windshield wiper system.
In such a situation, it is necessary to check the play of the drivers and rocker arms, and the correct attachment of the brush to the driver. If necessary, replace the brushes. The third reason is a bent wiper arm
. In this case, usually the brush cleans satisfactorily in one direction, but poorly in the other. In this case, there is a possibility that the leash is slightly twisted with a “screw”. In this case, you need to fix or replace the windshield wiper arm so that the cleaning edge of the wiper is at a right angle to the glass surface.

Windshield washer

Champion winter windshield wiper blades
To increase the efficiency of the windshield washer, it is advisable to:

If your car has single-jet windshield washer nozzles, it is recommended to replace them with two-jet ones. This will increase the uniformity of wetting of the windshield; adjust the direction of the washer nozzles

so that the entire area of the windshield cleaned by the brushes is moistened. You need to check the direction of the nozzles at a speed of 50-70 km/h, since the air flow deflects the stream of water when moving;

in advance, before the weather gets colder, fill the washer reservoir with antifreeze fluid

and remove water from the system by running the windshield washer for 10 seconds.

Perhaps the spring is to blame

Often, the unsatisfactory performance of wipers is caused by the drive system. In this case, the brushes may extend beyond the glass, ride on the seal, and slip during startup. If there are problems with the electric motor, the windshield wipers become slow and cannot cope with large amounts of snow in winter.

In most cases, the spring in the wiper arm may become loose. This leads to uncleaned areas remaining during work. Solving this problem is quite simple by replacing this part with a new one. Its cost is small, so it won’t be difficult to do.

Recommendations

In winter, do not turn on the wipers without making sure that the glass has thawed while the interior heating is on. Frozen wipers stuck to the glass can break - especially when the car has no protection from their attempts to start and start moving back and forth when their movement is difficult. This can damage both the brush and the motors that drive the wipers in translational-rotational motion.

Check that the windshield washer spray is functioning properly. It is not allowed to operate wipers “dry” in dry and hot weather: according to the laws of physics, the friction of rubber on glass increases tens of times, therefore, the wear of the brushes will accelerate by the same amount. If the spray of cleaning solution (or at least water) does not work and there is no rain, then do not try to start them. Postpone your trip or clean both the glass and wipers manually.

Avoid driving on congested highways where trucks spray significant amounts of dirt from the road.

When undergoing a scheduled technical inspection, the car will not be recognized as fit for further driving when the windshield washer spray and the wipers themselves are inoperative. In this case, the traffic police inspector has the right to fine the driver, thereby forcing the latter to fix the windshield wiper malfunction. In addition, the rubber of the brushes, overheated on a hot summer day without a washer, leaves marks on the glass.

When washing your car, do not bend the wipers away from the glass further than a centimeter. Left in this state, they will provoke overtightening and weakening of the spring, the previous clamping force will change to a lesser extent. Without pressing enough when moving, the wipers slide and smear rather than wipe away dirt, leaving streaks on the glass. The sand particles contained in this dirt act as an abrasive - they irreversibly scratch the glass, causing the glass to become cloudy.

When washing, handle the wipers with care and promptly remove foreign particles adhering to them. A cracked rubber brush cannot be repaired - do not spend a second or a penny on fixing it.

What to do if the wipers work intermittently, see the video below.

Grease on glass and minor damage

In some cases, the cause of poor glass cleaning is not the wiper itself, but external factors. When operating a car in densely populated industrial cities, a layer of greasy deposits often forms on the glass.

Hard rubber

Situations often arise when windshield wipers squeak, vibrate, or “jump” on the glass while driving. Moreover, this phenomenon does not directly depend on the appearance of contaminated areas on the windshield. In fact, the reason lies in the hardening of the rubber of the brushes. This problem is solved in different ways.

The simplest option is offered by folk craftsmen who recommend keeping the rubber bands inside boiling water for an hour.
You can also soften the rubber elements of the wiper using gasoline. This liquid is partially absorbed by the working surface of the wipers, so the softness remains even in the cold.

Courtyards do not adhere to glass

Over time, when you turn on the windshield wipers, an unpleasant sound appears; they begin to vibrate and twitch, leaving water and dirt on the glass. Moreover, often the problem does not disappear even after replacing the windshield wiper itself. In this case, we can conclude that the wiper does not adhere to the glass with its rubber edge.

Solving this problem is quite simple. First of all, you need to carefully inspect the wiper; its rubber edge will not be perpendicular to the surface, but at an angle. This leads to the fact that the windshield wiper works more or less normally in one direction, but in the other it begins to creak and skip because the rubber edge cannot turn in the normal direction.

The wiper is removed from the leash; after inspection, you need to make sure that the leash is parallel to the surface of the glass; if it is located at an angle, its position is corrected with pliers. After this operation, the wiper is put back in place and its operation is tested. The operation must be repeated until the edge becomes perpendicular to the glass and the unpleasant sound stops. To avoid damaging the leash, it is better to clamp it with pliers through a rag.

Windshield washer does not work well

“Bad” means that the pump hums, but the liquid almost does not reach the glass or splashes in different directions. Causes:

clogged injectors, tubes, filter, check valve
the tubes may have come off the injectors or connectors
breakdown of pump fittings, connectors, nozzles

Start troubleshooting by disconnecting the tube leading from the pump to the injectors. If the jet pressure is good, then inspect the nozzles and pipe connections. Otherwise, “go down,” i.e. to the tank, and check the condition of the pump outlet fitting and tube, and also turn on the washer and evaluate its performance by eye. If the fitting is broken, compare your skills and the cost of the part. At times, repairing a fitting is useful and provides good savings in money and time - although sometimes you have to wait quite a long time for the ordered spare part.

Windshield washer nozzle

Briefly about how to remove windshield washer nozzles to clean them. If the object (mote) is larger than the diameter of the nozzle, then the obstacle from the outside can be pushed deeper into it, and it will “come back”. The injectors are usually fixed with elastic latches that need to be squeezed. It is convenient when the injectors are installed on the hood - the latches can be squeezed from the inside.

Alternately prying the nozzle on both sides, pull it out along with the tube. If you are not sure what will happen, remove the overlay (“frill”). It is not at all necessary to remove the wiper arms - just bend the trim.

After removing the nozzle, use a pin or something similar to remove the blockage and blow (rinse) the nozzle in the opposite direction. You can also clean and wash the windshield washer fan nozzles, just try to remove dirt from all the jets. You can soak them in a soap solution, or better yet, soda ash. If the injector body is detachable, disassemble it, but be careful - there may be a check valve with a ball and a spring. The valve holds water in the tubes, so that when the washer is turned on, the liquid is immediately supplied to the glass and the wipers do not scrape dry dirt. When you put the nozzles in place, use a pin to adjust the direction of the jet, just do not damage the hole.

How to get rid of a loose wiper blade?

The phenomenon of “shifting” indicates the reason for the destabilization of the wiper operation from a theoretical perspective. What in practice? What are the symptoms of an impending wiper problem?

For example, here is an elementary problem. The car is fresh, the brushes are new, but they clean with gaps in the middle, and even bounce in places. Let's add here several thousand spent on alternative elastic bands. In the end, the result is the same: the quality of cleaning remains at a depressing level, and the money is wasted.

Meanwhile, the solution to this issue is, in principle, possible without the ruble. It is enough to check the angle of contact of the leash to the glass. It's easy to do this:

Remove the brush.
Place the leash on the glass.
Make sure that the contact point between the adapter and the lead is pressed against the glass with the center.

If the eye sees a deviation from the norm, then the geometry is corrected with an ordinary flat-head screwdriver. It is advisable to use a more powerful tool, since the material of the leash is difficult to deform. It is possible that the straightened foot may again take its previous shape. It is for these reasons that it is recommended to repeat the procedure after about a day or two.

Skips in the middle and jumping may also indicate insufficient clamping force. It's quite easy to check. Spray some water, turn on the wipers and lightly press the leash against the glass with your finger. Are the skipping, rattling and squeaking gone? Then the problem is the spring located in the design of the leash.

How to return the spring to its former stiffness? Three methods have been developed for this purpose:

Replace the spring and leave the leash. The solution is especially relevant for foreign cars with exorbitant prices for original leashes. When a new assembly unit costs about 5,000 rubles, and a spring costs around 100-300 rubles, there is something to think about. Moreover, if the factory parts are preserved in acceptable condition.
Lengthen one part of the leash. Typically, the design of the wiper holder involves a riveted connection. It can be riveted and one part can be pulled out relative to the other. At this time, the spring will tighten a little and the clamping force will be restored.
Replace the leash. The simplest solution to the problem. It is widely practiced by owners of VAZs and budget foreign cars from the mass C-class segment.

Repair - modernization

The janitor and the leash are all in my house, then what should I do? To begin with, I decided to evaluate the spring; if you move the ear away, you can even feel it with your hand - that it has weakened, it is not as stiff as before! Apparently this is the whole reason. Well, you need to replace this spring with a new one, but first you need to remove it.

Removing this is also a “pleasure”, it sits very firmly, it is UNREALISTIC to remove it with pliers (I tried, but I tore off the spring). However, everything is simpler than it really is.

Look - the spring hooks on one side to the “bar” of the main part, on the other to a metal bracket that fits onto the “ear” of the wiper. We need to take a copper cable with enough (1)1.5 mm for 2 cores, thread it through a metal bracket and pull it towards us. It is advisable to place the windshield wiper itself on a chair and press it with something. Personally, I wrapped it in a towel and pressed it with my foot.

IT IS WORTH REMEMBERING that the spring is very stiff and can “shoot”, so we take precautions, remove watches, rings, etc. It is advisable to cover your eyes with safety glasses! Or somehow neutralize the spring, for example, wrap it in fabric (if it shoots, it will hit it).

Thus, everything is removed - then we need to find a similar spring, but shorter, a few turns, so that the rigidity is higher.

How to choose a spring

There are quite a lot of such springs, some owners even buy leashes from VAZ, for example KALINA, PRIORA and others, remove them from them and install them on their holder. BUT! The price will be about 300 - 400 rubles, this is not our method, so we are simply looking for the spring itself.

Usually this comes from the hood, trunk holders, and also from the VAZ brake pads. Personally, I first took the “classic” pads, but it turned out to be too short, I didn’t have enough strength to tighten it. Then I bought a front-wheel drive one (VAZ-2108) and everything worked out, it was a couple of turns shorter and gave it really good rigidity. The cost is only 40 rubles.

The PRESS feeling has become much better.

About choosing windshield wipers

Actually, I didn’t take the original ones, because the price for the originals is very high, but I took the frameless ones. There are a lot of different companies, I have no allegiance to any one LET you blame me later. I went to the E-katalog website and looked and selected according to the necessary parameters.

Frameless - windshield - various sizes (main - 650 mm, secondary - 380 mm) - preferably two pieces in a set - a serious company. And it just so happened that the most suitable ones are BOSCH, by the way there are more expensive ones, but I don’t see the point in overpaying. They have two pieces in a set, put it on and forget it, and the price is normal.

Useful tips for motorists

Find some free time to determine the cause of the squeak. There is no need to try all the methods one by one without diagnosing the problem.
To extend the life of your wipers, regularly wipe the wipers with an alcohol wipe. See how much dirt remains on it after this procedure. Trapped particles of debris and dust prevent the part from functioning normally, resulting in a not very pleasant sound.
Special wipers with graphite coating in light gray color are available for sale. Sooner or later, they also require wiping with alcohol. Use minimal force to avoid damaging the coating.
Do not buy universal wipers, since not every part fits a certain car model. In some cases, looseness, loose fit and fastening are possible. Be sure to write down the name of the fully compatible wipers so you don't waste valuable time next time.
It is recommended not to use wax or special oils on the windshield. Such substances make the surface too slippery. In addition, they are the main cause of damage to wiper rubber bands.
Do not use wipers when the glass is frozen. This may cause the cleaning rubber bands to come off the brushes.
Make sure that the liquid you pour into the windshield washer barrel is clean; debris, dirt, even small particles can damage the wipers.
It is strictly forbidden to pour in dishwasher detergent, which makes the windshield squeaky clean. A similar effect can be observed on plates.

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