[makem]

I need some help with my windscreen wipers.

They do not fully wipe all of the screen and the garage say it may be normal. However the car has been booked in to enable them to move the drivers wiper blade one notch on its mounting to make it clean closer to the edge of the drivers side of the screen.

Currently the drivers side blade stops some 3 or 4 inches from the vertical edge of the screen, leaving an unwiped area which it too wide imo down the whole of the right hand side of the screen.

In snow it ices up and cause the blade to bounce over the ice and itself to become iced up, consequently the screen is not wiped properly and it becomes dangerous, especially on a motorway where you cannot easily stop.

I think the top end of the blade should stop close to the top righthand edge of the screen, not 3 inches away.

Has anybody else noticed the drivers wiper blade stopping to far away from the drivers vertical edge of the screen before it returns downwards?

Does anyone feel it is a problem?

 

[rogerhume]

The sweep on mine is much better than my wife's Fiesta, the blades crossover and keep the whole screen clear, whereas the Fiesta does not clear the passenger side fully

 

[makem]

How much on the drivers side is not cleaned?

I mean down the door edge of the screen.

 

[rogerhume]

I had to checkIt ranges from 2.75to 3.5 inches on mine measured from outside to the rubber

 

[Robertdownie]

Yes I know what you mean. They are a pain in the neck. There is about three inches not wiped up the right hand side of the window. Also yesterday they were making a screeching noise and not clearing the windscreen properly. Overall they are not very good .

 

[makem]

So, they seem to be the same as mine.

I will let you know if by moving the blade one (or more notches), it reduces the area that is not cleaned when it goes in on Wednesday.

 

[Robertdownie]

The only thing is they may not go back far enough.

 

[makem]

Yes, that is my concern. However, there must be some + or - in the parking position.

What I cannot understand is why the passenger side is ok when both blades operate independently on separate motors and when the windscreen is the same shape both sides.

Looking at the blade mounting points in relation to the windscreen, the drivers side is closer to the vehicle centre than the passenger side. Why would that be if the screen is symmetrical?

If the service centre say it cannot be adjusted I will try to find independent safety advice because I think that the %age of uncleaned window in the drivers view is unacceptable and dangerous.

We may find that the wipers are designed for left hand drive vehicles which would account for the passenger side being correct in UK models.

I wonder if this applies:

http://assets.dft.gov.uk/publications/dft-information-sheets/stickers-or-other-obscurations-in-front-and-rear-windscreens.pdf


Edited by: makem

 

[Specialk]

Hi Makem,Could be a normal distance as mine is about the same at 3"

 

[Bilbopup]

Mine are the same and I have always thought it was because it was designed for the lefthand drive. It had snowed this morning and they cleared most of it easily but that side bar on the right hand side is a pain butI expect we will have to live with it.

but if someone solves the problem I will look forward to hearing what to do.

 

[makem]

I had the wipers checked today in view of the OS one not clearing the screen fully or even nearly fully. This is the result:

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Unable to confirm issue with wiper arm/blade OS
Move OS arm 1 spline up spindle + test
Blade covers slightly more of screen but doesnt park as low as before
Advise no more adjustment as hits finishing trim.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When I tested it, it does not hit the trim when stationary but may when the vehicle is moving.

I am not sure whether a higher parking position is counter productive as it only marginally cleans more of the screen when stationary. I need to check when moving in rain/snow.

I spoke to the master technician who said all B-Max's are coming in like that. I told him that I had read somewhere that although the wipers are controlled by the main module, there is something on the wiper motor which tells the module where the blade is. This may be adjustable, allowing the blade to park correctly and sweep a wider area. He will look into it and will contact Ford and let me know the result.

 

[Robertdownie]

This is not good news, these wipers are terrible. Has anybody had the screeching noise when the weather is snow / frosty. This must be dangerous when you can't see out the whole windscreen .

 

[makem]

This is not good news, these wipers are terrible. Has anybody had the screeching noise when the weather is snow / frosty. This must be dangerous when you can't see out the whole windscreen .

I put my car through a car wash machine today. At the end of the wash it was sprayed with liquid wax as usual. However, today, I noticed that when the wipers were cleaning the screen of the small amount of rain which had just started (it always does, doesn't it?), the drivers wiper started to screech. It wasn't loud but was annoying. I guessed it was caused by the wax and started the washers. The noise immediately stopped. The washers are filled with neat winter fluid.

Have you tried neat washer fluid to keep the screen clean?

 

[fossil01]

Yep, I've never used anything else in my driving time. We have a local Hardware Merchant who sells Windscreen washer fluidin 5Lt containers for something like £3 inc VAT!!

 

[rogerhume]

Most car washes give you a bag to put over the rear wiper

 

[Robertdownie]

Just taken my car to the garage today regarding sweep of windscreen wipers. They said they would look at it but weren't very hopeful because each wiper had its own motor. Also stil having problems with malfunction notice coming up . Has anybody else had this problem.

 

[Bilbopup]

At the beginning I had the malfunction alarm going off several times and couldn't read what was wrong before the message disappeared

but it turned out to one of the doors not shut properly. The rear doors are much heavier than on a conventional car andI came to the conclusion I just needed to give it a bit more of a push. Since then things have been ok. The alarm went off going round corners and not on the straight which was more confusing.

 

[Robertdownie]

This is the powertrain warning lamp. Its shows a small orange cog wheel. It say to take it to the garage sap.

 

[yorkie1]

I see a 4 inch area which in snow and ice is not cleared.

Passenger side is ok, but view to the right side through the windscreen is severely hampered with muck, ice etc.


Not sure if this is a result of averaging out the design across the market or just poor design...

 

[makem]

We need to raise this as a group with Ford.

I intend to measure the %age of driver restricted view compared with passenger restricted view. This could be the basis of a complaint.

Send a letter quoting the registration numbers of those who complain.

Anybody up to drafting such a letter?