Hello all. Just bought a gorgeous soft-top but am having difficulty with the wiper blades. I think they are not the right size and keep catching each other when operating. Can anyone please tell me what size the blades should be and, are Areo blades better than the traditional type? Many thanks.
-
-
Both are 21" -
If that's them 'parked' in the photo, they need re-aligned on their spindles to sit horizontal parked.Comment
-
Thanks guys. Thrumbleux , no they're not 'parked' in this pic, I had just moved them up slighty to show them more clearly. I had thought about re-alignment but they seem to lay fine when 'parked'. I just thought that maybe the lower one should be shorter than the upper...Comment
-
Mine have clashed previously - flipping one of the blades over. Now, I use shorter blades (and a very short one on passenger side) to stop them juddering. They don't clash.Comment
-
Ahhhhhh! That sounds EXACTLY what mine do! Judder and Flip! What sizes do you use and are they regular or Aero Blade type?Comment
-
17'' driver side, 11'' passenger side. Initially I had an even shorter (from classic Mini) but too much unswept area for visibility. With 17'' and 11'' there is (obviously) unswept area but not in my field of vision. Depends what height you are and seat position you use but those work for me. And no juddering! Looks neat too, and just standard (non aero) blades.
Comment
-
Thanks Thrumbleux ! I'll give them a whirl and see how they do...Watch this space...Comment
-
My Cabrio is also from 2002 and exactly same colour as yours stream green. Has clocked 232k so far. I have always used 22" wiper blades both sides. Check for excessive play in wiper linkages if yours keep catching.
Wiper rod sets are available cheaply as spares, about £20 from Smart. The plastic pivot bearings for each wiper arm are part of the whole assembly so cannot be changed but it is possible to rebush which is what I did a couple of years back.
http://www.fq101.co.uk/how-to-guides...ge-replacementComment
-
Link to thread about 450 wiper mechanism overhaul. Regrettably the photos do not show due to Photobucket greed. Intend to sort that out shortly hopefully tomorrow morning.
http://www.thesmartclub.com/board/sh...anism-OverhaulComment
-
Wiper mechanism in my almost thirteen year old Cabrio was getting a wee bit worn with excessive play in its pivot bearings and joints but no wear whatsoever in pivot shafts.
Luckily mine was not as bad as the pivots seen in above photos thanks to grease points having been added early in its life.
The main pivots do not have proper bearings. Bearing is part of the plastic pivot. Mine were worn about 0.5 mm. I sourced a Unibit step drill #11102 from eBay for GBP10 delivered. This drill makes perfectly round holes and its largest diameter is 12 mm. Goes in steps from 4, 6, 8, 10 to 12 mm. I then made a guide out of a round bar. Bored out the guide on a lathe so the 4 & 6 mm steps on the Unibit drill will centre the drill allowing me to line bore out the pivots to 12 mm diameter.
I drilled out the pivots to 12 mm nominal diameter to about 16.5 mm depth. Used a hand held battery powered drill to drive the Unibit step drill. Guide inserted into pivot bore lightly pushed against drill bit whilst boring out. Each bore took only a few seconds to complete.
Actual bores just made measured 12.2 mm in diameter so I turned down Oilite bronze bearings MP101316 to 12.25 - 12. 28 mm diameter. These were pressed into the freshly made bores.
I also replaced the two existing bronze bearings on the idler pivot of the wiper mechanism. Made a new pair of bearings by turning down Oilite MP101316 sintered bush to 12.05 mm diameter and 12.5 mm long, the maximum bearing length the idler pivot can accommodate.
I opened out wiper motor to check it over. Its bearing was fine so no need to replace. Had to bore out rivets and tapped M4 threads for M4 stainless steel screws.
Greased up with 45 year old Marfak grease prior to reassembly.
Below photo shows how I inject grease into pivot bearings.
More than ten years ago I drilled 2 mm holes in the middle of the pivots for idler and the two for wiper arms. Drilled such that it is possible to inject grease via the small access openings so no need to remove front cowl. The Oregon chain saw grease gun points to a 2 mm grease injection point.
Reassembled the mechanism with new linkages. These are particularly cheap costing less than GBP 20 for a set of three linkages. Surprisingly, there was very little play in my old linkages, inspite of the car having clocked 200,000 wet km in nearly 13 years. Must be attributed to me having greased them up twice in Marfak.
All pivot shafts and shaft out of motor drive measure 10.0 mm in diameter. The Oilite MP101316 sintered bush bearings used for making the new bearing bushes measure 10 mm ID, 13 mm OD and 16 mm long. Their price vary but I managed to get them for 90 pence each.
Here is the assembled wiper mechanism:
Cannot feel any more play in any of its joints. Total overhaul cost: GBP 40.
I have a few spare Oilite bearings if members without access to metalworking lathes wish to sort out there own wiper mechanism. Drilling out the pivot bores can only be done with mechanism removed from the car. The only exception is top bearing for wiper arms which can be done in situ. No point only doing the top since bottom bearings will be worn to same extent. Bearings on idler pivot are bronze and will usually be in a reasonable state.
I strongly recommend drilling holes for injection of grease. The special Oregon chain saw grease gun typically costs about GBP 9 and can be sourced cheaply on eBay.Comment
Comment