Useless wipers

[Herzeg]

Has anyone come up with a solution for the useless wipers?

I have new blades and arms on my OTS and they don't grip the screen at all. I remember having wind deflectors on the blades of my cars back in the 80's and 90's and they pushed the blades onto the screen. Why can't we do something similar but more discreet?

Regards
John

[Heuer]

Solution = Rain-X. E-Type wipers are a tool of last resort!

The problem seems to be the rubber (or more likely, vinyl) that is used on repro blades. It is inflexible and does not form to the curve of the screen because it is designed for modern cars with powerful motors and strong springs to press the blades against the screen, neither of which the E Type has. I currently have a set of period Aeramic rubber blades and they work perfectly but finding three good ones is very difficult.

Use Rain-X (along with the Rain-X windscreen bottle additive) and you will have no problems; the faster you go the clearer the screen. At low speeds it is ineffective though so consider fitting an intermittent wipers module (see Upgrades Forum for details). I do have a set of three clip on aerofoils taken off on E-Type if you want to try them. I will put a for sale post on the Forum.

[abowie]

E-Type wipers are a tool of last resort!

[alfred]

I added those ugly springs onto the base of the wiper arm. Keeps the rubber on the glass, I can see where I'm going, but still a poor wipe.

[chrisfell]

No wipers on a motorcycle, bikers don't need them. This is nothing to do with speed or the shape of a visor, but simply that when you are very close to the rain soaked visor the rain drops cause very little distortion. So when it rains, and the wipers leave a smear rather than a clear screen, I lean forward so the screen is a few inches from my nose.

And I always carry rain-x.

[Hugo]

Why are E Tye wipers ineffectve? They're just wipers, aren't they? Same technology & same materials that's been used on every car for the last century? Won't stronger springs take care of it?

[cactusman]

Drive in the sunshine...mine are pretty useless...

[Simon P]

Think you're all doing something wrong. I got caught in a fair amount of bad weather on Friday and the wipers were just fine (everything from round-town crawling to fast dual carriageway driving). Could do with a lower speed for when it's just spitting, and the motor isn't the quietest, but apart from that no complaints.

Maybe it's an S2 thing?

[Herzeg]

I think this morning would have been a good test with torrential rain here in "sunny" London

Thanks for the comments, I'll get hold of some Rain X and maybe take you up on te deflectors offer David.

John

[JagWaugh]

You have to understand how Jaguar windscreen wipers of that era work. They don't actually push the water anywhere, what they do is annoy the water enough that it chooses to go elsewhere.

Rain-X is your friend. (better living through modern chemistry)

[Heuer]

Modern Chemistry? Rain-X was first introduced in 1972!

The S2, of course, has a more powerful motor than the S1 cars so it allows the tension springs to be stronger. There are also two types of blade offered by SNGB. The 'correct' one with the 'Aeramic' profile:


And the 'alternative' product with the flat & square profile:


Even in the photos you can see the problem with the alternative, it is flat rather than curved at rest (designed for flat screens). They also look horrible! However the correct part number 8183 are £18.25 each whilst the alternative 8183* are £8.33 each. Guess which one they sell most of Check yours and if you have the clunky looking and badly performing ones with vinyl blades, get the proper sprung rubber blade version. There is also an upgraded arm with higher tension spring available which you may want to consider at £15.58 each: http://www.sngbarratt.com/ProductDetail ... ba917d&l=7

Be aware that the small clip retaining the arm to the spindle can work itself off the detent allowing the arm to fly off. Those clips are not available separately so take care not to lose them. Angus has retained his arms to the spindle with self tapping screws which may be worth considering.

The Intermittent Wipe upgrade is most certainly worth doing: viewtopic.php?f=9&t=4718

Everything we know about wipers can be found here: viewtopic.php?p=83249#p83249

[JagWaugh]

Modern Chemistry? Rain-X was first introduced in 1972!

Are you implying that 1972 wasn't modern?

I'll have to think about that for a bit...

[Heuer]

Simon, our ace chemist, was not even born then and the E-Type was still in production. Classic cars are now supposedly defined by the date we don't need to pay road tax on them - "The changes to classic car tax rules will be favourable to most vintage car owners. In a move signalling their recognition of the part classic car owners play in the UK economy, the government has stated that the exemption from road tax, previously fixed at 40 years, will become a rolling one."

So maybe we have 'classic science' and 'modern science' to maintain comparability?

[Mark Gordon]

My car has the "alternative" style of wiper that David pictures above. Monday, I had to drive over 450 miles in the rain, at times a downpour and the rest of the time just steady. I use Rain-X, but one problem with it is that after an hour or so, it starts to lose its efficiency (probably just gets wiped and washed off). Rain-X works best when it's applied to a clean, dry windscreen, allowed to dry for a few minutes and then buffed off with a clean rag or paper towel. Then repeat the process. Unfortunately, after about 100 miles into the trip, the Rain-X wasn't working well and with the wind-blown rain and humidity, I couldn't really get the windshield dry enough even under overhead cover to properly re-apply. The rest of the trip I was forced to use the wipers which worked just fine, even while being doused by the spray of passing vehicles (some people, particularly truckers, drive at insane speeds in heavy rain).

[Kember17]

Re Rain X:

While my E Type is still in bits, I am not qualified to comment on the efficacy of one preparation or another on the E Type.

However, my Alfa Spider (which possibly has even more feeble wipers than the S1) really does not get on well with Rain X (wipers dragging/smearing/squeaking) but I've had excellent experience with Nanolex Urban (around £20 for 100ml IIRC). It disperses water droplets well from relatively low speeds (20 mph) and seems to last for several months at a time. I'm still on my first bottle after 18 months despite applying the liquid to two Alfas, an SLK, two large executive barges and the glazing real estate that is a Range Rover

Peter

[Durango2k]

Are the repro arms sold near the original parts ?

I have 2 intact ones- and one where the small spring is lost :-(,
so that I have to either repair it or swap it - or swap all three.

Mine even have the original blades (I think), will check. So, maybe
some loose rubber profile may solve that - the blades are at least
from 1978, when the car was last on the road.

Carsten

[SEJohnson95]

Rain-X is one of the best solutions for the problem, I agree with what has been said. Chemistry and a reference to Rain-X - I'm late to the party again! Too busy doing my own chemistry

I can't vouch for Rain-X on an E-Type but even on a modern car it was a brilliant addition. Smoother wiper action, cleaner windscreen, less fuss, safer driving. I used the spray on cleaner/applicator and windscreen washer fluid which David eluded to and put nothing else on the windscreen aside from giving it a bloody good polish beforehand. I used to use glass polish anyway which kind of had the same effect but nowhere near as good. The beading phenomenon observed there actually got me looking into these silicon coatings.

Have a look at this if you want to know more about the chemistry behind Rain-X, this little chestnut from a few years ago. (See also the January 2016 Club magazine for the "pretty" published version )

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=7668&hilit=Rain+X

[Heuer]

Mark

Rain-X does wear off hence the washer fluid 'top up' which works well. Sort of rejuvenates the beading effect. I swear by both.

[mark10337]

I find the more often it's applied, the better the build up on the screen and the longer it lasts + the screen washer additive although I don't use the screen wash that often.

[Mark Gordon]

Mark

Rain-X does wear off hence the washer fluid 'top up' which works well. Sort of rejuvenates the beading effect. I swear by both.

I have no doubt. Unfortunately, the spray coming out of the driver's side is pretty feeble. So using my windscreen spray helps the passenger see the car in front of us that I'm about to hit, but it does me little good. With everything that I've read of the horrors of R/R'ing the washer tubing and fittings, I just try to avoid driving in the rain as much as possible. In fact, my recent trip was the only time in my 9 years of ownership that I've really had to deal with any rain to speak of. Eventually, I guess that my luck just had to run out.