Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Maintenance & Servicing Wipers not cleaning properly the windscreen

Ciao,
I do not know if because of my poor English I was not able to use the right word to search for the correct discussion or if I am the only one having this issue.

Let me explain it.
Today, for the first time, I drove my Aero SS under the rain.
The wipers (that do not look like the most advanced piece of technology) were not cleaning properly the windscreen.
Or better, all three while moving up are doing their job, but 2 out of 3, while coming back in "rest" position are just taking back some water.
My first thought was that maybe blades were ruined so I switched the working one (obviously on the passenger side) to another position but nothing changed.
So I guess it's related to the "pressure" of the wiper arm on the screen.
It seems to me that wipers are not really designed for Aero cars... So any suggestion/link even on other Morgan models is more than welcome.
Thanks for your patience and support.
Ale

Hello Ale.

To work properly, the wiper blade rubbers need to be at 90deg to the windscreen so that they will "feather" correctly in both directions. My Plus 4 wipers only worked in one direction when I first tried them and juddered badly on the return.

To get them working, I took the blades off the arms (as you would to replace them) and then very carefully bent the arms until the tips that hold the blades were flat/parallel to the screen. I used grips to hold the arms at the very tips (so any marks don't show as this area is within the wiper blade when it is refitted) and with thin card to further protect the arms. With all three blades refitted to the arms, I wet the screen a little and tried them, making small adjustments as necessary to get the best performance.

I've also seen a number of cars with the wiper arms bent into a curve, which I think owners do to increase the spring pressure on the blade. I haven't resorted to this yet but hopefully other owners will also share their experience/views to guide you.

I've used the above technique many times over the years to improve wiper performance on a selection of cars so hopefully it should work for you on the Aero too... good luck.

Ciao MonteZooma...
thanks for the useful info.
Good point.
Today or tomorrow I'll take off the blades and see the arm "angle" of the passenger's one and the driver's one and see how they look like.
How did you checked the angle to make sure that they were flat?
You put back them on the screen (obviously not making them run :)) and looked at their position or is there any better way to check those?

Sorry Ale, I should have been clearer.

Yes, I carefully place the wiper arm tips on the windscreen to gauge the adjustment needed, but don't run the wipers or you'll scratch the screen. To be as accurate as possible, you really need to set the arm tips parallel to the screen at the distance they sit normally from the screen with the blades in place, but this is difficult to judge accurately. This is why you may need to make final small adjustments when you try them.

Hope that it works for you, good luck, MZ.

This (a slight curve) and Rain-X on the windscreen seems to work for me.

Hey - it`s a Morgan! the wipers do not clear the screen but just redistribute the water.
Oh, the joys of Mog ownership- but we still love them!

I agree. But last Friday when it was raining like hell and I had 200km more to go, I was not loving it 100%
Next week I check the angle and maybe buy a bottle of rain-x.

I have not tried Rainex, but I regularly polish the windscreen of my 4/4 with Autoglym Glass Polish. I find it helps water clearance. The water tends to bead off, in the same way as it would from polished paintwork.

Bud
__________
2003 - 4/4

Agreed.
But if I succeed to fix just a little bit the wipers + rain-x hopefully I can manage it with no major issues.

Ale,

I've used Rain-X successfully too in the past, but mainly on crash helmet visors where it definitely helps stream rain droplets off as described by others above.

For me though, getting wiper alignment right also has the added benefit of improving the ambience in the car, especially on those days when conditions dictate you've got to have the hood up... no nasty juddering from the wipers.

P.S. There may be those who of course never, ever put the hood up... but they probably don't need wipers either, wear their underpants outside their trousers, and go under the name of Mr C Kent