Wiper Blade

[Kiwi Bob]

Anybody got any recomendations for Wiper baldes. Mine's never been much cop but seems to have detiorated of late. I've heard you can replace the entire system but this sounds both time consuming and costly.

Anybody got any quick/cheap recomendation???????

[dobbo]

Get the screen really clean then use Rain Ex. The rain just groups together and runs off. Careful, though, it can be mesmerising when you first apply it ! The only time I need wipers is when there's fine spray that's not enough to group into big drops. Even then, it's only a single flick.

 

Oh, and it comes in a pink dildo shaped bottle from Halfords - try and keep a straight face when buying it...

 

Chris

[Steve J]

Oh, and it comes in a pink dildo shaped bottle from Halfords - try and keep a straight face when buying it...

 

Chris

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Really? Mine is in a yellow bottle. Are you sure it wasn't something else you bought?

 

Kiwi Bob, are you sure you don't want to install the S2 wiper blade. This is generally what most S1 drivers recommend.

[GCCK]

As Steve says, the thing to do is buy an S2 arm and blade. Works far better than original S1 stuff and is barely more expensive than S1 blade only. DIY job to fit.

 

Wiper arm: A117M0105F

Wiper blade: A117M6044F

 

Approx £24 + VAT & carriage, IIRC

[KiwiPete]

I second the Rain X. It works well.

 

Cheers

 

Peter

 

PS Good to see another kiwi on the forum

[simon_prickett]

Change the whole lot for £25... here's how:

 

http://www.crudworks.org/elise/projects/s2wiper/index.html

 

Simon.

[chorton_1]

The above link gives a good impression of what to do. There are some things that can require a bit of work:-

*) Removing the old arm. Even with the nut off they can be hard to remove as the arm is on a taper (i.e. a cone). You can buy a tool to do this, but I used a couple of small blocks of wood (resting on the panel and NOT on the windscreen!) and some levers to prise it off. When it releases it flys off and can give a bit of a fright.

*) Once the new wiper arm is on it can be removed a re-aligned, but you are fixed with the problem of getting it off (see above), although this is usually easier 2nd time round. When it goes back on it will slip round to the nearest spline that was formed the first time it went on.

*) If the arm and cover foul the bonnet panel you are left with 3 options - adjust the panel a bit, remove the arm and open up the bottom of the hole in the wiper arm a little bit so it sits lower or shave a bit off the underside of the bonnet......

 

Definitely a worthy mod if only because it then gives many options of replacement blades ( both in cost and in suppliers). As in the link, its difficult to know whether the S1 is poor because of design or age. Certainly the length of the wiper blade and the curvature of the windscreen mean that the blade has a tougher time than on most cars.

[MarkH]

I bough the Eliseparts S1 replacement at the Donnie show - it was a 2 minute job to fit and the performance has been superb ever since - now I can see when its wet!.

 

No mods needed to the bonnet at all & no scratches.

 

Cheers

 

Mark

[Ladders]

Chorton,

 

Whats the best way to open the hole in the arm up? Drilling?

[chorton_1]

I didn't actually do that, I did one of the, erm, other options!

 

However, you will only need to take a VERY small amount off the bottom edge (i.e. NOT all the way through). Because the arm sits on a cone, just round the bottom corner will be enough to drop the arm down a bit. I'd just use a small round file and take the corner off and see how much it drops and repeat as necessary.

 

Good luck!

[Mark A]

Rain-x is a complete pain. It works great to begin with but when it wears out (as it does with wiper use) it actually makes the situation worse.

I've used it on various cars over the years and just CBA any more.

 

 

The new wiper blade and arm work great. I bought the Lotus S2 one from NW for ......bollox can't find the receipt but it was around £27.

No modification required to the bonnet, it just pushes on. (This is the situation I've experienced with 2 Elises & 1 Exige that I have done this on).