Wiper blades

[bcr5784]

My nearside wiper wasn't clearing the screen as it should, so I was ready to order some Volvo ones. However the blade loooked fine and it turned out that some (quite a lof) of the water holes in the arm were blocked. A bit of excavation with a pin cleared them out. Worth checking before "investing" in new blades.

[croyde]

Good advice there, cheers. I presume, what with those water jets, they are not cheap.

New to me and only vaguely related. Anything with multi batteries like my little radio.

If it runs out of juice, use a cheap tester as quite often it's only one or two batteries that are low on power.

Previously I'd throw away all 4 and replace

[fuzzy-si]

You dont need the Volvo wipers, the blade itself is the same as any other modern insert. You can go Halfords own brand if you like.

The washer holes are in the arm, completely separate from the actual blade that contacts the screen.

Edited by fuzzy-si on Thursday 27th March 12:16

[croyde]

fuzzy-si said:

You dont need the Volvo wipers, the blade itself is the same as any other modern insert. You can go Halfords own brand if you like.

The washer holes are in the arm, completely separate from the actual blade that contacts the screen.

Edited by fuzzy-si on Thursday 27th March 12:16

Ah, thanks for that.

It was someone at Alpine, when I asked them to change the wipers on my new to me car because they were really noisy, that told me that they are bloomin' expensive, after having changed them for free.

[fuzzy-si]

I had similar. the original set just smeared everything, they changed them, and are/were better, but still pretty bad, and now not interested in them.

I'll be changing the rubber blade only for a Valeo one sometime soon...

[domrusty]

fuzzy-si said:

I'll be changing the rubber blade only for a Valeo one sometime soon...

I did the same - just bought cheap Lucas blades of the right length and took the inserts out to replace the ones in the Alpine blades. Cleaned out the water channel and spray holes with a barbecue skewer and a toothpick… Hopefully will last another four years!

£20 all in?

[gloomington]

What's the spec of the cheap ones? Would be good to have a pair in the garage for the day I actually need them

[Captainian]

I changed the rubbers (only) this morning. Super easy even with 2 left hands.

For those who don’t know, if you put the wiper stalk all the way to the bottom, it parks the wiper vertically so I didn’t even need to remove the blade (or disconnect the water hose) - just replaced the rubber in situ.

I ordered this Volvo rubber-only spare. Minor trimming required.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/256679659367?mkcid=16&a...

[domrusty]

Captainian said:

For those who don’t know, if you put the wiper stalk all the way to the bottom, it parks the wiper vertically so I didn’t even need to remove the blade (or disconnect the water hose) - just replaced the rubber in situ.

Brilliant - I couldn’t find that anywhere in the manual…

I bought a pair of Lucas AIRFLEX DirectFit for £20 from wiperblades.co.uk, but don’t use the lookup by Reg or Make/Model as it’s wrong. Just measure the Alpine blade lengths and buy ones large enough to trim down the inserts.

I note that for even less money you can buy the inserts only, but it’s hard to tell from the picture whether the profile is going to fit well. The Lucas ones were a good snug fit.

https://www.wiperblades.co.uk/products/accessories...

[fuzzy-si]

Volvo blades not required. Any modern blade will do...

[Captainian]

[quote=fuzzy-si]Volvo blades not required. Any modern blade will do...

Thanks - I wasn't sure about the different profiles, so went with one someone had used - I'll go with your even cheaper one next time...