Wiper Refurbishment
 

The wipers on the D3 are ready for replacement and I thought I'd go the same route as my A4 and refurbishment with fitting new rubbers.

Save a bit of money and its a satisfying 30 minute job to do on your lunch break.

I got a set of spare wipers and was going to do the work on them.
Since I've not done these before I thought it would be a good just in case any thing broke.

It was over 2 years ago since I did my wipers, so I referred back to my orignal thread to remind me how to do it.

First, Get your aero wipers and the wiper blade kit (Part No, 1K0 955 429)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...s/IMAG0074.jpg

Second, Pull the ends off.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...s/IMAG0075.jpg

Thirdly, With the ends off, you want to find this clip and bend it up so you can pull the rubber blade out.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...s/IMAG0076.jpg

Fourth, With the ends off take the old the blades out and give the unit a good clean.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...s/IMAG0078.jpg

Fifth, put the new blades in, crimp the clamp down again and put the ends on.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...s/IMAG0079.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...s/IMAG0080.jpg

You don't have to do the next steps but I did cause I was obsessed with plasti dip.

six, put the wipers in your spray booth.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...s/IMAG0081.jpg

seven, Cover in plasti dip and enjoy
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...s/IMAG0082.jpg

That was all well and good.
It worked for a couple of different wipers that friends and family have done.

But not on the D3 wipers.

As you can see here.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...psvqnvnuhh.jpg

Its two metal strips and the all the rubber in the middle is the blade and unit.
The fin is not separate from the blade like the others and its all clipped in really hard.

I'm not sure if you can get refurbishing kits for these but I will look, unless someone knows the answer?

I'm not sure if the D2 has aero wipers and if they do if this is possible.
But if you do, I do have a spare set of new blades if you want to attempt this.

D2 uses traditional metal wiper blades and not Aero ones.

Indeed, though I've fitted aero ones to my D2.

That had me reading with interest, shame it didn't work out. I just forked out £52 for a set the other day at Audi, having searched all the local shops and online retailers to no avail for a set of new wipers.

I really thought the FL D2 would come with aero wipers.

If has aero wipers like the ones in my pictures and wants a kit, let me know.

The more I look at the D3 wipers the more I think its not possible.
When I get my ETKA back I'll have a look.

You can get aero wipers for a FL D2 but the 'original' fittings were standard wipers with an 'aerofoil' on the driver's wiper and a curved passenger wiper.

I've tried all sorts over the years on my D2s and, without a doubt, the original Audi wipers are by far the best. I got my last set from TPS for a little over £30 IIRC.

^^^ what he says. The curved passenger side wiper is a must to ensure full cover without banging on the scuttle. And the rubbers can be replaced too.+++

Curved passenger wiper?

Can't the D2 use arms from the A6 or Allroad?
Even something like the VW Touareg?

Adjust the wiper sizes to get the maximum wipe.

The Passat arms fit A4s, MK4 golf fits Leon and so on. Something must be suitable for the D2?

Audi wipers are normally Bosch wipers and they are very good.
Main reason why I always buy the OEM refurbish kits. You the get the quality with out the price tag.

If you don't have the proper curved wiper on the passenger side, it'll 'slap' the windscreen rubber, particularly on the fast setting in heavy rain

That kink/bend in the arm.

That would make it difficult to find a suitable replacement.

Not at all. My local car accessories shop had no trouble

replacement to go Aero away from the old school hook arms.

I've not found that necessary and mine are longer than OEM.

Passenger side IIRC is a straight 23" aero (OEM 22" curved) and it "just" clears everything, maybe some aero designs don't but mine are fine.
And both wipers park well out of the way on the lower black area. ;)

C5 A6 uses the same curved passenger side blade as D2. Valeo and Bosch do vehicle specific curved blades but not much if any cheaper than Audi. I found that aero style or straight aftermarket blade does not clear well at the bottom on the passenger side due to fair amount of windscreen curvature but never seen them slapping scuttle trim or anything. You just have triangle at the bottom of passenger side about 2x3.5-4 inches that does not get cleared properly.Bending them improves it a bit for a while but still not as good as proper curved blades.

I'm getting my self really confused by what you guys mean of a curved blade.

I thought you mean the curved arms but now you're saying blade.

All blades curve like this.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...s/IMAG0079.jpg
Aeros curve more and are more flexible for shaping around your screen than the old hook style.

It's curved when you look at it from the top.

Edit

Here is the picture of curved Bosch blade for D2 & C5

http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/attachmen...1&d=1418902408

Say that's a 22" blade with a curve, its over all length could be 21" (I'm guessing and making up numbers here) tip to tip due to the curve.
So a 21" straight blade would have the same effect?

That's a shallow curve.

Well, that's something new I've learned!

I don't think I've ever seen a wiper blade curved that way before. I always assumed people were referring to a curve that curves with the surface of the windscreen.

Why would you need one that curves like that? All my D2s have always had straight blades.

I presently have a pair of these on my D2 S8 (one 21" and one 22"), and they work great:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00CXJZ330

Better picture of one: http://i.imgur.com/aOjZnNC.jpg

David and I both fitted the proper curved blade some months ago - miles better than any other blade I've tried. He'll agree, I'm sure

Overall 21.5". But a 23" blade still works for me. ;)

I don't doubt that for a moment, but I'm fascinated now why that should be. I mean, I can think of a few advantages of having a curved blade, but I can't think why it would be that the curvature alone would make it wipe better than a straight blade, except maybe if by being curved, the increased vertical distance between the middle of the blade (ie the peak of the curve) and the ends of the blade, create a more rigid structure, one that is less prone to wobble/judder as it moves across the windscreen.

Other than that, I would imagine the curvature would have the cosmetic advantage of bringing the tip of the n/s wiper closer to, and more inline with, the bottom edge of the windscreen. No doubt the curve also reduces the overall effective straight-line length of the blade, but if that were the only advantage, a shorter straight blade would be just as good.

I think the D3 blades are Valeo as the rubbers say SWF on them - but most other VAG cars are BOSCH Aero but there is no Valeo aftermarket part number for UK/RHD and places that sell these are selling LHD parts, but the EKTA specifies different part number of RHD & LHD and different for passenger and driver side but aftermarket ones are usually same for driver and passenger so there must be some compromise.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8kHXwEzCw8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhNDZOd9G9U

Don't confuse Valeo with SWF.
SWF is premium german brand for wipers. SWF is better than Bosch.
Valeo is cheap s**** in comparison.

That logic was true for D2. SWF may be owned by valeo, but the quality and brand are separate.

I had to replace my blades recently, I read this thread and was going to order SWF from Germany, but in the end I just got Bosch blades from Halfords, they seem to be good quality.

I had non genuine blades when i first bought my 8, switched them out for genuine and was much better, and now i can change the rubbers too, TPS 7.50 i think it was. Quantum blades also available too and are really reasonable.

Just a question, how often do you guys clean your blades? I was getting smearing and cleaned the blades with meths. Apparently they don't need changing as often as i thought.

I don't clean them. I change to genuine SWF rubbers on my D2 every year which I buy from TPS.

I need to order new wipers for the D3.
wheres the recommended place?

I'd use TPS. Even the cheap Quantum blades are ok and only a few quid each

I've got the D2 OEM blades on now (supplied by TPS), complete with the curvy lefty. Too early to tell how they perform, but they do seem to work well so far.


Got mine via a trade contact. How are you guys buying from TPS; aren't they trade only?

TPS Glasgow will sell to private individuals over the counter. I mean, a sale is a sale +++.

Ah, thanks. Good to know! :)

Although 200 miles is a bit far to go for a pair of wiper blades :D


Perhaps I should try the local branch.

Visiting a counter for car parts will be an interesting trip down memory lane. Hard to remember the last time I bought something for the car that didn't involve a mouse click!

Milton Keynes branch does sell to public but prices without trade discount are comparable or higher to Audi prices. Couple of times that I have checked it has always been cheaper to buy from Audi Northampton with their discounts and shorter distance to travel for me as well.

I have an account. But i've been reliably informed that Portsmouth TPS will sell to general public too.

http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/showthrea...ht=bosch+wiper

I bought these for the D3 and they worked a treat. Can't remember if I got them from ECP or eBay