Wiper Arm - Excessive Sweep/knocking

[David's8]

I have tried to adjust the sweep of the (UK) drivers side blade so that it doesnt knock on either the plastic cover at the base of the window or the driver's side pillar. Despite several goes at adjusting the position on the spline, whilst the sweep is always OK at slow/medium wiper speed, at high speed it always knocks on one or other.The blades are Audi OEM of the correct size fitted last year. Is this a sign of worn mechanism? Can this be adjusted in any way? Its annoying in such an otherwise quiet car. :(

[PsYcHe]

Check the mechanism in the scuttle tray for play.

[The_Laird]

I've got a spare if you want to try swapping components. The motor is useless but some of the moving parts mght be OK

[David's8]

Thanks guys, I'll check the mechanism out when the weather allows (spring maybe?).

[The_Laird]

Or come up and use the garage. I've a spare set of keys

[briang9]

worst "I have cleaned my garage out" thread ever (in true Pistonheads Style for those of you who frequent):ROFL:

[The_Laird]

The full thread will follow when I've finished! :)

[David's8]

On another thread there was mention of plastic bushes in the linkages. Might these have become worn allowing too much play? Can anyone supply a drawing of the mechanism please?

[Dezzy]

I'm not sure on how it's made up but a friend had a 6 and his went the same way, i remember him saying it was silly money to replace. He took it out the car and crimped up the joints a bit and took a lot of the slack out. Don't know if it's possible on the 8 but might be worth a go if you can have a spare from Jim

[David's8]

Thanks for that Dezzy. +++ I guess I just need to get under the bonnet (when the weather allows) to investigate and see what can be done.

[Green Goblin]

Interested to see the outcome of this. I have the exact same problem - only does it on full speed. Car is a 2001 S8.

[Dezzy]

I'm always really anal when it comes to wipers as my linkage is a bit sloppy and a fair amount of play in the spindals, i'll not put them on untill the screen is wet, hardly ever have them on flat out and always set a intermittent delay that suits so there is enough water to lubricate (it's so handy ranging from 1.5 - 22 secs)

[David's8]

Havent got around to this job yet and wont be likely to until end April.

[The_Laird]

I wonder if we should strip my spare one when you get back David, rebuild it and then swap it out with yours? Then do the same for mine. That way we'd not be bothered about waiting for parts.

[Dezzy]

I wonder if we should strip my spare one when you get back David, rebuild it and then swap it out with yours? Then do the same for mine. That way we'd not be bothered about waiting for parts.

Recon exchange, good idea Jim +++

[David's8]

I wonder if we should strip my spare one when you get back David, rebuild it and then swap it out with yours? Then do the same for mine. That way we'd not be bothered about waiting for parts.

Sounds like a plan Jim. +++ It would be useful to find out just where the play is in the system.

[David's8]

Well, have just got around to this job and having replaced the wiper mechanism with a spare of the Laird's the issue has been resolved. On taking mine off one of the joints which appears to be a pressed ball and socket joint just fell apart. So the slackness in the mechanism caused by the wear in that joint was enough to allow too much sweep on the blades. +++

I'll see if I can get some photos but the Laird has my old mechanism for he spare motor.

[Phil303]

I've just replaced my wiper motor with a brand new one from Audi. After fitting, it turns out the old motor was fine.

If you want a working motor to go with a spindle set let me know.

[David's8]

Thanks for the offer but a good motor came with the spare mechanism and the Laird now has my old working one as a spare so all is fine for now. Its a treat not to have the damn thing knocking on the A-pillar when its raining.... which it has been doing a lot just lately.

[sporran]

I've got the same problem, only it's the passenger side that's thumping down on the plastic

Stevie

[David's8]

The passenger side should be easy to fix as it only batters against the scuttle plastic. Also, check that the passenger side wiper blade is the proper curved one. If its been replaced by a straight blade then it may need adjusting. Remove the passenger arm from the spindle and re-mount it a few degrees so that it travels further across the windscreeen but doesnt hit the scuttle on the down stroke. You might have to sacrifice the neat, out-of-sight parked position.

[sporran]

Yip was gonna give that a go when the weather picks up a bit, I'll let you know how I got on