The Great Wiper Debate: Up or Down? Obviously you'll find both sides of the fence, but once you've watched this video, you will definitely keep your windshield wiper arm up before and during the snow / ice storm in the winter months. If you don't and you forgot to turn the wiper off when you parked the car before the storm, you may have to incur an expensive & costly repair of the windshield wiper mechanism such as the motor, linkages, transmission and the arm.
You see it every winter. Parking lots full of vehicles with their windshield wipers up. Your windshield wipers are an essential part of winter driving, nothing’s worse than a wiper blade breaking on a cold commute to work.
With each passing winter, more and more drivers are flipping up their wiper arms when the weatherman calls for freezing weather. The thought is simple; lifting the wiper blades from the windshield will prevent them from freezing to the glass during freezing weather conditions. It might seem simple, but it can cause some debate depending on who you ask.
Here are the two schools of thought:
Propping Wipers Up:
- Prevents damage to the wiper motor, should you turn on the ignition and have accidentally left the wipers on (and they’re frozen to the windshield).
- Prevents damaging the rubber, when you have to chisel them away from the windshield.
- Makes clearing away snow and ice from the windshield easier.
Leaving Wipers Down:
- Prevents damaging the springs inside the blade arm.
- Discourages vandalism.
- A non-issue because the defroster releases frozen blades.
So Which Is Correct?
Several wiper manufacturers recommend lifting the wiper blades up before things get icy, to protect the rubber blade, and the American Automobile Association (AAA) claims that leaving wipers up does not weaken the springs. If you choose to leave them down, it’s important to give your car enough time to warm up; the defroster will release frozen blades from the windshield.
The advantages of keeping your wiper blade arms upright makes some sense. Lifting the wipers makes it easier to scrape your windshield in the morning after a heavy snowfall or ice storm. It can also prevent your wiper blades from freezing to the windshield.
On the other hand, some may argue that keeping your wiper blades in an upright position may increase the wear and tear of your wiper arms by fatiguing the arm’s springs. Plus, some may think it looks downright silly to leave your wipers up, regardless of the weather.
The facts are clear. Leaving your wiper blades up will not cause damage to your wiper arms. Springs and the metal used for them are designed to handle the stress to being upright overnight. When upright, a spring will not reach its yield strength or dynamic range.
Most of your wiper’s wear on its rubber happens when you’re actually using your wipers. While keeping your blades lifted will cause some wear to the rubber, it’s fairly small.
It may look a little silly, but lifting you wiper blades during a winter storm can make your wiper blade last longer and will save you a lot of time when you’re cleaning off your vehicle in the morning.
Windshield Wiper System:
A simple electric motor is mechanically linked to a series of links and rods, which are connected to the wiper arms.
Turn the switch and voila, you have action - unless, of course, you forgot to check to see if the wiper blades were frozen to the windshield, or if the linkage was encased in ice from last night’s sleet storm.
Almost all wiper systems have some type of fail-safe. Certain vehicles will use a relay to shut the power off to the motor if it can’t complete a wiper blade cycle sweep due to frozen blades.
But even with these helpful features, auto shops are busy every winter with wiper system repairs; these can often run into the hundreds of dollars to replace motors and linkage assemblies, and it’s very easy and free to avoid this wallet pain.
First, every time you park your vehicle, make sure the wipers are turned off. Sounds simple, right? But this is the number one cause of wiper system failures. Get into the habit no matter what the season .
The second most common cause of wiper failures is letting snow and ice pack up at the bottom of the windshield. This can prevent the wipers from completing a cycle and will damage the linkages.
If you are faced with replacing a wiper linkage and have recovered from the shock of the estimate ($200 to $750), you may be able to source the plastic or nylon insert that causes 99 per cent of the failures of these units. Parts companies like Dorman make wiper linkage repair kits; for a few dollars you can buy just an insert that holds the linkage arms together rather than a complete unit.
Thanks for watching, please check our other DIY auto repair tutorial & guide videos on EyeOnAiman's channel.
Recording Date: December 16, 2019
Video link: • Watch This Video To Fi...
18 сен 2024
