Wiper blade parking

C

cj10jeeper

Lifer
 Lichfield, England
Just a niggle but when the wipers park they do not stop at the lowest point of travel, but continue for a few degrees back up the screen.

Perfection tells me that after being switched off they should complete the arc and stop at the lowest point of travel.

Without me pulling all the screen cover off to look is there any sort of adjustment on the motor/gearbox or is it all done by moving the wiper arms on the splines?
 
If they are rotating back up, then changing the position of the blade won't help ... true, you could adjust it so that the end position was lower, but then during the normal cycle the baldes would move too far down (i.e.; below the current lowest postion).
 
changing the position of the blade won't help
Click to expand...

Sure - that was my belief that all that does is moves the poisition of the arc and as you rightly say that would simply sweep too low and in my instance probably touch the edge of the screen.

(Years ago I recall moving a cap on top of the wiper geabox that positioned a microscitch to cut off the motor. That was easy with a bit of trial and error)

So does anyone know if there is park position adjuster?
 
Just a thought (based on zero actual knowledge)...

Perhaps the blades come back up slightly so that when they are parked the edges of the blades (in contact with the windshield) are angled down instead of up.

To put it another way... as the wiper moves up away from the hood, the rubber blade bends slightly, dragging behind the metal arm. When it reverses and travels back down towards the hood, the rubber blade again lags behind the metal arm.

Perhaps the correct "resting" angle is having the rubber blade lower than the metal blade, therefore the wiper arm needs to reach the bottommost part of it's travel, and then reverse slightly to let the rubber blade change position.

Sound reasonable? (it's a feature, not a bug!)
 
I like the idea and can see the logic, but am not convinced this would be a built in feature.

My X5 does not do it, so unless other Z4's did the same would be sceptical
 
Can't someone check their Z4 for you, then you'll know, I've not got mine anymore otherwise I would. I don't recall mine ever doing this, but not so sure I would notice anyway.
 
I can do it for you tonight hon, when I get home from work, and let you know. I don't drive it in the rain so I really don't know/remember. Now I'm curious too.

T.
 
Louv said:
Just a thought (based on zero actual knowledge)...

Perhaps the blades come back up slightly so that when they are parked the edges of the blades (in contact with the windshield) are angled down instead of up.

To put it another way... as the wiper moves up away from the hood, the rubber blade bends slightly, dragging behind the metal arm. When it reverses and travels back down towards the hood, the rubber blade again lags behind the metal arm.

Perhaps the correct "resting" angle is having the rubber blade lower than the metal blade, therefore the wiper arm needs to reach the bottommost part of it's travel, and then reverse slightly to let the rubber blade change position.

Sound reasonable? (it's a feature, not a bug!)
Click to expand...


I just knew someone was going to bring science,Physics,and logic into this
:sorcerer: I still think It's Aliens late at night :whistle:
 
Hi,

Had mine into the dealer and they say thats the way it should sit. Mine on the RHD passenger side comes up above the bottom part and can bee seen.

Hope that helps.
Dan
 
Damn, forgot to report my findings. Sorry I'm late but, I went out and measured from the bottom of the windshield to the bottom of the wiper (the plastic screen), and it was exactly 1 and 1/4" at rest. I turned them on and each time, they did return to this same postion.
I know what you're talking about though. My old Silverado does that too, while they're running, they stay 'elevated' about an inch or so, then when you turn the wipers off, they drop down another inch.
They don't on my Z though, everything stays even and the same.
Hope this helps,
T.
 
OK this is really good by both of you and confirms the correct resting position, which I believe is about right on mine.

It does still miss the question that when they park after being switched off they do not stop at the bottom of the arc but move UP the screen fractionally.

That's what I'm trying to understand if there is an adjustment for or it's intended to do.
 
I keep tellin ya.....Aliens...their everywhere,sneaky little devils :x
 
cj10jeeper said:
It does still miss the question that when they park after being switched off they do not stop at the bottom of the arc but move UP the screen fractionally.

That's what I'm trying to understand if there is an adjustment for or it's intended to do.
Click to expand...

cj, mine do not move up, they stay in the same position. Of course, the passenger side wiper is approx. 1 1/2" higher, at rest, then the drivers side - that is normal, however when turned off, they do rest at the position in which they started, no moving. I'm off again today and will take my Z to the shop in a minute. My mechanic is there and I will pick his brain.

More to follow...

T.
 
hi cj, ok, sounds like the wiper relay needs replacing Dan said, and hopefully that fixes the problem, otherwise you may to replace the *gulp* wiper motor. We drove my Z and played with the wipers a bit, they did not change positions from work to at rest, so indeed something is wrong. We did find though that my windshield wiper sprayer on the drivers side squirts crooked, toward the passenger side. It's in the garage now getting fixed. Ahhhh, the luxury of having a mechanic in your back yard :dance2:

Please let us know if this is the case.
T.
 
OK - that's great and points me exactly to the spot - thank you

Fortunately I have to take a 2 week vacation in the sun before I have to to think about wiper blades and the endless rain of an English Summer..
 
Kewl :thumbsup: . My advice: enjoy the sun while you can! I hate the cold and I'm outside as much as possible in the sunshine. Also, if you need any pics of where/what, just let me know and I'll snap a few for you as a DIY thing.

Enjoy your vaca
T.
 
I finally found half an hour to pull the wiper motor out and see what I could find wrong.

Easy enough to remove the wiper arms then the large plastic cover between screen and engine bay. Wiper comes out with a couple of star bolts and a plastic clamp.

Onto the bench and the first task was to pull all the arms off and the spindles out for a decent grease. That should fix the squeak they have. Next was to get to the park problem wher they cycle back up the screen and don't park correctly.

Pulled the top off the gearbox and sure enough there is a partail arc electrical connector that obviously keeps current to the motor after switched off until it cycles to the park position. Nothing was obvious and there is no adjustment on it, however it had a trail of grease. I cleaned it off suspecting that it was not allowing a clean break of the circuit.

Put it all back together, tested it and perfect. Silent wipers, parking in the exact correct spot and all done at no cost.... :)

Couple of photos of the inside of the motor showing the connecting ring with break to allow parking and the contacts on the face of the motor cover:

DSC02338.jpg


DSC02339.jpg
 
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