Omega Owners Forum

Chat Area => General Car Chat => Topic started by: TheBoy on 06 April 2018, 17:55:47

Title: Zaffy rear wiper
Post by: TheBoy on 06 April 2018, 17:55:47
Is shit.  It lifts off the rear window at the edges as soon as it starts to move upwards, and gets worse. At the far end of its travel, only the middle 4-6" are touching the glass.

Has to be the arm, surely?  Its hard against its endstop on the arm hinge, so not just gone stiff.

Arm is approx. 2 years old.
Title: Re: Zaffy rear wiper
Post by: TheBoy on 06 April 2018, 17:56:40
Rear wiper blade replaced (old one was split one end), but no better (actually, a fair bit worse I'd say).
Title: Re: Zaffy rear wiper
Post by: STEMO on 06 April 2018, 18:10:26
Don't think anyone on here has actually owned the Mk1, so don't know.
Title: Re: Zaffy rear wiper
Post by: bootie on 06 April 2018, 18:35:17
I do and the word on the street is the mounting of the motor inside the tailgate can be suspect. Mine is actually fine but according to other owners the bolts are into nylon bushings which split with age/use. Once they go the motor tilts slightly and the spindle is then out of alignment causing the rubbish clearing action.

Hope this helps

Jon
Title: Re: Zaffy rear wiper
Post by: Kevin Wood on 06 April 2018, 22:59:46
Funnily enough, I was following a Zafira today and thought the wiper at the back had missed half the screen. ;D
Title: Re: Zaffy rear wiper
Post by: TheBoy on 07 April 2018, 10:00:19
I do and the word on the street is the mounting of the motor inside the tailgate can be suspect. Mine is actually fine but according to other owners the bolts are into nylon bushings which split with age/use. Once they go the motor tilts slightly and the spindle is then out of alignment causing the rubbish clearing action.

Hope this helps

Jon
I had looked at that a couple of weeks back, as I do seem to have play in spindle.

In my case, the motor assembly is mounted on small rubber mountings, which the bolts go through, and its these rubber bushes that give the play (presumably intentionally).


If I force the end of the arm towards the glass, its fine. Its as if the hinge won't allow it to bend beyond a certain point, hence thinking maybe the arm.
Title: Re: Zaffy rear wiper
Post by: TD on 07 April 2018, 15:48:03
I think its the arm too....

As, when I had my Omega estate the rear wiper started missing the bottom of the sweep (it might have been the top)  :-\

I even tried bending the arm slightly to put more pressure on the rear screen, but made no difference.

I replace the arm and normal service was resumed .... can only think the spring in the arm had become weak......
Title: Re: Zaffy rear wiper
Post by: Doctor Gollum on 07 April 2018, 16:19:41
It's a weird one... I fitted an aero blade to the back of my estate, thinking the forced curve would help it clear the blade length...

It has actually done nothing to improve it :-\
Title: Re: Zaffy rear wiper
Post by: TheBoy on 07 April 2018, 18:07:02
It's a weird one... I fitted an aero blade to the back of my estate, thinking the forced curve would help it clear the blade length...

It has actually done nothing to improve it :-\
Aero blades are utterly shite on curved screens
Title: Re: Zaffy rear wiper
Post by: TheBoy on 07 April 2018, 18:08:45
I think its the arm too....

As, when I had my Omega estate the rear wiper started missing the bottom of the sweep (it might have been the top)  :-\

I even tried bending the arm slightly to put more pressure on the rear screen, but made no difference.

I replace the arm and normal service was resumed .... can only think the spring in the arm had become weak......
As the arm is probably knackered, I might see if I can soften it and bend it a bit (its plastic).  Often, the springs go weak, but this arm is only a year or 2 old, and its clearly not able to swivel nearer.
Title: Re: Zaffy rear wiper
Post by: Doctor Gollum on 07 April 2018, 20:02:47
It's a weird one... I fitted an aero blade to the back of my estate, thinking the forced curve would help it clear the blade length...

It has actually done nothing to improve it :-\
Aero blades are utterly shite on curved screens
Which is bizarre as the bits that should have forced contact actually behave opposite  ???
Title: Re: Zaffy rear wiper
Post by: Nick W on 07 April 2018, 20:49:38
It's a weird one... I fitted an aero blade to the back of my estate, thinking the forced curve would help it clear the blade length...

It has actually done nothing to improve it :-\
Aero blades are utterly shite on curved screens


Rubbish.
The biggest problem is that everybody blames the blades, but the wiper arms are just as critical for holding the blade to the screen. And nobody ever fits new arms.
Title: Re: Zaffy rear wiper
Post by: TheBoy on 08 April 2018, 08:09:26
It's a weird one... I fitted an aero blade to the back of my estate, thinking the forced curve would help it clear the blade length...

It has actually done nothing to improve it :-\
Aero blades are utterly shite on curved screens
Which is bizarre as the bits that should have forced contact actually behave opposite  ???
Nope, a traditional blade provides better contact as its design applies pressure in multiple points along its length, not just in the middle.
Title: Re: Zaffy rear wiper
Post by: TheBoy on 08 April 2018, 08:13:35
Rubbish.
Absolute poppycock.

The biggest problem is that everybody blames the blades, but the wiper arms are just as critical for holding the blade to the screen. And nobody ever fits new arms.
The arms are critical. Thats why I started this thread, asking if my 1 or 2 yr old arm has failed already ;)
Title: Re: Zaffy rear wiper
Post by: annihilator on 08 April 2018, 09:06:11
One of my estates did this so at first just swapped a blade from another of mine with a perfect sweep which didn't cure it so swapped the arm and used the original blade and success so I'd agree its the arm  :y
Title: Re: Zaffy rear wiper
Post by: TheBoy on 16 April 2018, 20:22:09
As expected, the replacement arm has resolved the issue, and it now wipes perfectly :y