I know this is a topic discussed before but my left hand front wiper doesn't fully contact the screen in the middle and leaves this bit smeared. The right hand wiper is the same but to a much lesser extent. The cold weather has accentuated the problem. Before I start buying things is it because the wipers are the modern flat type (see photo) rather than what I would call the 'traditional' wiper such as the Bosch 807 that the car would have come with originally, or does the type of wiper make no difference and it is the springs in the wiper arms, or the whole wiper arms, that need replacing? Can the springs be replaced on their own?

At the back, which had a new flat-type wiper fitted fairly recently, only the bottom half of the blade makes contact with the glass. Again should a traditional wiper blade have been fitted as it would have had originally?

I think its probably the blade. Ive replaced two sets this year and not impressed with them. I wouldnt mind so much if they had been cheapies but they werent.

Col

Make sure the hinges are lubed on the wiper arms, so springs can do their job

freelance said:

Make sure the hinges are lubed on the wiper arms, so springs can do their job

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+1^
everything needs to be able to move freely and to transmit the power of the spring for it to be able to follow the contours of the glass. So make sure the blade can slide freely through all the bits that keep it attached to the blade holder. Except the one end that keeps it from coming out and away!

I'll never put them flat blades on a conventional arm again, the arm was intended for regular blades and the pressure from the spring is distributed across the multiple points on the blade but with a flat blade on same arm the pressure only ever acts on the one spot which inevitably leads to the OP of the ends not touching correctly and also flapping while driving.....

I've now removed the flat blades from the front and they measure in at 22". I think I'm right in saying that they should be 21", but would be grateful if someone could confirm that.

I also believe that the recommended wiper blade is the Bosch 807 but from looking at the images on the internet I can't immediately see how they would attach to the wiper arms. Looking at the Owners Manual it looks like there is connector which I don't have. Can anyone with Bosch blades confirm if this connector comes with the blades or should I be looking at a different blade? One site selling the 807s makes reference to a "universal adapter for vehicles with hook-type wiper arms" but I'm not sure that would help in this instance. Any guidance would be appreciated.

I may have made progress. On the off chance I looked at the LR Classic parts site and spotted that you can buy the "wiper blade to arm retaining clips" DKW100020 separately for £5.14 each. These will presumably enable me to fit the correct Bosch wiper blades. You can still get the original LR blades DKC100960 for £23.03 (each I assume).

Keith_L said:

I may have made progress. On the off chance I looked at the LR Classic parts site and spotted that you can buy the "wiper blade to arm retaining clips" DKW100020 separately for £5.14 each. These will presumably enable me to fit the correct Bosch wiper blades. You can still get the original LR blades DKC100960 for £23.03 (each I assume).

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I bought these https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/264401191053 over a year ago, they fitted perfectly, wiped perfectly and are still fine. Quite an achievement for Lucas, but credit where it’s due……

PopPops said:

I bought these https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/264401191053 over a year ago, they fitted perfectly, wiped perfectly and are still fine. Quite an achievement for Lucas, but credit where it’s due……

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Thanks for that. They certainly look to be good value.

Some of these modern wiper blade fixings are like a Krypton factor challenge. I spent almost an hour trying to figure out how to fit new blades to my daughters old honda jazz. I was convinced she had bought the wrong ones so I went to halfords to check but they were the right ones according to their code book (which I mistrused)

Col

I bought a couple of DKW100020 wiper blade to arm retaining clips direct from LR, made sure they were well lubricated and managed to fit them okay using the picture in the Owners Manual as a guide. I then got a couple of Lucas DKC100960-AM / LWCB21B wiper blades from MM 4x4 in Droitwich. I eventually worked out how these fitted and all seemed well, other than the blades seemed to fold into the wiper arms and needed some force to pop them out again. This seems odd as I assumed they should pivot freely to follow the contour of the windscreen. I lubricated the inside of the wiper arm which seemed to make it a bit easier. I also lubricated the spring and arm pivot point. So far so good.

I went to test the wipers and... no water out of the jets. This was odd as they worked the other day. My first thought was that something has split in the freezing weather although there was no sign of a leak under the car, so I topped up the washer bottle but it only took a very small amount. The rear washer was working fine. I then started to unplug the tubing to the front washers at various points and finally tracked the problem down to the connector with the non-return valve below the left-hand washer jet. I gave it a good soaking in hot soapy water which removed a fair amount of crud and then reassembled everything which now works fine. The new blades wipe the screen much better other than the very bottom left hand corner which the blade isn't quite touching when parked. I'll wait until next it rains to try it again but maybe the springs do need replacing.

Thanks for everyone's help.