Alfa 156 Windscreen wipers juddering, sticking, vibrating HELP!

[lmcpaulm]

Long story -

I bought my Alfa 156 (2005 V6) 2 years ago... Originally when I got it I found the spoked old styled windscreen wipers were annoying, they left streaks, and water would get caught in the spokes and slowly come off for the next 5 mins when driving after washing the windscreen.

SO I changed to the modern style Bosch floppy windscreen wipers which juddered across the window for a year... Drove me nuts! So, about 2 months ago I went and paid $60-70 at supercheap and bought the most expensive pair they had (Trico?), which are similar floppy styled and originally were not too bad! very little vibration! But in the last couple of weeks they started vibrating loud again....

SO this time I decided it musn't be the wipers it must been something on the windscreen - so I searched on the internet and found a heap of different forums with suggestions:
- I have tried Rain-X during the whole last 2 years... it has done nothing.
- I have tried Bug and Tar remover (Polyglaze?) to see if I could get any dirty film off the windsreen - nothing
- I bought Meguiar's exterior glass cleaner - nothing (actually made it worse)
- I waxed the windscreen (yes waxed) with Meguiar's Nxt Gen car wax (as a person on a forum said it would work - even though they said it sounded crazy) - nothing if not worse

IT'S SO FRUSTRATING

Now they actually bounce across the window! It's dangerous! They skip across the glass and are so loud... and don't properly clear the water. It's actually like the window is too clean... when i run my finger across it its squeaky clean.

Some people say bend the arm it needs to be 'perpendicular to the glass' - I have tried bending it down but its not helping.

Also, for your info, it is bouncing on both UP and DOWN motion - not just one direction....

Oh, and I changed them with the wipers on my friend's Toyota Rav4 (which are the old spoked style) and they also skip across the glass? And, I can't find the original Alfa ones that came with the car, I think my father chucked them out...

Thoughts anyone?

I'm thinking for some stupid reason that I may need to try silicone blades instead of rubber? The guy in supercheap auto said if you have had silicone originally, you find afterwards rubber skips on the window... I don't think those old spoked alfa ones were silicone though, not sure. But, fark - another $60-80 on silicone blades - this is CRAZY

I've already spent about $200 on this issue!

[Alfalfa]

oh you gotta love the little pain in the ass problems that aren't really a big thing but are SUPER annoying!

only suggestion I've got for you that worked for me is the rain-x but you've already tried that.. only note is that I had to use a fair bit of elbow grease putting it on, and did about 3 coats. did the trick for my 82 gtv, wipers ran smooth as. A by a fair bit of elbow grease I mean you gotta rub that stuff in till your arm hurts, including the buffing.

It's worn off now and they jump a little again, so it was def the rain-x that did for me.

[lmcpaulm]

Thanks for the reply!

You are right about super annoying... when it bounces across the window on a 40 minute drive and its super loud it just does your head in!

I emptied my bottle of rain-x today (it was about half full) because i ran out of ideas... i stupidly thought that it would work this time even though i had tried it about 10 times before.

that's why i tried the wax, since a forum agreed rainx was like a weak wax with some sort of alcohol... but to no avail - although i have to say my windscreen is nice and shiny 

in the end i had my ignition on for so long testing the wipers after trying different suggestions that i had to get the RACQ out because i deadened the battery 

People said - don't buy an alfa because you'll have problems with the electrics... or the transmission... it'll break down... well i've had NO problems with the car and it drives amazingly - only the stupid windscreen/wipers!

[Anthony Miller]

Maybe , if you're lucky, your insurance company will cough for a replacement windscreen if it "gets a big stone chip" if you know what I mean .

[lmcpaulm]

Guess who went and paid another $100 on AutoGlym and Repco wipers with *graphite* coating to stop chattering.... to no avail!

Hmmm those stone chips are pretty common around my street these days   

[dehne]

i had the same prob on my 156 i just changed to silcone based wipers (just the inserts) cost about 10-15 bucks fixed my prob

[lmcpaulm]

you have just given me new hope!

i saw silicone inserts at super cheap auto... but no arm assemblies....

i haven't yet worked out how you know if the inserts you buy will fit the existing wiper arm? like the repco wipers i bought? or are all wiper arm assemblies the same in size so all standard inserts will fit?

[John Hanslow]

I had the same problem as well but just changed the blades.  I understood skipping was the blade unit, a smear or streak was the blade.  I did expect to replace it with a standard aftermarket set.

Went to Auto barn and got new premium rubber inserts.  I understood skipping was the arm, a smear or streak was the blade.

All works well.

Note that originally there was a small plastic clip from the on the arm to the blade housing that would work its way lose and you get this clicking sound.  Just had it removed and it all seems to work.

[dehne]

if you take it to supercheap pay them the $2 and they will fit them for you that way if they break it they fix it they are either a 6 or 8 mm

[John Hanslow]

Autobarn have a free fitting service, at lease the one in Nepean Highway, Moorabbin does that anyway.

[lmcpaulm]

Slow follow up -

But got it sorted.. Crazy outcome, went to get silicon blades at supercheap, they only had silicon refills so had to buy the cheap $10 blade assemblies that would fit a car from the 80s.

Silicone squeaked like hell and vibrated worse! So stuck the regular rubber blades back on that came with the $10 blade assemblies... problem solved

$200 dollars later and $10 cheapo 80s blades fixed it! How crazy

Must be that the newer blades put too much pressure on my windscreen? Needed crap ones that don't have as much pressure I'm thinking?

Thanks for your help everyone

[colcol]

I had the same problem years ago, the expensive blades made no difference to the elcheapo blades, a freind told me that windsceen fitters can buff the windscreen to remove all the grime and pollution that sits in the pores of the screen, so i tried polishing my screen with some burnishing creme sometimes called swirl scratch remover, and the blades behaved themselves and wiped like they should!, on telling this to a workmate, he told me you can also use tooth polish as the slight abrasive and cleaner cleans all the muck off the screen, the thought of replaceing the wiper blades on the 156 scared me as windscreen blades never seem to fit properly, i bought a $12 set at Repco and i had them changed in 10 minutes, a record for me, a few tips here the blades on my 156 are 6mm wide, others may vary, be carefull!, and put the metal retaining clip at the bottom of the screen so in the unlikely event it comes loose it will only scratch a small radius at the bottom not a big arc at the top.