Wiper clearance from bonnet

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steve184

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I'm fuming. After having a problem with my wipers hitting the bonnet in front of the driver since new - and apparently it was fixed - the problem has returned again over time without me realising???

Why have audi built the wipers with such a small tolerance on them? Can someone have a look how close they come to the bonnet on their sweep so i know how it should be??


cheers
 
I've just had a look at my driver side wiper arms and the gap at the closest any part of the arm comes to the bonnet is 12mm. This is at the spindle end by the pivot. Where the blades are attached to the wiper arms the gap is 30mm.
 
I think you may have misunderstood. im talking about the driver side corner of the bonnet when the wipers are at the end of there sweep where one wiper is vertical against the A-pillar.

cheers

ps i've got a quick pic here to show but dont know how to upload it?????
 

Steve, you need to have the pic hosted on the web some where and then link to it using the following:
there should be no spaces.

J.
 
hmmmmm that didn't work - sorry no good at stuff like this

wipers5.jpg
 
As you have gone to that much effort I will have to have a look again - at least I can now see the measurement you want. Watch this space...
 
Hi Steve184

The clearance at the point indicated on your diagram on my car is 20mm between the lower part of the wiper arm and the edge of the bonnet.
 
that is when the wiper arm is at the end of its sweep as indicated tho isn't it? I don't mean the clearance when it is at its rest.

My wiper strikes the bonnet everytime it comes vertical to my A-pillar!!!!!
 
Yes, I measured it with the wipers running and at the point the wiper arm is at the top of it's sweep and closest to the A-pillar.

Obviously something is adrift with either your wiper arms or how the bonnet has been set. There is no way my wiper arms could hit the bonnet edge at this point.
 
yes something is mega adrift and it has been from new. i didn't realise there should be so much clearance 20mm is quite a lot! my wipers are a mile out - originally they had the car in 3 times to sort this they removed the whole wiper arms mechanism sucttle panel and everything and refitted it. Renewed the wiper arm AND (against my wishes) adjusted the bonnet (messing up panel gaps in the process) and now here i am 12 months on with the same problem

jeez
 
Steve - here are a couple of photos I have just taken showing mine with the wipers running...

P3050617.JPG

P3050618.JPG


Don't worry abound the strips - they are a reflection of my garage door !
 
wow - mines more like this - there is a world of difference there i don't know how this has happened????

wiperpic2.jpg
 
Steve

Checked mine last night. The minimum clearance is about 12mm between the lower part of the arm and the bonnet edge as per the pictures above and the diagram earlier. Nothing in the wiper assembly comes any closer than 12mm.

Rob
 
I've checked mine and its 20mm+ like Dave R.

With the wipers over half way up you should be able to lift them off the screen and right back on their hinges till they hold. From your picture it looks like the wiper arm tilt hinge is underneath the edge of the bonnet?

Providing you have the right wiper arms, it looks to me like the spindle is too high on its axis or the wiper arm is not seated properly on the splines of the shaft. I can't believe a dealer could look at it and not resolve it.

Its the only thing that could be wrong. The bonnet CANNOT be in the wrong place else it wouldn't line up with the wings etc. The windscreen and scuttle plate must be right because they all take there positions from the main vehicle bodyshell.

This only leaves the drive spindles as I said above. Idiots.
 
Would this be possible if the wrong blades were fitted - wiper would sit too high from screen, raising whole wiper arm up.
 
If I remember correctly, weren't there two incarnations of wiper? Some with the 'floppy' blade and a nother with rigid?

My floppys are 20mm plus /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif matron.
 
Originally i took it in and they said oh prob just needs a new wiper arm. They did it and it hit the bonnet worse. They then said they would need to remove and refit the whole entire wiper mechanism below the scuttle panel - which they did - ruining the scuttle panel in the process (made them fit a new one). After this still hit the bonnet so then against my wishes they moved the bonnet outwords from the hinge at that end (messing up the panel gaps and leaving unpainted metal exposed where the hinges have been moved) made them rectify this they repainted the hinge and nut under the bonnet and adjusted the other side of bonnet to rectify panel gaps. They said that in the end it could only be the bonnet at fault and as a last resort had to adjust it - so according to them a £23,000 car came out of the factory with a bonett fitted incorrectly. Anyway after this the wipers just missed the bonnet by a fraction of a millimetre adn so i left it there - but then now since ive noticed that somehow it is now hitting again - and now iv'e found out of here that there shoudl be 15-20mm minmum clearance between any part of the wiper and the bonnet!?!?!?

Absolute idiots spring to mind.
 
Out of interest Steve, I have just looked at the wiper sindle on the drivers side. The black plastic cover where the sindles come through is flush with the lower edge of the windscreen and the edge of the wiper arm closed to the bonnet is 20mm above this. Is yours the same or more ?
 
You know the plastic trim that runs down the outside edge of the windscreen ?

When I switched my wipers on this morning,the passenger side one popped off....
 
Are you seriously telling us that a dealers raised your bonnet hinge so much that the hinge bolts were visible, then painted these parts to try and conceal it?????????

That is mind numbing. Who the f##k was that?

More to the point why did you not run them over and kill them for being so stupid?
 
yes they slid the bonnet outwards (towards the front of the car when closed) at one side only by about 2mm to give just enough clearance for the wiper to not quite touch it - then i complained saying there was now bare metal under the bonnet where the bracket had been moved - so they did a localised respray over the hinge (no laqueur under bonnet)

it is mind numbing your right.

Lancaster Audi Manchester
 
I phoned Lancaster a while back to get a service quote - they were the only people who were more expensive than Smith Knight Fay.

You need to compare it with another car, as I said before, unless the bonnet is the wrong one (not really possible), it can't be at fault - if it was in the wrong place it wouldn't align round the edges. Thats hardly rocket science.

Take it to another dealers for a 2nd opinion. SKF are only a few miles from Lancaster Audi.
 
it's booked in at SKF audi in bolton on friday of which they have refused to give me a courtesy car!

i'll have to be honest this is the first Audi i have owned and i think the service is very poor...
 
Steve,

I remember this being posted ages ago. Probably by you, cos I can remember you mentioned that they moved the bonnet.

I had the same problem of the drivers side wiper hitting the bonnet at the top of the stroke.
Took it to SKF at Bolton one Sat afternoon to ask them about it. The technician took it into the workshop for 10 mins there and then.
He told me that all he needed to do was to adjust the wiper blade position on the spindle.
I also checked with him that he hadnt moved the bonnet.
I think its been ok ever since.

Ian
 
This definately won't be the case on my car as i have looked at it myself and at rest the wiper is nearly touching the back of the scuttle panel so if they were to rotate teh wiper arm on the spline it would then cause the wiper to hit this everytime....

this was the first thing i checked myself when i first noticed this a year ago - and yes i prob have posted about this before but I thoguht the problem was rectified once and for all - but it isn't
 
[ QUOTE ]
it's booked in at SKF audi in bolton on friday of which they have refused to give me a courtesy car!

i'll have to be honest this is the first Audi i have owned and i think the service is very poor...

[/ QUOTE ]

They refused or they didn't have one available?

Ditto on the service thing - thats why I'm selling mine after 12 months.
 
no they REFUSED - i said i was willing to wait a little longer to get one and they said sorry sir that won't be possble the fault you are describing is probably a 20min adjustment which you could prob wait for and doesn't warrant a courtesy car.

...penny to a pinch of poo that fault is NOT rectified by a simpel 20min adjustment! i will be back and forth like a yoyo
 
You must have a lousy lot of dealers up your way.
 
[ QUOTE ]
You must have a lousy lot of dealers up your way.

[/ QUOTE ]

But your car's,by your own admission,'boringly reliable',David,so perhaps you haven't really had reason to test your dealer yet.

I always thought my dealer was excellent,because all they did was service my A4.

The more annoying faults I get with my car,the more I think they're just as dismissive as the ones mentioned above.
 
True Bowfer, but this the 5th A3 I have purchased from the same dealer. Some have had minor problems and they has always sorted them out with any fuss.

Even if my car goes in for something at short notice, they will always give me a loan car if they have one available, if not they will let me borrow one of their demonstrators. I have never been 'refused' a loan car as Steve has, even for a very minor item.
 
out of interest how many people would allow the dealer to pick their car up - drive it to the dealer - fix it and drive it back again??

Or is it just me who is a bit protective over his car and a little untrusting of other dealer drivers???

This is what they want to do - instead of a courtesy car? Does my head in cos i feel like i have no control over what happens to my car - it feels bad that my car with perfect alloys and bodywork could be returned in a very different state due to ppl not treating it 'as the owner would'
 
I always take and collect myself. I think it is a good service to offer in principle (hassle factor) but doesn't give you the chance to talk through or demonstrate a problem with a technician.

Most of the drivers I have seen (including my retired uncle) are not the stereotypical 18 year old who will thrash anything in sight though.

However, I am a bit precious about my car and would hate something to happen on the way there or back that was out of my control (60 motorway miles return trip). Having said that, with my old Peugeot, having driven it there myself, a service tech was lifting a seat out of another car in the service bay and whacked it into my wing, and my old 3.2's wheel and arch were scuffed and chipped whilst left at the dealers. Both fully repaired without question as I would expect plus compensation but irritating.

You could always reset the DIS average MPG number 2 and change to another mode to see what their average has been! Not fool proof I admit, but could give you an idea of driving style.
 
David

As I've said before you do get exceptional service from Vindis, I can only assume this is due to the relationship you have built by buying five cars. I personally know 11 Audi owners who use Vindis, 2 people I work with, 3 family members and 6 friends, and not one has a good word to say.
Both work colleagues have now sold their A3's and gone to other brands, my Father in law has sold his A4 and gone to Mercedes, my sister has sold her A3 and gone to VW (still Vindis so I suspect not much will change) and I've gone to Mazda (so far so good).
I think that puts a balance on the story.
Most of my problems were dealer based not Audi based.
Just my experience!
 
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