Part1cle Posted May 12, 2009 Share Posted May 12, 2009 Had my '98 300Tdi now for a couple of months and I'm slowly getting used to its quirks, but there is one thing that is starting to niggle - the windscreen wipers! They don't seem to make as much of an arc as they might - they don't go off the glass so they are set ok for what they cover, but can the swept arc be increased? Thanks in anticipation..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gromit Posted May 12, 2009 Share Posted May 12, 2009 but can the swept arc be increased? If it's not the fact that they are just worn and not sweeping the full arc, then I suppose you could try extending the arm at the motor end to increase the swept area. Can't remember what it looks like, so no idea if its possible, but that'd be the theory. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FridgeFreezer Posted May 13, 2009 Share Posted May 13, 2009 Making the arms or blades longer will overload the motor (guess how I know), increasing the arc would require different gearing in the motor but could conceivably be done with a bit of frigging of the linkage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lars L Posted May 13, 2009 Share Posted May 13, 2009 I changed the drive wire a while ago. Made quite a difference to the sloppy wipers. Recommended! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
western Posted May 13, 2009 Share Posted May 13, 2009 Wot he said ^^^^ & make sure it's very well greased Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
landmannnn Posted May 13, 2009 Share Posted May 13, 2009 I can't remember the precise details but you can use longer blades, it was either 1" or 2". It certainly increases the swept area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
western Posted May 13, 2009 Share Posted May 13, 2009 90/110 should be fitted with 13 inch blades. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Part1cle Posted May 13, 2009 Author Share Posted May 13, 2009 Thanks all. They are in good condition, with no slop on the linkage that I can feel, and everything is bog standard. Having had a look at other Defenders 'screens the arc of the wiper arms and thus area covered seems larger, mine don't seem to cover as much of an arc. I have a large area on the RHS that isn't wiped and they don't meet/overlap in the centre of the screen. Just wondered if there was some adjustment in the wheel-box where the drive changes from rotary to linear motion - the reason I ask is that years ago I fitted a rear wiper to my Mini and that involved changing the sweep of the arm by playing about with the wheel where the push-pull wire was connected. I'll check on the greasing situation at the w/e. Cheers, H. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
western Posted May 13, 2009 Share Posted May 13, 2009 there is no adjustment at the wheelboxes, check their cover plate nuts are tight & the drive cable tubes are correctly located. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave88sw Posted May 14, 2009 Share Posted May 14, 2009 theres an adaptor that fits over the spindle on the outside, these wear and cause the wiper to flop about. Worth a look, just pop the arm off and check the adaptor sits tightly on the shaft Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Chua Posted May 16, 2009 Share Posted May 16, 2009 the longest wiper blade you can fit is a 14". the standard are 13". the problem with this is that the gearing for the wiper is really crappy and hence, if you compare, you can't even do a proper sweep of the wipers across a dry screen when new. try that on a new jap 4x4, it really does the job properly on the dry glass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Part1cle Posted May 16, 2009 Author Share Posted May 16, 2009 Again, my thanks. When I mentioned wheel box I was meaning the enclosure at the motor where, if its similar to what I know, there is a largeish wheel with a connection to a rod that changes the rotary motion to the linear movement of the cable. If that point on the wheel can be moved outwards the stroke of the cable will be longer and provided the pinion at each wiper has enough teeth that should make a larger arc. As mentioned in an earlier post, although the Def's on a '98 plate it has been completely rebuilt and the wiper assy has no play anywhere but I will check for correct assembly of the cable outer. If it stops raining this w/e (!) I'll have a closer look, perhaps take the cover off the motor enclosure, if there is one, and look inside if I can get to it. Will also try the 14" blades, I think I've got a set in the garage somewhere.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Part1cle Posted August 18, 2009 Author Share Posted August 18, 2009 Apparently so - the SVC site states there are 32t & 40t types, and it does make quite a difference. Even with the biggest sweep wheel 135 degrees and 40t 'boxes it is till not as much as with 115 degrees wheel and 32t 'boxes according to my calcs. Spent quite a bit of time looking for the thread, even went through V8 Freaks profile showing his postings with no luck. I must admit I'm not very good at searches though.... From what I can see in the Manual its lots of screws and then you need long thin fingers and tough skin - LOL. H Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Part1cle Posted October 12, 2009 Author Share Posted October 12, 2009 I posted, above, some time ago asking if anyone knew why my wipers on my ’98 300Tdi 90 didn’t sweep full screen. It’s taken a while but the problem is now solved, this is briefly how I did it. I initially checked the wiper motor assembly which was correct for my model. This probably meant that I had incorrect wheel boxes. After a bit of research on Google I discovered that there are two types of wheel boxes available for Defenders, 32 tooth and 40 tooth. The 32t is matched to the 96t wheel in the motor assembly, the type I have. I believe, therefore, that the 40t wheel boxes may be for a TD5, but more of that later. I decided to bite the bullet and check out the wheel boxes fitted to my Defender, as I had a pair of 32t in the garage. The day dawned when I had some free time and I started to dismantle the dash, making notes and marking cable connectors as I went and eventually had it all apart, to reveal the wheel boxes, they were the 40t type that have the wiper arm attached to the spindle by a spline and nut. 32t type on left 40t type on right 32t type on left 40t type on right The 32t type I had needed the wiper arm splined adaptors, with a D shaped bore to suit the 32t spindle, these are held on by a small grub screw. I purchased a pair of adaptors from a dealer on ebay, along with a pair of new arms and blades from a different dealer who was offering a package of arms and blades for about £10 plus p+p. Great, I though this will soon be fixed! I removed the ‘boxes and cable tubes to the bench and replaced the 40t ‘boxes m with my 32t units, put it all back together, with a suitable amount of grease and offered them up to the bulkhead. I believe my bulkhead is from a TD5, as it has been galvanised and has some surplus fixings and brackets and is double skinned and shaped where the wheel box spindles pass through. The 32t ‘boxes would fit but not particularly securely so I used a couple of “penny” washers, with a flat ground on the outside diameter, for the inside and a couple of rectangular washers knocked up from a gash piece of stainless steel for the outside as the bulkhead. I sealed the rectangular washers on the outside with high performance silicon sealer, as the photo. Bulkhead hole with 32t spindle Rectangular washer on 32t spindle Anyway, I put it all together and bingo the sweep was what I expected so I continued to do little things while I had the dash apart and then put all the inside back together. I fitted the new splined bushes to the wheel box spindles ready to take my nice new shiny wiper arms and blades. This is where buying pattern parts is a mistake. The ones I had bought from ebay looked fine but when I came to fit them they had a very strong spring which made it difficult to position them correctly on the windscreen. Ok, no problem, just pull them off and reset them? I did this but the little spring clip that locks under the splined diameter of the arm adaptor fell out as it had no “spring” in it! On closer inspection there was also no method of retaining it other than the paint. The wiper blades they sent didn’t fit the arms correctly either. Giving up on these I went to my local LR specialist and got a couple of arms from them. These were Britpart branded and sealed items (slightly cheaper than the ones on ebay!) and I was assured they would be ok. When I got home I compared them with the ebay arms and they were exactly the same, spring clip made out of non-springy steel held in with paint – I didn’t even try them as the clip on the first one I looked at was loose (not as much paint to hold it in?) so I took them back. While this was going on I rang my local LR dealer who said they only had one and they were on back order with LR so I put my name on that one and then rang around until I found another at another dealer who held that one for me. Eventually, when I got the two types of arm side by side, see pics below, the pattern type, due to the angle of the head to the arm and the much stronger spring would put excessive load on to the spindle and bush in the wheel boxes. Moral of the story: watch the quality of pattern parts and,be aware that due to the state of LR’s finances, they don’t have stocks of some parts. Pattern arm above, LR (Trico) arm below Pattern arm above, LR (Trico) arm below Once I had my two new arms, Trico manufacture incidentally @ about £12 each from LR franchised dealers, they fitted a treat and did not put excessive pressure on the wiper blade. One thing I did find when doing the above was that when I had previously been driving along it became apparent that no matter what I did with the fresh air flaps I hardly got any difference when they were closed or open. If you check the picture you will see why – the muppet that galvanised the bulkhead (before I bought the car) hadn’t taken the fly screen mesh off behind the two openings – as the bulkhead was drawn from the galvanising bath nearly all the holes had filled up with a thin film of zinc! It took me hours with a sharp instrument to perforate the holes that correspond to the slots in the panel that sits under the dash top. Fortunately, as zinc is soft it was quite easy to do, just a laborious pain in the bum. Flyscreen with galvanising over mesh - I've made a start on poking the holes through! My thanks to Western for the help with part numbers and Stafford Vehicle Components Ltd’s website for explaining what different types of parts are available. I purchased the the arm adaptors from John Richards Surplus, Shropshire, a good quality and price with quick delivery. This is a link to my other thread under “Request for part numbers” in the “Tech Archive” forum that may help with part numbers etc. No thanks to pattern part suppliers. Incidentally, it took several weeks and calls/emails to get a refund from the ebay supplier for the returned parts... Hope this is of some help to someone, sometime, if hi-def pictures are required drop me an email. Please let me know if you disagree or think I've made a mistake anywhere in the blurb. Cheers, Henry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
headhunter Posted October 13, 2009 Share Posted October 13, 2009 Post worthy of inclusion in technical archive by any chance? Might be helpful to someone in future! John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulN Posted October 13, 2009 Share Posted October 13, 2009 A very interesting read today and I for one will be using the info soon on mine. An excellent technical (how-I-did-it) report. Well done and thank you "Part1cle" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
western Posted March 20, 2010 Share Posted March 20, 2010 Post worthy of inclusion in technical archive by any chance? Might be helpful to someone in future! John request for inclusion in tech archive done Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
white90 Posted March 20, 2010 Share Posted March 20, 2010 already there under Misc Section and has been for a Fair while Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
western Posted March 20, 2010 Share Posted March 20, 2010 already there under Misc Section and has been for a Fair while Doh, Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WarPig Posted July 20, 2010 Share Posted July 20, 2010 A useful post Part1cle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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