How to prevent window scratching?

J

jimduggan

Member
Hello all,

I've been reading this forum a lot since buying my A2, and have learned a lot.

I've seen quite a few mentions of the "classic scratch", which is where the window wiper arm has somehow ended up scratching the glass. It seems quite common.

I want to ask, how can I prevent this happening to my own A2? I'm asking because I now need to change the window wiper rubber, and I'm not sure if there is a particular one that I should buy to prevent this scratch.

Thank you :)
 
A well maintained wiper arm and blade are the key to not getting your windscreen scratched. The moment the blade/arm combination is less than good, then there is a risk of the arm touching (and subsequently scratching) the screen
 
The Bosch aero blades work well. If you coat the windscreen in Rain X or other rain repellent then the wipers glide across better. But if the wiper arm starts to wear too much at the tip then the arm starts to get closer to the glass and that is when scratches appear. Someone on the site reconditions them which will prevent that. And there may be videos on YouTube too.
 
That someone is our very own genius Paul @depronman - pinging him here - You can get your wiper arm reconditioned and in any case even if this is not needed, he produces a cover which keeps the rain of the joints of the wiper arm that are responsible for allowing the arm to touch the glass when worn. This latter part is therefore a must for all aero wiper A2s - maybe for the earlier cars as well. Paul can comment.

Paul, do you have a catalogue somewhere?
 
The metal rivets that do the scratching were once covered by a rubber pad but that disappears after a few years. Worse than scratching is when the wiper arm is lifted clear and then falls back onto the windscreen. Those rivets then crack the windscreen - been there done that :(

When I now lift the arm to clean or change the blade I put something on the windscreen - e.g. a cardboard box.
 
dj_efk said:
That someone is our very own genius Paul @depronman - pinging him here - You can get your wiper arm reconditioned and in any case even if this is not needed, he produces a cover which keeps the rain of the joints of the wiper arm that are responsible for allowing the arm to touch the glass when worn. This latter part is therefore a must for all aero wiper A2s - maybe for the earlier cars as well. Paul can comment.

Paul, do you have a catalogue somewhere?
Click to expand...

See ‘Depronman services’ on A2OC

The earlier hook arm had a clam shell cover from new it was just the aero arm that never had a cover from new (I always suspect cost cutting from Audi as the aero arm was introduced mid production when Audi where already loosing a ton of money per A2 produces, the cost for the tooling to make an aero cover would have been 30k to 50k euros)

This is the reason that I designed the aero cover, it helps to keep the water out of the pivot pins plus it makes it look finished off as against naked

Cheers
Paul


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Thank you all for your replies and kind advice :)

Paul, I have found the thread "Depronman services" and will read through that shortly. Also, judging by the pictures below, would I benefit from your 3d printed cover, or not?

Could someone kindly tell me what type of wiper I have from these pictures (floppy or aero)?
And if this blade https://www.wiperblades.co.uk/audi-a2-years-2002-to-2005-wiper-blades (as found through a recommendation in another thread a few months ago) will fit the wiper style I have?

Thank you all.

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20240910_125606.jpg
 
Jim, that is the earlier, floppy type of wiper blade and you already have the cover that Paul describes - so all good! Could I suggest a few drops of thick oil on the pivot points that the cover is protecting to keep things healthy. This is done on my (aero) wiper arm every time I change the oil - I use a few drops from the dipstick.
 
Ive tried a few times but cannot get the arm off, is there a technique ?
Wouldn`t want to buy one and not be able to exchange arms.
 
Park the arm at the vertical position by turning the ignition off mid-stroke. Maybe use a little penetrating oil on the splines. I've never had one that didn't release fairly easily when vertical, while they can be a pig to get off in the horizontal at any time.
 
jimduggan said:
Thank you all for your replies and kind advice :)

Paul, I have found the thread "Depronman services" and will read through that shortly. Also, judging by the pictures below, would I benefit from your 3d printed cover, or not?

Could someone kindly tell me what type of wiper I have from these pictures (floppy or aero)?
And if this blade https://www.wiperblades.co.uk/audi-a2-years-2002-to-2005-wiper-blades (as found through a recommendation in another thread a few months ago) will fit the wiper style I have?

Thank you all.

View attachment 128306View attachment 128305
Click to expand...
You can get a Bosch substitute Aero blade to replace the original on this compatible with the early type hook fitting. From memory it is an AR70. It also holds the hinge that gets loose further away from the window so less likely to scratch if it is heading towards needing a refurb by Paul.

Bosch AR70N Wiper Blades

Bosch AR70N Heavy Duty Flat Wiper Blade 28" (700mm) for Hook Shaped Wiper Arms - Available Now from WiperBlades.co.uk
www.wiperblades.co.uk www.wiperblades.co.uk
 
FinallyFiona said:
Park the arm at the vertical position by turning the ignition off mid-stroke. Maybe use a little penetrating oil on the splines. I've never had one that didn't release fairly easily when vertical, while they can be a pig to get off in the horizontal at any time.
Click to expand...
And put a bit of masking tape, on the screen, in line with the wiper, before removal, so you can put it back on in the right position.
Mac.
 
PlasticMac said:
And put a bit of masking tape, on the screen, in line with the wiper, before removal, so you can put it back on in the right position.
Mac.
Click to expand...
@Bernie, wise words from Mac here. It's better to refit in the horizontal position I find. So I guess that makes the whole process to mark it in the horizontal with the tape underneath, before going to the vertical for removal, then turn the ignition back on to let the motor & spindle complete their stroke before fitting the replacement arm.
 
Bernie said:
Oh thanks, the wisdom on here is amazing.
Click to expand...

My method of wiper arm removal as never failed me and I’ve removed literally hundreds of them from the A2’s
Lever out the rubber caps
Undo each nut two turns only
Grip the alloy part of the arm (the big which is held in place by the two nuts)
Pull up as hard as you can and wiggle it left right up down at the same time, this will break the taper and the retained nut prevent it hitting you in the face when it lets go
Clean the splines
Cycle the wiper through at least one cycles and allow them to return to the parked position
Fit the new arm and align to ¾” above the scuttle panel and nip up the large nut you can tighten the small nut to 10nm at this stage and refit the small rubber cap
Try the wiper arm for position at full stroke it should be about 1” from the A pillar
If it’s not adjust it. If all ok then tighten the large nut to 20nm
Refit the cap in the large nut

Oil the pivots point on the new arm and do this once or twice a year with a few drops of engine oil

Cheers. Paul


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Today I fitted a refurb wiper arm from Paul @depronman with the following slight changes.

The big spline needed an hour of soaking in penetrating fluid (PlusGas).

I found it hard to get the arm onto the main spine straight unless I had it bent upwards (with cardboard on the windscreen in case it shot back and cracked it). But this made it difficult to get it positioned correctly and I needed two attempts. I did mark the wiper position with masking tape both at the park and the A pillar position. It would of helped I think to mark the position of the arm pivot end at the very bottom of the windscreen when it was at the A pillar.

Initially I tried refitting in the parked position but found it hard to get socket access for the smaller nut. In the end I operated the wiper motor and turned off the ignition to stop it a the A pillar position. This was much easier both to remove and refit.

There was white gunge in the splines which I removed first with a fine jewellers screwdriver followed by hand brushing with a small wire brush and then cleaning with meths.

I also put a small cloth on the drain hole as I think the small nut could go down it!
 
Dito with Depromans wiper and cover ,but why my AP30U is a different fitment connection?
Top is APU30U bottom was on my A2. The bottom one was a much more snug fitment too.
 

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Bernie said:
Dito with Depromans wiper and cover ,but why my AP30U is a different fitment connection?
Top is APU30U bottom was on my A2. The bottom one was a much more snug fitment too.
Click to expand...

Looks like mr Bosch as been dicking around with the wiper blades again
Are both new and hold the same width ? it’s difficult to see from the photo angle, a top view would be helpful

Paul


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