Just for information

[oldtimer]

Hi All,
I saw an entry recently about wiper blade replacement but cannot find it --- never mind.

Rubber inserts are available from Jaguar Dealerships. They are easy to replace. At the lower end of each blade are two little barbs that need to be squeezed together (strong nails or long nosed pliers) and slide the rubber and metal support strip out. Fitting is just the reverse ensuring the securing barbs are correctly located.

I chose to remove the wiper arm and blade complete, surprising the amount of muck on the reverse side if the blade. Don't forget to mark the wiper blade position with a strip of masking tape on the windscreen so as to replace the blade in the same position.

Long Wiper Blade Rubber Replacement Part No C2C25330
Short " " " " Part No C2C25329

Hope that helps

Oldtimer

[Martec]

That's interesting Oldtimer,

I've just replaced my wipers, at my local factors I couldn't find the same items as on the car, so asked what they had in their equivalent books and they supplied from stock two identical blades (two different blades were fitted to the car but same length), both new champion ones have air deflectors on them which matched one of my old ones!!

Like so many things on this car, they have been changed from original and I have to guess what to replace them with. I wonder if the pre and post 2002.5 wipers are different.

I did another oil change yesterday and looked at the Jaguar oil filter and its Fram equivalent. The Fram had 6 holes in the top and the Jaguar 8 larger holes!

Out in the rain today and all worked well, the car is manky, are you supposed to wash them?

Brian

[J44EAG]

One blade was indeed always an inch longer than the other. From memory I think it is the drivers side.

The effect of two short blades is a cuss. In the event of a short blade fitted to the drivers side, an annoying tricle of water runs back down the screen over the just wiped glass. The longer blade cures the issue.

I`ll measure what I have on J44 tomorrow and report back.

Mike

[oldtimer]

Just happen to have a couple of rubber refills on my knee

Was looking for a tape measure, bugger me, it's embossed into the plastic container

Long Blade - Drivers side - 600mm or about 23.5 inches

Short Blade - Passenger side 475mm or about 18.5 inches

Difference - 125mm or 5 inches

That's my lot

Good night

Oldtimer

[Martec]

I went looking on various suppliers websites and found that after vin number M8---- the blade part numbers changed!! Also the earlier one said two of the same type. So things changed in the first 3 years but can be changed retrospectively I should think.

I'll measure mine and compare to Oldtimers, the later type.

Brian

Edit
Both 21.5" long

[oldtimer]

Hi Martec,
Now there's interesting. I'm sure I recall you saying that the outer tip of the near side blade was striking the windscreen frame. Have I got that right?

If so, I can see why. You say 21.5 inches. I say 18.5 inches. Now we can see why, well perhaps!

I will take a few measurements if you want to pursue this further

I find it hard to believe, but is it possible that the wiper arm spindle positioning changed.
I know that the aluminium frame onto which the wiper arm spindles and motor are mounted is clearly embossed with Trico (there's a blast from the past- didn't know Trico was still about).

Lets go back to Blades. I've mentioned this subject before- Rationalisation. Can you imagine how many hundreds of wiper blades of differing lengths and styles have been produced in just the last ten years. For a wholesaler to keep a bin open for each part no is just not practical.
Somebody is lumbered with the task of getting a sample of each one from stock and comparing to find matching parts. This entails some poetic licence and some slight mis-match takes place.

The best example I can give is with ignition cables. A retailer will be offered a small number of boxed sets with the vehicle applications listed on each box claiming they will cover 90% of the market. Yes, the end fittings may be OK but the length is often not acceptable.

That's enough of my ramblings - buyers beware

Oldtimer

[J44EAG]

These two links should add some confusion to the matter.

Later cars are shown as having an 18 inch blade fitted to the passenger side.

Unravel this lot then!

http://www.wiperblades.co.uk/jaguar-s-t ... er-blades/

http://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/s-typ ... ide-30495/

Mike

[oldtimer]

Mike,
Thanks for the links - I'm familiar with the Champion Brand

An awful lot of agonising going on, on that Forum !

Oldtimer

[Martec]

Thanks for the Link Mike, I seem to have the correct length wiper, but a lot are recommending the flat blade type rather than the conventional, something to look out for next time. The Champion standard ones are working fine so far.

Oldtimer, the wiper blades were touching the black screen surround initially, but I have bent the arm fractionally to stop this now. I can hear a sound like the wiper hitting the surround, but watching it whilst driving (not a clever idea!) they are not touching, it is the slack in the worn spindle now that makes the noise, annoying but acceptable. I hate to think what a new unit would cost, if available. A very tired (dodgem car) S type we went to see and immediately walked away from had big corrosion scares on these black screen surrounds (amongst dents on every panel) so the same thing was happening with this car, nice red colour though.

Brian

[J44EAG]

There is another issue with the drivers blade to watch out for. That of the arm just above the spindle. The knuckle can easily hit the trailing edge of the bonnet and rubbing or knocking can wear off the paint.

The secret is to ensure the blade arm lays as flat as possible thus ensuring that contact does not occur with the bonnet. Bending the blade arm alleviates the problem and stops any knocking noises. I need to attend to this myself on J44 as it has such an issue.

Mike

[oldtimer]

Hi Martec and Mike,
This all started with me just trying to be helpful and recording the Part Numbers of ORIGINAL EQUIPMENT replacement rubbers that could be easily fitted into ORIGINAL EQUIPMENT wiper blade assemblies.

Martec, You may recall I rambled on for ever about water getting into the electrics causing spurious cockpit warning lights to illuminate, coupled with removing and servicing the wiper mechanism. I noted at the time that with the wiper blades removed and the motor running a knocking could be heard from the assembly. This I tracked down to slack in the worm and wheel in the motor gearbox. As you are well aware, the control rods move left/right and the wheel goes round and round. The knock occurs when the connecting rod passes through TDC (Top dead centre) and BDC (Bottom dead centre). When one examines the tremendous length of the wiper arms aggravated by the friction between the rubber blade and glass it is no wonder that there is a gearbox knock. Dare I suggest that the Gearbox is under spec! I identified that knock on mine at about 40k which is just not on.

Mike, I have just been into the garage to look at the clearance between that knuckle joint and the underside of the bonnet. Difficult to gauge the clearance between them but I would guess 1/2inch to an 1 inch. I stood there for a while gazing, trying to fathom out what could cause the problem. Not a clue really, Is the first section of arm cracked, bent , or not fitted dead square to the spindle. I don't even see that an inappropriate wiper blade assembly having any effect. Surely that only leaves the spindle and motor mounting frame for examination - that's starting to get a bit serious.

I don't know, just what are things coming to, Saturday evening and stood in the cold garage looking at B********y wiper arms! Sad 'ole sod

Oldtimer

[Martec]

I'm stood in a cold garage welding and grinding bits on a repair to a MkII spat, amazing the passenger side is perfect but the drivers side both are holed, my fibreglass ones are scrap. So when that is done I'll strip it out and have a look at the S type wiper gearbox. no doubt a sub-assembly and no adjustment, but worth a look.

Brian

[oldtimer]

Hi Martec/Mike,
While I had the car out today I took some measurements so that you can compare pre/post 2.5
vehicles

These measurements apply to Vin M8---->

Bonnet Hinge Mounting Bracket - to - Off side wiper spindle centre 2 and 3/8 inches

Off side wiper arm spindle centre - to - Near side wiper arm spindle centre 18 1/2 to 18 5/8 in

Near side, wiper arm and blade, overall length, wiper arm spindle centre, to blade tip = 38 inches

Off side, wiper arm and blade, overall length, wiper arm spindle centre, to blade tip = 35 inches

Near side, wiper arm spindle centre, to wiper arm knuckle joint centre = 8.25 inches

Off side , wiper arm spindle centre , to wiper arm knuckle joint centre = 9 inches

It will be interesting to see if the numbers compare

Oldtimer

[oldtimer]

PS
I forgot to mention. Can you get the wiper motor out of your pal's for spares car.
Years ago Lucas wiper motors used to have an adjustable external end stop. The worm and armature were on the same shaft so the stop simply allowed any end float to be adjusted out.
When I did my wiper job I had no cause to remove the motor/Gearbox assembly and don't remember seeing any external stops . I bet there aint! but I'm wondering if the assembly can be opened up to allow the slack to be shimmed out. Even drill the casing, thread it, stud and lock nut. Now who is a cheap git
Oldtimer

[J44EAG]

Back to the arm hitting the trailing edge of the bonnet.

This can occur at the highest point on the wiper arm. This approximates to the knuckle joint.

My drivers side arm had been hitting the rear bonnet edge and paint rubbed through. A degree of rub damage to the wiper arm corresponded.

To fix the issue, I placed a block of wood on the scuttle panel midway between the wiper spindle and the knuckle joint. The block acted as a fulcrum as I gently bent the section of wiper arm to a lower position. Only about a mm of bend needed to ensure the wiper no longer hits the bonnet. Wood block then removed. The appliance of science. Brute force multiplied by the square root of ignorance.

Mike