It’s rainy season again here in Manila, and most car owners are gearing up to keep their cars suitable for the wet roads and floods and many other challenges on the streets. As you know, we don’t have the best highways and is probably one of the worst if ranked in a global scale LOL.
So one of the common parts in our cars that is heavily used during this season are our wiper blades. So if yours isn’t performing well, then you will have a hard time getting better visibility on the road while driving.
But don’t replace your old wipers yet! There are several ways on how to keep your wipers in good condition, and even turn it back into its brand new state.
So seat back and read this short but informative post and learn how to effectively prolong the life of your wiper blades!
How to Keep Windshield Wipers in Good Condition
One of the responsibilities of us car owners is to clean our vehicles regularly. One such component on our car that needs cleaning attention is our windshield wipers.
It is very important that your wipers are in good condition so you’ll have perfect visibility when driving in heavy rains as this will prevent any unwanted accidents.
Your windshield wipers have several parts and of course, all of these parts are important so it’ll provide good wiping action.
Parts such as springs, blades, motor, wiper fluid and many others, all plays a crucial role in providing better windshield wiping action during rain. So how do you prolong the life of your wiper blades? Read on.
Clean Your Windshield
The first thing to help maintain a good wiper blades is to always clean your windshield. Every time you get into your car, take a minute or two to wipe the dust, or any debris that has accumulated on your windshield.
The wiper blades touches the surface of your windshield. This means that the more debris and dust your windshield have, the more the chances your wiper blades will get damage.
Overtime, your blades will dry up and form cracks which fasten its degradation and will inevitably lead to poor condition of your wiper blades. So it is very important that you don’t overlook your windshield when cleaning your car.
You may use a glass cleaner for this job. Simply wet the windshield and spray equal amounts of glass cleaner and clean as usual. You may also follow the directions of your glass cleaner brand for accurate cleaning procedure.
Clean Your Wiper Blades
You can’t get better wiping action by just cleaning your windshield, you also need to clean your wiper blades as well.
There are several ways to clean your blades. Some car owners are only using a rag and wipes the blades back and forth. You’ll see that this simple cleaning method will catch most of the dirt that your blades have.
Some gearheads are using alcohol to perfectly clean and disinfect their blades. You don’t need to do this in my opinion as alcohol is a very strong chemical that will even contribute to your blades drying up.
What I suggest is use a wet rag or WD-40. If you don’t have WD-40 then you can use the latter for practicality. WD-40 is a lubricant which is much more ideal for cleaning rubber like your wiper blades.
Use the Right Washer Fluid
Washer fluid? How does washer fluid affects your wiper’s wiping quality? Well, if you are using the worng washer fluid, chances are you’ll get spots, water marks and even chemical residues on your windshield which can greatly reduce road visibility.
Some car owners just use water as fluid. However, you should use “distilled water” and not just any tap water from your faucet. Why? Because tap water or even mineralized water contains substances that can create blockage on your washer fluid pump and washer dispenser located on your hood.
Other car geeks use liquid detergent and water mixture. This is to add some color and keeps the water soapy. The bad thing about this mixture is that, the detergent will create residues on your washer reservoir especially if the water is not dispense for a long time. This will clog your system which eventually damages your washer pump.
Never Leave Your Wipers Raised Overnight
There are many car owners that always raising their wipers after driving, thinking that it can benefit their wiper blades, prolonging its serviceable life.
This procedure may be true as the blades don’t get so much pressure when pushed into the windshield’s surface, which helps keep the blades in good form. Also, the heat coming from the engine bay also have an impact on your wiper blades.
However, if you often raise your wipers after driving especially leaving them raised overnight, there is one component in your windshield wipers that can wear faster than your blades – wiper springs.
If you look closely inside your wipers, there is a spring inside each wipers which helps keep the blade in contact with the windshield with the right pressure.
Raising your wipers every now and then will soften up these springs and will affect your wipers capacity to wipe water during rainfall.
Remember, these springs are much more expensive than your wiper blades, so I suggest that you keep your wipers down after driving and just pop the hood to help dissipate heat much faster.
Clean Your Wiper Motor
Like any other components in your car, your wiper has a motor that also needs cleaning. So where to locate this motor?
Wiper motor is located beneath your windshield drain cover. You have to remove the entire enclosure to see the motor itself.
Once you found the motor, simply clean the motor as usual but don’t use water as it can damage the electrical components of your motor. Use vacuum to suck all the debris that is inside the drainage.
Cleaning your motor will help improve your wipers performance making it more efficient.
Summary
Now you know how to maintain and prolong the life of your windshield wipers. Make sure to do this at least three to four times a year to ensure you have good wipers.
Here is a video detailing this via Youtube. It is in Tagalog language but has English subtitle. Enjoy watching!
