Ford Fiesta - Changing wiper blades - should I do it myself? - keymoo

I have a Ford Fiesta 53 plate 5 door that needs new front wipers. I've never changed them myself before, is it quite straightforward? I went to www.wiperblades.co.uk and was quite overwhelmed with the choice and whether I could actually do it. I've never done much car maintenance beyond changing a fuse, tyre and bulb but am keen to not pay someone to fit them for me.

Cheers for any clues as to what to get, and any special tools I might need.

Edited by keymoo on 26/01/2015 at 11:53

Ford Fiesta - Changing wiper blades - should I do it myself? - gordonbennet

From their menu the Bosch Super Plus or Lucas Premium look decent value, i'd pay the extra for Bosch.

Appear to be simple hook arm fittings, so reasonable to do.

To remove the old blade, lift the arm up fully (on some designs when parked the wipers don't lift off the screen fully so you may have to manually 'park' them at half way point by switching off the igntion mid sweep, but probably won't need to do that on a Fiesta), you might have to flick a little tab on the plastic fitting that sits inside the hook part of the wiper arm, then gently tug the wiper in towards the fixed end of the arm to release, you'll have to angle the wiper blade on its pivot point to get it of the arm but it will be self explanatory.

When you've removed the blade leave it right beside the wiper where it come off and the way round it came off, then when you offer the new one up it will be the right way round, this applies to both blades, do one at a time and check the old one for which way round it needs to go, thats why its best to leave it as close to where it came off as possible.

Sometimes new blades don't have the plastic fitting clipped into place and you may find several alternative fittings in the box, just find the one that replicates what you remove, there will be only one thats an exact fit and its probably already in place on the new blade anyway.

Best on as warm a day as possible, or if its freezing outside take the new blades indoors in the unlikely event any fittings need swapping over as cold plastic doesn't like giving way as you clip it on and skinned knuckles or sharp edges painfully up your finger nail can easily result from these simple tasks as anyone who's done such jobs will testify.

10 minutes on Youtube will find many handy examples of what you need to do.

Ford Fiesta - Changing wiper blades - should I do it myself? - jc2

Most wiper blades come with fitting instructions on the packet.

Ford Fiesta - Changing wiper blades - should I do it myself? - keymoo

Thanks, I ordered some (the Bosch). I'll post up pics of my raw red hands when I'm done.

Ford Fiesta - Changing wiper blades - should I do it myself? - MrEckerslikefromRamsbottom

The Fiesta blades simply push up into the hook on the end of the arm. Forget the plastic springy catch as that's for a different fitting and does nothing on the Fiesta. To get the old ones off -- they stick into place and need a few gentle taps downward on the side of the blade to free them. When the new blade is pushed up and clicks into place, it's just the two semi-circular plastic wings that click over. Few seconds of a job. very simple fitting.

The longest-lasting and cheapest blades I've used were Danish 'Alaska' brand from The Range, but they're no longer available.

Ford Fiesta - Changing wiper blades - should I do it myself? - keymoo

Thanks they were really easy to fit. I did it with snow outside and it took less than a minute to get it done, which surprised me.