Ford Mondeo II (1996 - 2000) - Wiper blades with spoilers

Honest John Back Room » Technical matters
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Wed 5 Dec 2007 17:55
Wiper blades with spoilers - likerocks
Whilst waiting in the petrol station today, I was sad enough to notice that there seems to be about a 50/50 split in the way people mount wiper blades with integral "spoilers".

I found it diffucult to believe that people could knowingly put them on upside down, but then I looked at my own and I couldn't figure out which way they were supposed to be pressed down by the action of the wind.

Would anybody care to take me back to first principles - couldn't find any appropriate info on the Bosch autoparts website?
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Wed 5 Dec 2007 17:59
Wiper blades with spoilers - BobG
The spoiler usually is on the lower side of the blade. They seem to be designed to work best that way. The only problem is that most spoilers leave behind a few drips on the screen on the last wipe so they're not brilliant when you are using them on intermittent or washing the screen.
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Wed 5 Dec 2007 19:09
Wiper blades with spoilers - DP
Yes, lower side of the blade.

Replacement blades I've used have always had little arrows with UP (or similar) on them as a helpful reminder.

Cheers
DP

--
04 Grand Scenic 1.9 dCi Dynamique
00 Mondeo 1.8TD LX
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Thu 6 Dec 2007 16:42
Wiper blades with spoilers - likerocks
many thanks - another one of life's little mysteries solved....
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Thu 6 Dec 2007 19:00
Wiper blades with spoilers - John S
Spoilers at the bottom of the blade I believe and yes, there's often an arrow on the blade which should face away from the wiper spindle. However, the genuine Vauxhall blades I bought recently had the fixing clip fitted the wrong way round which would have fitted the blade with the spoiler at the top - and the arrow facing the wrong way. It simply needed removing and replacing correctly, but I'm sure many people don't read the instructions on the correct fitment so this sort of error 'out of the box' could explain the variations.

JS
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Thu 6 Dec 2007 19:50
Wiper blades with spoilers - Bromptonaut
Do the spoilers really do anything?

Not convinced the OEM items on the Xantia did anything more than whistle!!
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Sun 9 Dec 2007 17:01
Wiper blades with spoilers - BobG
Only seem to work at motorway speeds in strong winds when they prevent"lift off" near the bonnet edge. Oddly enough this effect seems worse on the passenger side of most of the cars I have owned but the manufacturers suggest only fitting to the drrirvers side and actually claim that 2 spoilers will strain the wiper motor! The worst of the lot seem to be the new flat blade types with a low spoiler all the way along them - they just make a lot of noise and wear out every 6k - I usually get 9 - 12k good wiping before I change conventional types.
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