Vauxhall Zafira A (1999 - 2005) - 04 2.0DTi Mod to improve wiper coverage.

Honest John Back Room » Technical matters
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Sat 13 Jun 2009 00:13
04 2.0DTi Mod to improve wiper coverage. - AndyBa
After 3 years ownership the wipers collided after they moved on the spindles (my wife had been driving the car and not cleared the snow off off the roof !) I decided it was time to experiment and resolve the issue . I did have 2 x 24" wiper blades at the time. Note: I wouldn't recommend doing this if you have little experience mending cars, YOUR SAFETY IS PARAMOUNT !

This gave me an ideal opportunity to try out a fix for the annoying wiper layout which leaves a 2" area of un-wiped screen on the drivers side which in addition to the wide A pillar means you can miss seeing a whole car at some junctions (unless you move your head from side to side ;) ).

What I did was remove both wipers and bent the drivers side wiper in my Workmate (like a Citroen Picasso wiper arm, but not so severe) - Note that the arm has a twist in it which needs to remain so the wiper sits on the windscreen properly. I moved this round the spline until it swept the biggest area and fitted a 22" blade - On the vertical its about 1cm away and parallel to the "A" pillar. Once I was happy with this I then refitted the passenger wiper with a 24" blade. The right edge of the passenger wiper (looking from the front of the car) almost touches the driver wiper Unfortunately the other end of the passenger wiper doesn't lie flat, but does sweep right up to the "A" pillar and the blindspot is reduced (still that thick "A" pillar!) . There is no problem with the wipers hitting each other at all since I did the mod over 2 months ago

Before I started messing I got a spare set of arms from the scrappy (about £20) so if a made a hash of it nothing was lost




Edited by Pugugly on 13/06/2009 at 00:15

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Sat 13 Jun 2009 00:16
04 2.0DTi Mod to improve wiper coverage. - Pugugly
Andy,

Why have you posted this as a new thread ?

Rob - Moderator.
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Sat 13 Jun 2009 00:31
04 2.0DTi Mod to improve wiper coverage. - AndyBa
Because I originally posted it under the "coliding wipers" thread. If you owned a Zafira A you'd know the wiper coverage is a well documented bone of contention. Thought it might be hepful for fellow owners OK ? :)
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Sat 13 Jun 2009 00:38
04 2.0DTi Mod to improve wiper coverage. - Pugugly
No worries - just that you'd posted twice - I was wondering whether they should be merged (the threads not the wipers !) Thanks for the contribution.
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Sat 13 Jun 2009 12:37
04 2.0DTi Mod to improve wiper coverage. - Number_Cruncher
Have you notified your insurers of the modification?
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