It's raining again, so I changed the wipers on my 06 Superb to Valleo Silencios (not the flat type). Nice wipers and clear the screen well with no screeching noises, but I have a "clonk" every time the wipers complete a cycle, and I can't work out whether the noise is coming from the blades as the rubber wipers flip over on change of direction, or whether it's caused by wear in the stuff under the cover .... motor, arms, bearings etc.

If I lift the blades off the windscreen, then the noise goes away, which means that it might be the blade rubbers, but it also might be that removing the friction from the motor drive and bearings means that any play is not so noticeable. Have read a few threads about removing and lubricating the shafts and wonder if this is what I should do? Do your wipers make this "clonk"?

PS. The noise was the same before I changed the wipers.

The Bosch "Aero" blades are badly designed as they develop a set when parked. This means that the rubbers don't flip over properly and the wipers judder and screech. At sub-zero temperatures, they're so stiff as to be ineffective.

Do VAG test these things before specifying them?

The fix on the Superb is to manually flip the rubber into the opposite position when parked. I believe Bosch know all about this problem because the later platform cars (Golf VI etc) do this automatically. The twist of the arm relative to the screen is also very critical for these blades.

To set, take the blade off and push a tube such as an empty biro tube onto the peg. This is so you can see how far you have twisted the arm. You can then twist the arm using a small adjustable spanner set to nip the flat part of the arm. The resting position of the tube you have fitted will serve to show how far you have moved it - it's so springy there's no other way. The setting is critical - move it about an inch at a time measured at the end of a 6" tube.

I'm constantly amazed at the amount of work I have had to do on the Superb to rectify design faults. This is an ancient model dating back to the last century.

Toyota next time - I thought I'd paid the designers of the Superb when I bought it.

rotodiesel.

Thanks for that, but mine aren't the Bosch Aero type ... they're the "old style" wipers, the ones which fit onto a hooked end, have a curved spine and some springy legs that hold the blade down onto the screen.

I have the 'normal' old style wipers and used to get a clunk when they swept the screen at the extreme of their travel.

I narrowed it down to the wiper hitting the windscreen trim on the drivers A pillar, I realigned the arm, with the base of the screen, by undoing the mounting bolt on the scuttle panel and a moving it. It will probalby take some persuasion as it's on a spline. Once released it may be worth removing it and popping on a bit of copper grease to aid removal at a later date.

My wiper blade was not parallel with the base of the screen and I moved it approx 1 spline and now all is quiet.

Like Roto says it's frustrating having to do these jobs to rectify design flaws (pollen filter seal, pinch bolt etc) but at least they are so well documented with a bit of research and 'dirty hand' time you can protect yourself once educated.

Thanks for that, but have just been out and checked again and the clunk seems to occur when the drivers side blade is at the 10 o' clock position, when on the return stroke, in other words as its going back down towards the "park" position. I think that may be the point at which the rubber "reverses", but it's so hard to see my eyes were going cross eyed trying to watch the wipers :wonder:

Edited 25 August, 201015 yr by CRC

It's raining again, so I changed the wipers on my 06 Superb to Valleo Silencios (not the flat type). Nice wipers and clear the screen well with no screeching noises, but I have a "clonk" every time the wipers complete a cycle, and I can't work out whether the noise is coming from the blades as the rubber wipers flip over on change of direction, or whether it's caused by wear in the stuff under the cover .... motor, arms, bearings etc.

If I lift the blades off the windscreen, then the noise goes away, which means that it might be the blade rubbers, but it also might be that removing the friction from the motor drive and bearings means that any play is not so noticeable. Have read a few threads about removing and lubricating the shafts and wonder if this is what I should do? Do your wipers make this "clonk"?

PS. The noise was the same before I changed the wipers.

I have tried all makes of wiper blades and I do beleive that half the problem is Skoda use manufactures like Bosch to make theirs so your more or less putting the same problem wipers back on,

the only ones i could find that didn't "set" were Valeo X-TRM flat wiper blades, the best price i could find that also came with free delivery is here, you want set VM319

http://www.speeding.co.uk/acatalog/Valeo_X-TRM_Original_Equipment_Fit__Twin_Pack_.html

their about a quarter of the way down the page,

Edited 25 August, 201015 yr by bryanp

Thanks for that, that looks an excellent price. Just to confirm that those will fit the hooked ends on my wiper arms and that they will replace the "old style" wiper blades that were originally fitted to the car?

Ah, I think I'm getting to the bottom of this now. It seems that flat blades were originally fitted to the Superb from 02 - 05, but then they changed the style between 06 and 08. The attached graphic shows the different types. It also seems that the Bosch retrofit flat blades might be the only option to change back to the flat style?

I recently bought wiper blades for my 55 plate 2.5TDi, built December 2005. The blades are the curved ones and at the motor factors they were in the catalogue as 06-08 Superb despite mine being built in 05. I guess the car must be an 06 model year then, it is not a B5.5 facelift one. Forgot to say, they are different lengths and the arms have hooked ends.

Edited 26 August, 201015 yr by Fred Bloggs

As an update, I took the skuttle cover off today which gave me some access to the underside mechanism of the wipers, and I'm pretty sure that the noise is coming from the shaft / bearing assembly of the drivers side. Putting my finger on the bearing housing with the wipers running gave a very noticeable couple of judders at certain points in the rotation. Wanted to have a further look, but couldn't get the wiper arms off the tapers, so have added a bit of Plusgas and might stretch to buying a small puller if that doesn't free them off.

Have seen photos of the shafts, but am not sure what type of bearings there are in there. Noticed a thread where rotodiesel suggested oiling the shaft, but wonder if some grease may help.

Any suggestions gratefully received.

The wiper shaft bearings are plain bushes. I prefer oil to grease as these bearings have a serious rust problem and it's important the lubricant reaches all parts. If you remove the circlips and slide the shafts downwards (they won't come right out) you can oil them over their entire length.

This needs to be done as part of the annual "B5.5 idiot maintenance" - put it on the same list as greasing the pinch bolts and applying contact lubricant to the indicator switch + loads of other things.

rotodiesel.

Don't put your fingers anywhere near a running wiper mechanism. There is enough torque available to cause serious injury.

Edited 26 August, 201015 yr by rotodiesel

Thanks for that ... I suppose that gear oil would be the best stuff to do it with, bit thicker and designed for higher pressures?

I did ring the main agents today and checked what parts were available in the worst case, but it's only the complete arm which carries both wiper arms at around £100. He did say that the newer Ocatavia replacement he was looking at now has sealed bearings. Wonder why that is?

Have ordered the wiper puller today, and I can also check that the main agents did the seal on the pollen filter properly when I can get the wipers off. Seemed like a good price to me.

from here

Thanks for that, that looks an excellent price. Just to confirm that those will fit the hooked ends on my wiper arms and that they will replace the "old style" wiper blades that were originally fitted to the car?

Sorry mate didnt realise Skoda had changed to the hook end arms for a couple of years, Valeo also do the same wipers but as aftermarket fo most cars so should fit your hooks,

http://www.speeding.co.uk/acatalog/Valeo_XTRM__Flat_Wiper_Blades.html

Only problem with this site is they havent put what length each individual wiper is so it either a phone car or a bit of internet investigation

I have just replaced the wipers on my 07 today and used Halfords Set 32 21" curved @ £17-99, for hooked fittings, and they are brilliant compared to the old ones. I did not realise that the passenger one should be curved to fit the bottom of the windscreen, as the old ones were straight. The new ones are very quiet and really dry the screen.

You need a fairly meaty puller to get the arms off - the mazak alloy of the arms corrodes onto the steel conical splines on the shaft. I just used a standard 2 jaw gear puller - it's best to wind in a little preload then give the jacking bolt on the puller a tap with a hammer.

Apply Dinitrol to the splines to stop it corroding on again - you will need the arms off when you next break a windscreen. The Passat screen fits the Superb (no surprises here). Guess how I found out...

rotodiesel.

Just an update to say that I took the clips off, dropped the shafts and lubricated them top and bottom with a mix of gear oil and some molybdenum paste to form a nice runny mix, and now I have silent wipers again.

One thing I did notice was that some oil that I had applied to the top of the shaft without disassembling anything had tended to work it's way down the shaft fairly well over the few days, so a few spots of 3 in 1 oil applied regularly just below the splines will do some good as it will tend to work its way down into the bush.

Thanks for the tips.