Wipers Seem Excellent! - Any opinions?

[smr2112]

I haven't seen anything mentioned about wipers, but wanted to get other opinions.

 

Car wipers and how they work, is a total pet peeve of mine. Can never figure out

why most cars have such cheap'o wipers that never work well and certainly don't

tolerate snow well. They wear out quickly, smear, don't work right after just a few months.

Drives me nuts!

 

I had always replaced my wipers (like on my 2010 FFH) with Bosch Icon which seems

to do very well and hold up maybe a year under average conditions.

 

So now on the 2013 FFH, the "cross wipers" seem outstanding. Seems like Ford really

put the effort into engineering these things to do the best job possible. Have only had

my car 6 weeks, but they work great. The combination of the crossing, 28" beam wipers

and rain sensing and good motor design make me think these will do great in really bad

weather, snow, etc. They really clear the window almost fully and cleanly every time.

 

I did a quick check and the wiper blades themselves have the big plus of being cheap.

 

Compared to $21 for the Bosch Icon's. And that price seems to be from Motorcraft. Don't plan

to switch brands if these hold up. Fordparts.com price is $12.48 each.

 

These are the Motorcraft part numbers. They are very easy to change and there are some other

manufacturers of compatible blades.

 

Wiper Blades

WW-2801-PF (both sides)

WW-2601 (LH)

WW-2700 (RH)

Now I am not 100% sure what the difference is between these parts, but I entered my VIN on Fordparts.com and all 3 came up

Any thoughts?

Edited May 28, 2013 by smr2112

[acdii]

Yep agreed, the wipers do work well. The only thing that didnt were the rain sensing part, they either worked, or they didn't. It was strange, one time they worked as intermittent, then on restart, worked as variable with the amount of rain. In either case they did come on when it rained, just how they were timed was weird. They work perfectly in the Flex, faster with heavier rain, slower with light rain, intermittent if I turn the RS off.

[kuzzi]

I like the beam style wipers. The biggest shock was the amount of overlap these things have on the windshield. Holy cow! "At one fell swoop" comes to mind.

[47Minutes]

Whoever installed the wipers on my Energi did not know their right from left. The wiper blades are R/L specific and they forced them on the wrong sides and broke the plastic clips.

 

I also have a complaint on where the washer fluid nozzles hit the windshield. Mine all spray on just the bottom 6 inches of the windshield. On the driver's side the fluid never ends up above the wiper blade thus my window does not get cleaned above the 6-8 inch bottom section. Brought it up to the dealer and the response was that is how they are all functioning after comparing it to one other Fusion on their lot.

 

I agree that the rain sensing functionality is a little hit or miss sometimes.

[murphy]

The past has been re-invented.

All wipers used to be this way a long time ago.

Then someone came up with the parallel blade motion and everyone switched.

 

If you look real closely at the rubber (or whatever it is) of each blade you will find the part number. It includes an L or an R to indicate which side it belongs on.

[smr2112]

So how does the rain sensing work? Is it something like resistivity built into the glass or is

it related to the camera somehow? The rain sensing isn't perfect in light rain, but overall

seems to work fine.

 

My washers spray dead center about 3" above the folded wipers. Does seem to work

fine on mine. If yours is spraying below the wipers, yea, that's not right. I assume that's

how they should work. There is only one spot in the center that the spray comes from.

 

I have to look very close now, I am not sure how many nozzles actually. Looks like

the spray hits the window only in the dead center. But seems to work fine. But

I need to look closer.

Edited May 28, 2013 by smr2112

[neod192]

There is only one spot in the center that the spray comes from.

Are you saying you only have one nozzle? Mine has 3: left, center and right - 2 holes on each one.

[gkinla]

I just checked the three nozzles on my FFH and they are a fixed wide spray, much like lawn sprinkler nozzles. One square hole putting out a fan shaped spray. I remember the older style nozzles where you could put a straight pin in the hole and move it to where the spray needed to be.

[jsolan]

I think the wipers clean very well, but they are SLOW in a downpour even on the fastest setting. I drove through a massive thunderstorm last weekend and almost had to pull over because of how slow they moved. Never had that problem in any other vehicle.

[kuzzi]

Finally used mine in a large rainstorm here, but I did notice they do chatter a little bit at the top of the stroke and only at the ends of the beams. Nothing I'm concerned with though, they do a damn fine job.

[elle]

It doesn't really rain much here for a large part of the year. My concerns about wipers center around how well the rubber holds up to relentless sunlight and high temperatures like we typically get in the summers here. I won't use them at all until autumn, so it will be interesting to see if the blades function well when needed or will need to be replaced. Blade replacements are fairly frequent around here.

[SteveB_TX]

Rain? Y'all get rain? WOW! :worship:

[elle]

Only in the winter!

[acdii]

Has anyone else noticed that you can move each wiper by itself when the car is off?

[murphy]

Yes, very handy to swing the arm to the maximum up position to remove the blade. I just hope the clutching mechanism isn't a future repair problem.

[hybridbear]

I think the wipers clean very well, but they are SLOW in a downpour even on the fastest setting. I drove through a massive thunderstorm last weekend and almost had to pull over because of how slow they moved. Never had that problem in any other vehicle.

Did you have them set to the fastest speed? One click up on the stalk takes you to intermittent where you control the speed with the wheel, two clicks up puts them on constant and three clicks up puts them on hyperspeed where they fly back and forth across the windshield. I'm surprised that you would find that fastest speed to be insufficient. Granted, you have a HyTi with rain sensing wipers which may work a little differently than our SE. But the Owner's Manual should explain how you get to the hyperspeed setting if the rain sensing wipers don't do it on their own. Our 2003 Saab would go into hyperspeed on its own from the rain sensor.

 

Has anyone else noticed that you can move each wiper by itself when the car is off?

Yes, when I wash the car I stand the wipers up so I can wipe them off and clean the windshield well. I often end up putting them back down in the wrong order since they rotate so freely lol the car knows this and automatically cycles them to fix that when starting it. It also automatically fixes it if I leave them too far up the windshield.

[smr2112]

Sort of agree with the speed issue. In a major heavy downpour, and at the fastest speed, the pattern and type

of wipers don't seem to do as good a job as traditional style wipers. I noticed it yesterday in the hardest rain

I've seen yet. Anything less than heavy, heavy rain, you would not notice it. They do a great job overall.

 

I think this is because that they wipe and cover very well, but just can't cover as much area as quickly as

the traditional style. Just the laws of physics. Doubt that will be a real issue long term, but I did notice that.

 

Stopped by the dealer to buy a spare pair, dealer wanted $65 for a pair! Ouch...I see the Motorcraft

part on Rock Auto for about <$11.50 each.

[acdii]

Rain-x helps a lot with heavy downpours, so I suggest giving it a try and see if it helps you.

[mokee]

X2 on the Rain-X. Besides the car and truck, I use it on the big boat and rarely have to use the wipers for bow spray.

[hybridbear]

Rain-X or just waxing the glass surfaces. I might not bother waxing the car anymore now that I've learned about Zaino but I might still wax the glass to keep the water beading up nicely

[hermans]

Sort of agree with the speed issue. In a major heavy downpour, and at the fastest speed, the pattern and type

of wipers don't seem to do as good a job as traditional style wipers. I noticed it yesterday in the hardest rain

I've seen yet. Anything less than heavy, heavy rain, you would not notice it. They do a great job overall.

 

I think this is because that they wipe and cover very well, but just can't cover as much area as quickly as

the traditional style. Just the laws of physics. Doubt that will be a real issue long term, but I did notice that.

 

Stopped by the dealer to buy a spare pair, dealer wanted $65 for a pair! Ouch...I see the Motorcraft

part on Rock Auto for about <$11.50 each.

If you check the FordOwnwer.com site they are 19.99/pair at your dealer. I bought a set for my 2010 before I gave it away.

Edited June 9, 2013 by hermans

[hermans]

I don't know why, but Ford recommends you do not use Rain-x on your windshield if you have the auto-wipe feature.

Edited June 10, 2013 by hermans

[smr2112]

If you check the FordOwnwer.com site they are 19.99/pair at your dealer. I bought a set for my 2010 before I gave it away.

I was talking about the 2013 wiper blades which are 28" and you can only buy the full blades -

there is no replacement insert. I just get the feeling when I walk into my dealer, they

just charge whatever they feel like at the moment. Hard to tell because I am pretty sure

fordparts.com was cheaper than $32 each - for sure. Just checked, $17.48 for the L/R.

 

While I like my dealer, they just don't feel like selling parts over the counter, else why would the

price of parts vary so much. Service - same price as everywhere, don't get it.

 

Anybody know if it's the same blades for all trim levels? (WW-2601 and WW-2700) - there are least

4 blades shown @ fordparts.com

[hermans]

I was talking about the 2013 wiper blades which are 28" and you can only buy the full blades -

there is no replacement insert. I just get the feeling when I walk into my dealer, they

just charge whatever they feel like at the moment. Hard to tell because I am pretty sure

fordparts.com was cheaper than $32 each - for sure. Just checked, $17.48 for the L/R.

 

While I like my dealer, they just don't feel like selling parts over the counter, else why would the

price of parts vary so much. Service - same price as everywhere, don't get it.

 

Anybody know if it's the same blades for all trim levels? (WW-2601 and WW-2700) - there are least

4 blades shown @ fordparts.com

My dealer has them in stock for the '13. They replaced mine after two weeks of ownership as the were really squealing. Yes, it is the same blades for all trim levels.

Edited June 9, 2013 by hermans

[jsolan]

Sort of agree with the speed issue. In a major heavy downpour, and at the fastest speed, the pattern and type

of wipers don't seem to do as good a job as traditional style wipers. I noticed it yesterday in the hardest rain

I've seen yet. Anything less than heavy, heavy rain, you would not notice it. They do a great job overall.

 

 

I agree. It was very heavy downpour I experienced, the vast majority of rainfalls would be fine.