shahedC

Broken Wiper on Snowy Day!
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When I got in to work today, I parked my 2007 SLK in an uncovered spot, and got snow all over my car during the day. I pivoted the wipers upwards so that they wouldn't stick to the windshield.

I planned on working till 7pm tonight, so at 5:30pm, I thought I should clear off the snow and park my car in a covered spot, so that the snow doesn't freeze and stick to the car.

I went to the car and sat inside with the car started for a couple of minutes. I had zero visibility as I waited for the car to warm up, then I decided to turn on the wipers to clear off the snow. It was light fluffy snow, so I didn't bother using a scraper.

But I forgot that the wipers were still pivoted upwards !!!

* SNAP *

My driver-side windshield wiper broke off at the pivot point... I called Roadside Assistance right away, but:

* Roadside Assistance does not fix wiper blades
* The dealership will not pay for towing for a broken wiper blade
* The entire wiper system costs $600 !!!
* Fortunately, just the wiper blade itself costs $30...

So, I cleared off the snow myself, and parked the car in a covered spot in my office poarking lot. I am planning on coming back early tomorrow, and driving the car straight to the dealership.

Either they will fix it quickly, or they will have to give me a loaner.

Thoughts? Comments?

Duo-Art

If you have to drive your SLK in winter weather, OK, but I can't imagine ever driving my car in snowy weather. Heck, I'm paying $320 per month for secure, heated storage.

shahedC

well, we only get 1 or 2 days of real snow around here, so that's not a problem. I have a front-wheel drive sedan as my beater car as well. I did get stuck in the snow after the mid-February blizzard this year, as I tried to drive on snow-covered roads after the storm. But haven't had to drive in the blizzard with this car.

Oh, and it turns out that the wiper may not really be broken... it snapped back into place with a few more attempts, and seems to work as good as new.

So I didn't have to get it towed or taken to the dealership....

Ynot

Great, I was just going to mentioned that it probably just unclipped itself and you can snap it back in, but you've already figured it out. I had something similiar happened this year.

I thought I've scraped everything off the windshield so I tried to clear the rest off with the wipers, when I turned it on the rubber ripped right off. It was still stuck to the ice. I was fortunate that the metal part of the wiper blade didn't scratch my windows. The dealer wanted $25 a piece for the wiper replacement, I went to Walmart and picked up the same one for $8.

shahedC

I drove the car around today, and the wipers seem to work ok, but there's still a broken piece that I found. It looks like a jagged plastic pointy dagger with ridges, and is the length of a long fingernail.. it's probably one of two parts that clip on the wiper to the rotating part.



At least I know that I can get a cheaper option if I need it. (Don't feel like spending $600 at the dealership for a wiper. )

Ynot

Your pic is very blurry but looks like plastic, nothing super glue can't fixed.

bloflin

The other thing you need to look for it paint gouges on the edge of the rear of the hood (where the mechanism will hit when you turn the wipers on when they are standing up).

If deep enough (thru the primer to the metal), you need to touch up to prevent rust thru/spots.

shahedC

yeah, my cell phone camera doesn't do close up shots of little plastic things.

I think it's part of the piece that snaps into place from the wiper to the metal arm. There was a similar jagged edge protruding from the wiper before reattachment, so maybe the broken piece was part of it.

Now that it's attached again, I'm going to keep the broken piece in a drawer somewhere.

Good point. I already have a chip in the windshield from some flying pebble, I recently found a tiny scratch in the paint on the hood.

Man, life was easy when I had my trusty old 1988 Corolla...