Skipping/Chattering wipers.. Tried and true remedy?

[lbowroom]

Trico 35-190 Ice Extreme Winter Wiper Blade 19", Pack of 1 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B009M08TJI/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_Zqm1DbTDF90MR

Trico 35-260 Ice Extreme Winter Wiper Blade 26", Pack of 1 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B009M08UXS/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_Frm1Db2G9P1M1

These are the ones I bought. You have configure the clip but don’t have to cut or break anything. There are direct fit specific to model 3 now but I haven’t tried those.
XTechnor Tesla Model 3 Windshield Wiper Blades, All-Season Original Equipment Replacement Wiper Strips for Tesla Model 3 2017 2018 2019 (Set of 2) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07V61HZ5K/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_Gvm1DbMVV99BZ

 

[jebinc]

Trico 35-190 Ice Extreme Winter Wiper Blade 19", Pack of 1 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B009M08TJI/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_Zqm1DbTDF90MR

Trico 35-260 Ice Extreme Winter Wiper Blade 26", Pack of 1 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B009M08UXS/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_Frm1Db2G9P1M1

These are the ones I bought. You have configure the clip but don’t have to cut or break anything. There are direct fit specific to model 3 now but I haven’t tried those.
XTechnor Tesla Model 3 Windshield Wiper Blades, All-Season Original Equipment Replacement Wiper Strips for Tesla Model 3 2017 2018 2019 (Set of 2) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07V61HZ5K/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_Gvm1DbMVV99BZ

Thanks, @lbowroom

 

[mswlogo]

From day one, I've had chattering/skipping wipers - which has now become a real PITA as the daily rains have returned to Seattle... When the problem first appeared, I tried several fixes, to no avail. Cleaned with 91% isopropyl alcohol, window cleaner, etc. Cleaned the blades as well. Tried AqualPel (which I use successfully on my other cars), etc. Currently, still using the OEM blades that came with the car (June build), and the windshield remains treated with AquaPel. Any suggestions? If recommending new blades, please be specific as to what blades you are recommending, and if they are direct replacements to the OEM blades. I'm trying to avoid having to take a Porter Cable and glass compound/Bon Ami/Bar keepers friend to the windshield, if possible.

P.S. The SC is an hour drive each way, with traffic, so that's my last resort. Also, not interested in using RainX of any sort.

Your problem is probably the AqualPel. The Water does not "stick" or "wet" the glass and gets repelled, so lot's of areas of the glass are essentially dry. So the wipers hit all that "clean dry" glass and bounce. It's a common problem with any of the glass sealants.

Polish off the AqualPel and it will probably be fine. I used Griot's Glass Sealant on my X (after polishing), and they chatter a tiny bit at the end of the stroke. I did my friends Model 3 (Polished first) and then Sealant and now they chatter like crazy. I need to polish it off. Some people say to apply the same product to your wipers that you put on the glass. This isn't an SC issue IMHO.

Polishing Glass with an orbital is a piece of cake. Takes 10 minutes. I used griots. Easier than washing your car. It took the factory supplied scum off both the Model 3 and Model X (nothing else would touch it). I could visibly see the line where scum was removed vs not with the polish. If it bounced from the factory I suspect it's "the scum" and it's very grippy.

Before polishing I was using a microfiber and Invisible glass. As the cleaner dried the cloth would grab the glass and want to roll (because of scum on the glass). After polishing I put that same cloth on the glass after cleaning with the same invisible cleaner and it would just float to the bottom like a feather. I highly suspect you have AqualPel (which can cause bouncing even on pristine glass) on top of scum.

Windshield wipers hop, skip, jumping - Anyone else experiencing this? | Tesla

I would not use Bon Ami, although I know a lot of people do. The glass polish is a lot gentler. At least the Griot's stuff is (says it removes "mild water spots" and road scum, that's how mild it is). Not messy. Can be done by hand but DA polisher is quicker, easier and applies nice even pressure. I set it on almost the lowest speed.

 

[Adam3]

I'm switching to the "new" silicone Michelin Endurance XT blades.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/NEW-Mich...ade-26-Last-2X-Longer/155403758?selected=true

 

[jebinc]

Your problem is probably the AqualPel. The Water does not "stick" or "wet" the glass and gets repelled, so lot's of areas of the glass are essentially dry. So the wipers hit all that "clean dry" glass and bounce. It's a common problem with any of the glass sealants.

Polish off the AqualPel and it will probably be fine. I used Griot's Glass Sealant on my X (after polishing), and they chatter a tiny bit at the end of the stroke. I did my friends Model 3 (Polished first) and then Sealant and now they chatter like crazy. I need to polish it off. Some people say to apply the same product to your wipers that you put on the glass. This isn't an SC issue IMHO.

Polishing Glass with an orbital is a piece of cake. Takes 10 minutes. I used griots. Easier than washing your car. It took the factory supplied scum off both the Model 3 and Model X (nothing else would touch it). I could visibly see the line where scum was removed vs not with the polish.

Thanks, but perhaps my OP was not clear - The problem existed from day 1. AquaPel was the last thing tried to get the chattering to stop. And, I use AquaPel on all my other vehicles without issue. Will take the ‘ol Porter Cable to the glass with some Bon Ami, I guess. Perhaps the glass was not as clean as I thought it was before applying the AquaPel.

 

[mswlogo]

Thanks, but perhaps my OP was not clear - The problem existed from day 1. AquaPel was the last thing tried to get the chattering to stop. And, I use AquaPel on all my other vehicles without issue. Will take the ‘ol Porter Cable to the glass with some Bon Ami, I guess. Perhaps the glass was not as clean as I thought it was before applying the AquaPel.

Understood, but I'd use something made for cleaning glass rather than for cleaning fry pans

 

[Kirby64]

Your problem is probably the AqualPel. The Water does not "stick" or "wet" the glass and gets repelled, so lot's of areas of the glass are essentially dry. So the wipers hit all that "clean dry" glass and bounce. It's a common problem with any of the glass sealants.

Polish off the AqualPel and it will probably be fine. I used Griot's Glass Sealant on my X (after polishing), and they chatter a tiny bit at the end of the stroke. I did my friends Model 3 (Polished first) and then Sealant and now they chatter like crazy. I need to polish it off. Some people say to apply the same product to your wipers that you put on the glass. This isn't an SC issue IMHO.

Polishing Glass with an orbital is a piece of cake. Takes 10 minutes. I used griots. Easier than washing your car. It took the factory supplied scum off both the Model 3 and Model X (nothing else would touch it). I could visibly see the line where scum was removed vs not with the polish. If it bounced from the factory I suspect it's "the scum" and it's very grippy.

Before polishing I was using a microfiber and Invisible glass. As the cleaner dried the cloth would grab the glass and want to roll (because of scum on the glass). After polishing I put that same cloth on the glass after cleaning with the same invisible cleaner and it would just float to the bottom like a feather. I highly suspect you have AqualPel (which can cause bouncing even on pristine glass) on top of scum.

Windshield wipers hop, skip, jumping - Anyone else experiencing this? | Tesla

I would not use Bon Ami, although I know a lot of people do. The glass polish is a lot gentler. At least the Griot's stuff is (says it removes "mild water spots" and road scum, that's how mild it is). Not messy. Can be done by hand but DA polisher is quicker, easier and applies nice even pressure. I set it on almost the lowest speed.

I used Griot's glass cleaner on an orbital and glass sealant exactly as you state, and it still didn't fix my wiper chatter until I switched wipers.

For others asking about the Bosch Icon's I bought: I believe I bought the Bosch OE of identical sizes to the Tesla ones (you can google it). I had to modify the clips though, but once they clipped in it worked fine.

 

[mswlogo]

I used Griot's glass cleaner on an orbital and glass sealant exactly as you state, and it still didn't fix my wiper chatter until I switched wipers.

For others asking about the Bosch Icon's I bought: I believe I bought the Bosch OE of identical sizes to the Tesla ones (you can google it). I had to modify the clips though, but once they clipped in it worked fine.

Skip the sealant. That’s the stuff (similar to Aquapel the OP used) that can cause the chattering. You took the grippy containment’s off from the factory and replaced it with grippy (to the wipers) sealant.

I just did my wife’s windshield on her new Volt tonight, looked like water spots in her case (they were not chattering). But I skipped the sealant this time after reading folks having issues with chattering. And my friend having problems with chattering after I polished and used the sealant on his Model 3. I did Model X and Model 3 exactly the same and neither was chattering. I’m 99% sure it’s the sealant.

I did suggest polishing OFF his Aquapel sealant, I didn’t suggest putting sealant on (even though I didn’t have a problem with it on the X, I know it can cause problems with some cars [wipers]). Which is why I suggested he polish it off.

Since you have the stuff, and you know how easy it is (10 minutes), just try polishing it again but don’t put the sealant on. Also be sure to clean the blades.

Reread your post and missed that you changed blades. I’m not surprised you could find a blade happier with the sealant. I tend to lean towards OEM blades. Are they OEM blades?

 

[jebinc]

Skip the sealant. That’s the stuff (similar to Aquapel the OP used) that can cause the chattering. You took the grippy containment’s off from the factory and replaced it with grippy (to the wipers) seal

I just did my wife’s windshield on her new Volt tonight, looked like water spots in her case (they were not chattering). But I skipped the sealant this time after reading folks having issues with chattering. And my friend having problems with chattering after I polished and used the sealant on his Model 3. I did Model X and Model 3 exactly the same and neither was chattering. I’m 99% sure it’s the sealant.

I did suggest polishing OFF his Aquapel sealant, I didn’t suggest putting sealant on (even though I didn’t have a problem with it on the X, I know it can cause problems with some cars [wipers]). Which is why I suggested he polish it off.

Since you have the stuff, and you know how easy it is (10 minutes), just try polishing it again but don’t put the sealant on. Also be sure to clean the blades.

Reread your post and missed that you changed blades. I’m not surprised you could find a blade happier with the sealant. I tend to lean towards OEM blades. Are they OEM blades?

My Griot's glass cleaner and new blades arrived yesterday. I plan to take the Griot's glass cleaner and my 6” orbital to the glass tomorrow. Will not apply sealant. Will let all know how it turns out! Thanks!

 

[jjrandorin]

My Griot's glass cleaner and new blades arrived yesterday. I plan to take the Griot's glass cleaner and my 6” orbital to the glass tomorrow. Will not apply sealant. Will let all know how it turns out! Thanks!

Let us know how it goes, interested to hear.

 

[Kirby64]

Skip the sealant. That’s the stuff (similar to Aquapel the OP used) that can cause the chattering. You took the grippy containment’s off from the factory and replaced it with grippy (to the wipers) sealant.

I just did my wife’s windshield on her new Volt tonight, looked like water spots in her case (they were not chattering). But I skipped the sealant this time after reading folks having issues with chattering. And my friend having problems with chattering after I polished and used the sealant on his Model 3. I did Model X and Model 3 exactly the same and neither was chattering. I’m 99% sure it’s the sealant.

I did suggest polishing OFF his Aquapel sealant, I didn’t suggest putting sealant on (even though I didn’t have a problem with it on the X, I know it can cause problems with some cars [wipers]). Which is why I suggested he polish it off.

Since you have the stuff, and you know how easy it is (10 minutes), just try polishing it again but don’t put the sealant on. Also be sure to clean the blades.

Reread your post and missed that you changed blades. I’m not surprised you could find a blade happier with the sealant. I tend to lean towards OEM blades. Are they OEM blades?

No, they're Bosch Icon's. Honestly it's been long enough that the sealant is probably worn off, so it's probably not contributing at this point.

Also, polishing is a bit annoying... longer than 10 mins in my experience. If only because you have to be careful enough to not overload the pad and sling the glass polisher all over the rest of the car... which is a great way to get micro scratches all over the car.

 

[jebinc]

Let us know how it goes, interested to hear.

Roger Wilco.

 

[mswlogo]

No, they're Bosch Icon's. Honestly it's been long enough that the sealant is probably worn off, so it's probably not contributing at this point.

Also, polishing is a bit annoying... longer than 10 mins in my experience. If only because you have to be careful enough to not overload the pad and sling the glass polisher all over the rest of the car... which is a great way to get micro scratches all over the car.

I set the polisher on pretty low (no higher than #2) and no trouble with risking it splattered all over. I'm also using just 3" sponge like pad (because I had them) so I think that tends to not whip it around so much. I don't worry about getting close to the edge either. Really, just 10 minutes (for the Volt or Model 3), a bit longer for the Model X.

 

[jlindy]

Had that happen too when I first got it but seemed to be an easy fix. Sprayed glass cleaner all over and then used a razor scraper blade on the surface to work across entire wet surface. At first few passes, felt crunches like it was getting some hard residue off area by area that i couldn’t get off before or detect during normal glass cleaning. Once The razor pass was smooth, moved to new area, a quick wipe dry and never did it again.

 

[mswlogo]

Had that happen too when I first got it but seemed to be an easy fix. Sprayed glass cleaner all over and then used a razor scraper blade on the surface to work across entire wet surface. At first few passes, felt crunches like it was getting some hard residue off area by area that i couldn’t get off before or detect during normal glass cleaning. Once The razor pass was smooth, moved to new area, a quick wipe dry and never did it again.

Yes, all Tesla’s ship with crud on the glass. That’s one way to get it off. Polishing is a heck of a lot easier.

 

[jebinc]

Had that happen too when I first got it but seemed to be an easy fix. Sprayed glass cleaner all over and then used a razor scraper blade on the surface to work across entire wet surface. At first few passes, felt crunches like it was getting some hard residue off area by area that i couldn’t get off before or detect during normal glass cleaning. Once The razor pass was smooth, moved to new area, a quick wipe dry and never did it again.

NG, sorry. I used to do this all the time and ruined my son's brand new Subaru Impreza Sport as the razer blade I used must have had a microscopic bur that put fines scratches all over the windshield. Only visible when sun was shining through. We ended trading in a year later for an Outback on a cloudy day...

 

[jlindy]

NG, sorry. I used to do this all the time and ruined my son's brand new Subaru Impreza Sport as the razer blade I used must have had a microscopic bur that put fines scratches all over the windshield. Only visible when sun was shining through. We ended trading in a year later for an Outback on a cloudy day...

Emphasis on windshield being misted with cleaner before razor prevents scratches and have done that on literally every car with no issue. Easier IMO than polishing as it took me like 45 seconds but again whatever works for everyone.

 

[jebinc]

From day one, I've had chattering/skipping wipers - which has now become a real PITA as the daily rains have returned to Seattle... When the problem first appeared, I tried several fixes, to no avail. Cleaned with 91% isopropyl alcohol, window cleaner, etc. Cleaned the blades as well. Tried AqualPel (which I use successfully on my other cars), etc. Currently, still using the OEM blades that came with the car (June build), and the windshield remains treated with AquaPel. Any suggestions? If recommending new blades, please be specific as to what blades you are recommending, and if they are direct replacements to the OEM blades. I'm trying to avoid having to take a Porter Cable and glass compound/Bon Ami/Bar keepers friend to the windshield, if possible.

P.S. The SC is an hour drive each way, with traffic, so that's my last resort. Also, not interested in using RainX of any sort.

Update:

First tried Groits polish and took a 6” orbital PorterCable to the glass; kept OEM blades intact - NADA

Next, repeated the above again - NADA

Next, broke out the “1886” Bon Ami and cranked up the speed on the PorterCable... then cleaned and repeated attempt/step #1 above. Lastly, replaced blades with “direct replacement” blades I got on Amazon. - Walla, so far so good. Rainy day here in the PNW and not chatter. Figured the Groits just “didn’t cut it.”

 

[mswlogo]

Update:

First tried Groits polish and took a 6” orbital PorterCable to the glass; kept OEM blades intact - NADA

Next, repeated the above again - NADA

Next, broke out the “1886” Bon Ami and cranked up the speed on the PorterCable... then cleaned and repeated attempt/step #1 above. Lastly, replaced blades with “direct replacement” blades I got on Amazon. - Walla, so far so good. Rainy day here in the PNW and not chatter. Figured the Groits just “didn’t cut it.”

I wonder if the (fresh coat of) AqualPel was too tough for the Griots Polish to remove. The Griots Polish is pretty gentle.

I assume you did not put AqualPel back on?

Did you try the OEM blades again? Did you clean those too?

Sounds like you did two changes to get to the "Wella" step. Be nice to know which it was, BonAmi or Direct Replacements, maybe you needed both. I know sometimes you just want to get it done and come out shooting both barrels firing to solve a problem and screw the "scientific comparisons/reasons"

Some folks swear that once your blades get "contaminated" you're screwed.

Thanks for sharing.

BTW, I did my wife's Volt. It was nothing like the Model 3 or Model X. But I could see what looked like water spots when it wiped in rain that reduced visibility a little. After all the bouncing wiper stories I decided to Griots Polish only first. I wanted to see what you ended up with, without sealer. My wife said it was bad, I never got see it. But it sounded like it just smeared. I took her word for it and put the sealer on and she says it's great now. And it did remove the water stains. But there is a slight wiper chatter at the very end of the stroke. Like the Model X. This is so tiny you wouldn't know it unless you were looking for it.

Now, how do clean the scum off on the inside I'm afraid to use polish or BonAmi (to messy). I know there is scum on the inside.

 

[jebinc]

I wonder if the (fresh coat of) AqualPel was too tough for the Griots Polish to remove. The Griots Polish is pretty gentle.

I assume you did not put AqualPel back on?

Did you try the OEM blades again? Did you clean those too?

Sounds like you did two changes to get to the "Wella" step. Be nice to know which it was, BonAmi or Direct Replacements, maybe you needed both. I know sometimes you just want to get it done and come out shooting both barrels firing to solve a problem and screw the "scientific comparisons/reasons"

Some folks swear that once your blades get "contaminated" you're screwed.

Thanks for sharing.

BTW, I did my wife's Volt. It was nothing like the Model 3 or Model X. But I could see what looked like water spots when it wiped in rain that reduced visibility a little. After all the bouncing wiper stories I decided to Griots Polish only first. I wanted to see what you ended up with, without sealer. My wife said it was bad, I never got see it. But it sounded like it just smeared. I took her word for it and put the sealer on and she says it's great now. And it did remove the water stains. But there is a slight wiper chatter at the very end of the stroke. Like the Model X. This is so tiny you wouldn't know it unless you were looking for it.

Now, how do clean the scum off on the inside I'm afraid to use polish or BonAmi (to messy). I know there is scum on the inside.

I do think my blades were contaminated by either the ceramic coating or AquaPel, or other. I doubt the AquaPel as I have used it on many cars and no issues. Perhaps I had a bad mix with the last batch I bought, but again, no issues with it on the 2020 Outback XT Limited. Re BonAmi, you must not use any version other than the “1886” original formula as it can scratch the glass. Current formulations says on the can, not for glass or mirrors. “1886” says on can it’s safe for glass and mirrors. Went with OEM knockoffs on Amazon as they were half the price and I didn’t want to trek to the SC in traffic. They are really good blades and are exactly identical to OEM ones. Re Groits polish.... wouldn’t by that again... YMMV.