Hugh Mannity
Mediocre Member
head over to Kamloops; when i lived in Maple Ridge I wanted to have a real snow day too to try out the car; we went to Sunpeaks one weekend when it was -20 and it was able to answer all kinds of questions ;-)
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Windshield Wipers in Winter
- Thread starter electricM3
- Start date
head over to Kamloops; when i lived in Maple Ridge I wanted to have a real snow day too to try out the car; we went to Sunpeaks one weekend when it was -20 and it was able to answer all kinds of questions ;-)
Just wondering if anyone has found a workaround for the extremely poor wiper performance in snow/ice. I posted about this in another thread, but long story short, it is so bad that if we cant find a solution we're going to buy out our lease and sell the car. I've taken it into service twice for this. They recognize the problem but seem unable to fix it. They've tried adjusting the wiper housing/mechanism so that the blades make more contact in the area where they aren't working well (which happens to be right in the driver's line of sight). They've also replaced the blades twice. My wife and I are still unable to see well out the windshield when there's snow, ice, grime on the road... winter conditions which are very common here in the mountains of Utah.
The last thing we're going to try before getting rid of the car is aftermarket blades. I found these, which claim to be specially designed for icy conditions and fit the X. Just wondering if anyone has used these or any other aftermarket blades.
The last thing we're going to try before getting rid of the car is aftermarket blades. I found these, which claim to be specially designed for icy conditions and fit the X. Just wondering if anyone has used these or any other aftermarket blades.
Which aftermarket blades did you get for your Tesla?
I found this PIAA Si-Tech Wiper Blade Kit for the Model S. I contacted them and they said they will work with the Model X as well—I didn't realize the blades for the S and X are the same specs. I'm going to try it and see if it helps. At this point I don't know what else to do.
I actually haven’t gotten them for my Model 3 (yet). I think the last ones I used were Rain-X brand, the higher end ones. I checked and I don’t see them listed for Tesla, but I suspect the sizes would be available. I looked at the ones you linked and they seem to be the same design though.
Many OEM wipers have small ”hinges” on the blade support to keep it against the windshield and these tend to freeze up making the blade too stiff. I did check the 3’s wipers original wipers and they *don’t* seem to have that type of blade, so I’m not sure if the aftermarket design will help. It’s worth a try though. Ultimately, it may mean having to just clean up the blades regularly. I have read where cleaning the blades regularly by wiping them down windshield washer fluid can help.
Thanks. In my case, I don't think cleaning the blades will help, because I had the same issue even on the way home from the service center just after they had replaced the blades:
You can see how it is not cleaning a certain area about 6-8 inches wide. The rest of the windshield tends to be better. I think the wiper arms are misaligned or faulty somehow, which is causing the blade to not contact the windshield enough (or perhaps too much?) in that area. I saw a another post on TMC from someone else that seemed to have a similar issue, and he finally got Tesla to replace the wiper arms—which solved the problem immediately.
That's what I'm going to try to get Tesla to do.
Yeah, I think in that case it could be an arm tension issue - the arm is not pressing the blade to the windshield firmly enough, leaving less effective pressure toward the middle of the blade attachment. I have noticed on my 3 that the wipers arms are pretty easy to lift off the windshield vs. some other car's I've had.
I keep telling them that. Last year, they at least tried to adjust the tension. This time, they didn't even bother. They insisted that it was just the blades, despite the fact that this has been a persistent issue and they'd already tried to fix it in the past. I am so frustrated with Tesla service.
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