Automatic windscreen wipers and winter weather

[wooders]

I started my tekna up last night and the auto wiper blades automatically cleared the evening dew/mist off the screen . Now this got me thinking . I always leave the wipers on auto but just say if the windscreen had been frozen and blades stuck to the ice then this could damage the windscreen or blades . a couple of years ago I had an xtrail and I did exactly as above and it yanked a blade clean off much to the amusement of my work colleages but then I had an audi A4 which I could leave in auto wipers as they wouldn't clear the screen unless the car was doing around 5kph . so maybe there could be a lesson to be learnt here and it could save you a bill .I have know taken mine out of auto as of last night .

[rm0rgan]

Yup - been there and done this.Thanks for the reminder to switch of auto-wipers now!

[gvmdaddy]

Simple little tips like this are worth their weight in gold.

[DaveBerlin]

Been there also never leave the Wipers in Auto. If you take a look at "Idle Chit Chat" / " Winter Checks" you might find a few more Tips for the winter period which might help - Dave a?„i??

[ProceSS]

I from other side never have a wipers on Auto.only when is raining other ways they off - reason is I'm not rely on this system in 100% (you can have scratched windscreen because of auto wipers)

[Danny]

Sorry to bump an old post. However, as the weather is yet again causing ice on the windscreen and I too noticed that when I start my engine the wipers automatically clear the screen if there are a few drops of water on it. This has been great advice and I'll turn from automatic to manual. I would not have thought of this.

[sporttourer]

Alternatively - lift the wipers from the screen to free them from any ice before you get in the car and start the engine.

[DaveBerlin]

With most cars you can lift the Wipers clear of the Screen but in the QQ - Not !. Our 's is a LH Drive and definitely you cannot lift the Drivers Side Wiper clear without contacting the Bonnet and chipping the paint. OK you can go through the maintenance mod and lift them clear but who in the early morning wants to do this when they are half asleep
Safest way is set them out of "Auto" as mentioned, stick the screen heater "ON" and within minutes you are away. You are absolutely correct that you can ripe the rubbers off as here we do tend to get minus temps, just checked ours at -2*C and they were stuck. As a tip which I have posted, I stuck a small rubber buffer on the Wiper Arm where it can touch the Bonnet to prevent chipping - it works Dave

[Squierrel]

There is a trick to get the wipers move to vertical position for lifting off the screen. If I remember it correctly it was a double-click upwards on the wiper stalk. Works even after engine shutdown. No need to browse the maintenace mode menus.

And this wiper lift-off is naturally done when you leave the car, not when you are starting it.

[bigk]

This is an excellent tip. It was also suggested by my dealer that I leave the wing mirrors in "open" mode so that they don't fold in and then out when locking and unlocking the car. This saves the electric motors from the possibility of burning out during frosty weather due to too much strain on them.