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MG parts spares and accessories are available for MG T Series (TA, MG TB, MG TC, MG TD, MG TF), Magnette, MGA, Twin cam, MGB, MGBGT, MGC, MGC GT, MG Midget, Sprite and other MG models from British car spares company LBCarCo.

MG Midget and Sprite Technical - Wiper blades

Hi

Anyone had problem with 8 inch Tex wiper blade rubbers falling to bits? My new ones have delaminated after a year in the garage on the car with no use. Anyone located replacement refills and fitted them successfully?

Was wondering about buying 1 modern Bosch 16 inch wiper from Eurocarspares and cutting the rubber down - don't want to waste money on another set of wipers from Tex, or go into Halfords for their mega expensive refills (if they fit).

Cheers
Mike
M Wood

I think Nigel had some dealings with Tex.
Dave O'Neill2

Mike,
as David remembers I had dealings with Tex on the 9", their customer service was good enough but I can't say the same for their products

what you're talking about replacing are the rubber elements - I found Tex arms and blades to be poor at holding the element to the screen so if your current arms and blades work well then keep hold of them

if you look at the blades I'm not sure if replacement elements would remain fitted securely because the original elements have built in stops at each end - but I'd be very interested to know if they do so please let us know the outcome

there are a lot of rubbish rubber parts being sold for classics
Nigel Atkins

Too late for you now I know, but I have found that rubbing petroleum jelly (eg Vaseline) on the blades and leaving to soak in overnight, then cleaning off with washer fluid makes them very supple again.

My Tex blades are well over two years old, and still work perfectly.

Jim
J Smith

thanks Jim I can give that a try on my spare barely used set

my problems were from the new Tex arms and blades I bought (from different sources), one set of blades was sent back to Tex and they said they went on to someone's car and were found to be better than their existing ones so the fault was not with the blades

I've now got NOS Lucas adjustable for length and tension arms fitted and they are an improvement but the Tex blades still smear with them
Nigel Atkins

Thanks for the replies

I am going to look in the shed at old Series IiI Landrover wiper arms and blades I have, as well as wiper arms from a Morgan (never had the whole car). Lotus/Caterham/Westfield Sevens worth a look too I guess. Hoping Landrover Series bit can be made to work, thus improving parts availability - probably shorten a flat wiper blade and bend the arms.

Some Volvo models had 7.5 inch wiper blades on their headlamps!

Cheers
Mike
M Wood

you can possibly forget the ones for Westies as my mate's got a Westie and got his arms/blades direct from Tex, they were useless, even more so than I remember from when the days I had Westies

he got sent the spoon fitting and they tend to come very loose at higher legal speeds (angle of wheelbox is wrong for upright screen)
Nigel Atkins

I use spare, universal, rubber blades supplied by my local motor factors. You can cut them to the right length and with a bit of "modification" can be made to fit the backings, either Tex or better still the Trico design. And being proper, softish rubber, unlike the re-cycled flip-flops Tex use, they work!
Allan Reeling

x2 what Allan said: cut down new rubbers to fit (make sure their section shape is a close match so they will slide into your blade "holder" fingers).

Rubber wiper blades have a shelf life of around 6 months to 1 year. Beyond that they begin to harden, just like rubber tires do, and rubber mini suspension doughnuts. But the rubber in the wiper blade is very thin, and small, so it happens faster, and when it does, is more noticeable (and the blade takes a permanent set, then it won't "flip over" at the end of each wipe).


By the way, if your wipers are "skipping" along the glass, but the rubber is new enough to tell you it isn't from permanent set, then you can fix that by bending the end of the arm to angle the blade to lay down a little bit more on the windshield. It won't take much, so don't over do it.

Because the three wipers are one shape, but the windshield glass is a compound shape, the three arms each need a little bit different angle twisted into them for an optimal wipe performance. When you get all three arms right, all three rubbers should flip over smoothly at the end of each wipe with no skipping.


One more thing is clean glass. Use some Bon Ami, Baking Soda, (or, maybe Barkeeper's Friend, I have never tried that one), non-abrasive powder cleanser with no soap or waxes in it, to clean the glass. Do NOT use common scouring powder like AJAX, or Comet, they will scratch the glass, and they've got soaps and perfumes you don't want. The auto makers use Bon Ami to clean the windshield before wiper testing because it removes tree sap, diesel or other oil film, car wash wax, and other contaminants, for consistent tests, and their dealers recommend using it before deciding to replace wiper blades. In Japan they have a consumer product version called, "Kiro Bin" (Keero Bean"), which, I think, means, "yellow bottle" (because it comes in a yellow bottle), which is, upon analysis, basically the same powder used in Bon Ami, mixed with water.


Norm
Norm Kerr

This thread was discussed between 25/11/2013 and 26/11/2013

MG Midget and Sprite Technical index

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