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wiper blade

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The reason your wiper jumps in one direction is because the rubber blade has dried out and is not "flipping".
The blade should drag but is being pushed in the return direction, causing it to jump.
Replacing the wiper blade inserts will fix the problem.

That would be crazy because the car was less than 2 months old in that video and it's been doing it since I got the car. Hrmph. Thanks for the reply -- I'll replace it and see what happens.
 
That would be crazy because the car was less than 2 months old in that video and it's been doing it since I got the car. Hrmph. Thanks for the reply -- I'll replace it and see what happens.

When I got my car, there was a metal wire inside the blade that was sticking out about an inch at the bottom. The wiper didn't work very well. After pushing the wire fully into the wiper it worked properly.
 
That would be crazy because the car was less than 2 months old in that video and it's been doing it since I got the car. Hrmph. Thanks for the reply -- I'll replace it and see what happens.

The original wiper on my Roadster was one of the worst I had ever seen. It left wide streaks and within months it refused to flip for the back stroke. I went with the Bosch 424A ICON Wiper Blade which was highly regarded on the Lotus forums and have enjoyed over 14 months of silent streak free wiper use to date. I had totally forgotten how bad the original one was. As I recall the Bosch may be slightly shorter so it may be a slightly smaller arc.
 
The original wiper on my Roadster was one of the worst I had ever seen. It left wide streaks and within months it refused to flip for the back stroke. I went with the Bosch 424A ICON Wiper Blade which was highly regarded on the Lotus forums and have enjoyed over 14 months of silent streak free wiper use to date. I had totally forgotten how bad the original one was. As I recall the Bosch may be slightly shorter so it may be a slightly smaller arc.

Thanks for the recommendation -- I just Amazon'ed it. I'll put it on the car when I get it back next week and try to remember to report back when it precipitates next. Too bad I won't have the Roadster back from the service center in NY for the big snow storm we're supposed to get on Sunday!
 
Roadster wiper blade replacement
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Bosch 424A ICON Wiper Blade
http://www.amazon.com/Bosch-424A-ICON-Wiper-Blade/dp/B000IYDEPG
About 18 dollars US for one.
 
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I ordered the Bosch 424A ICON Wiper Blade VFX recommended this morning. I've only had the car a short period now but drove it in the rain the first time. The stock wiper blades are pretty bad. Very loud but they work I guess. I'll see how the Bosch blades do. For a car this expensive, it really should have the better accessories like the Bosch blades.
 
I had the same problem with the original wiper blades and replaced them with the Bosch Icon 426A, which matches the length of the original blade. The 426 does seem a bit long when it's in the down position. Does the 424 cover the same area when wiping?
 
Speaking of replacing wiper blades, when I got my 12,000-mile service in September, Tesla charged me $550 for the service, plus $25.80 for a replacement wiper blade (which fortunately they left in my trunk instead of throwing away my Bosch), and $48.48 for 2 remote batteries.

Obviously, I'd rather pay Amazon $18 for another Bosch blade (which I have since done).

I doubt the batteries for the remote need to be replaced every year and you can buy them for less than $1 each. For the 2008 remote, it's two CR1616 cells, available from DigiKey for $0.63 each. I don't know what's in the remotes for the newer models.

From what I'd heard from other owners, I expected the service to cost $600. Instead it cost $550 plus $74.28 for stuff I didn't want, for a total of $624.28.

I don't mind paying for the service, but I found it insulting to be wildly overcharged for batteries I didn't need and a wiper blade I won't use.
 
I had the same problem with the original wiper blades and replaced them with the Bosch Icon 426A, which matches the length of the original blade. The 426 does seem a bit long when it's in the down position. Does the 424 cover the same area when wiping?

When my roadster was new I had the same experience, the blade would not flip. On my first visit from the Tesla service manager for an unrelated issue, he noticed the wiper problem. A few quick bends of the wiper arm (not sure which direction) and problem solved. My car is now 16 months old with no windshield/windscreen wiper problems with the original blade. Although it is not streaking I pobably should replace the blade due to its age.
 
I just installed the Bosch 426A blades and they seem to work ok. Of course it stopped raining as soon as I got home to install them but they seem much quieter than the OEM ones. I agree with Tom that they seem a little long in the rest position but seem to work ok and cover the same area as the OEM blade.
 
Has anyone here used Rain X and is it ok to use on a windshield treated with the Solar Guard treatment from Tesla? Thanks.

I've got an application (double coat) on mine. Was one of the first things I did. Haven't re-applied yet. You can see it (with the stock blade) in my video in the videos forum. I've not noticed it causing any problems...
 
Speaking of replacing wiper blades, when I got my 12,000-mile service in September, Tesla charged me $550 for the service, plus $25.80 for a replacement wiper blade

Funny. When I was in to fix my winshield washer (the time it stopped because of a kinked line because of pulling some lateral g's at the track) Carl tried out the repaired washer, said that my wiper blade wasn't working well, and popped a new one on, no charge. Maybe they have to charge for it when it's part of the annual serivce or something. Or, maybe they're just kind of inconsistent about billing (my guess).