# Juddering wiper blades



## thesmileyone (Dec 8, 2016)

So I bought a car a month ago and my wiper blades are juddering, at first only on downstroke, since I putting them on fastest speed (where they don't judder ironically) they now judder on both up/down on all speeds except fastest.

Car is a 2017 Audi S3 3 door 8V model.

It seems to have been detailed in the past, it collects wax water droplets and the bodywork looks good when this occurs (beading). But it seems someone waxed the windscreen with some wax that is IMPOSSIBLE to come off.

I have tried the following

- new wiper blades, from Audi, twice.

- autoglym glass cleaner + polish

- T-cut

- jet wash

- vinegar and newspaper, 3x, over a period of 3 weeks

None of these has managed to get whatever is on the windscreen to come off.

It is so bad that if it rains I can't use the car. Not only because of the juddering but because whatever is on the screen collects all the rain drops and then you can't see out of the screen.

At 70mph all the rain runs off the top of the screen like RainX but I've never encountered RainX that behaves like this or doesn't come off with vinegar applied.

I don't really want to have to take it to a detailer who will charge me an arm and a leg to remove it? And a new screen I think is out of the picture as it has auto wipers etc.

It has audi warranty but I'm not sure if this kind of thing is a warranty issue?

Any ideas please? I don't trust myself with a machine polisher / wire wall pad etc.


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## Rappy (Oct 2, 2020)

Just see the video, what a bloody nightmare!

I never put anything on the glass because of this :wall::wall:

You need a heavy cut compound & wool pad on a machine.


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## Rappy (Oct 2, 2020)

Also, Bar Keepers friend gets good reviews on here :thumb::thumb:

https://www.therange.co.uk/househol...b8Ssb7CTNv8hzHJj38sZibA14aAh1TEALw_wcB#637251

Only £1.99 from the Range


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## Andyblue (Jun 20, 2017)

Might be worth trying Bar Keepers friend (powder version) with a non scratch scouring pad, give it a few hits and make sure you really clean well afterwards, then try AG glass polish cleaner again...

I know a few use 0000 wire wool to aid deep cleaning...


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## Del-GTi (Mar 31, 2007)

Cerium Oxide. Get it from eBay.

This will solve the problem. I had same issue and it was the only way to get rid of the coating properly. Have a search for a topic I started about wiper blades squeaking.


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## GleemSpray (Jan 26, 2014)

Barkeepers Friend is epic on glass - it seems to break down everything that is baked /stuck onto the glass when all else fails.

Seriously, it's only £1.99 and works miracles


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## Kerr (Mar 27, 2012)

What's the other clicking sound in the video? Never heard that in an Audi before.


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## thesmileyone (Dec 8, 2016)

Thanks, I will try Barkeepers Friend first. There's a Range near so...

How to use it, without a machine polisher / drill?


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## BrummyPete (Jun 10, 2010)

thesmileyone said:


> Thanks, I will try Barkeepers Friend first. There's a Range near so...
> 
> How to use it, without a machine polisher / drill?


Get a wet microfibre, put some barkeepers on it and just work it in, it's great stuff 

Sent from my SM-G781B using Tapatalk


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## JU5T1N (Dec 7, 2019)

Felt pads is what you use for polishing glass, some felt pads and abrasive glass polish should remove it.

Failing that or for a quick fix there's 2in1 glass cleaners around that clean the glass and leave behind a temporary coating, the temporary coating should more the screen slick enough so the wipers won't judder.


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## 20vKarlos (Aug 8, 2009)

This has been caused by a poorly applied glass coating, more specifically the coating not curing/being removed correctly.

You can try all the stuff above and they should solve the problem, I’d probably start with bar keepers first :thumb:


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## GleemSpray (Jan 26, 2014)

thesmileyone said:


> Thanks, I will try Barkeepers Friend first. There's a Range near so...
> 
> How to use it, without a machine polisher / drill?


 I have an old cereal bowl and a sponge scouring pad (like you buy for washing dishes).

Have an open hose ready or a hose spray gun set on a gentle spray pattern. Get the windscreen wipers out of the way. Wear disposable gloves.

Put a bit of the BKF powder into the bowl and dribble just enough water to mix it into a slightly runny paste.

Then carefully pick up some of the paste onto the rough scouring part of the sponge and work it across and around the windscreen (i go in circles, like you would if you are applying wax, but with a little pressure). Keep it off any paint or plastics.

Leave it for about a minute, to work its magic, but don't let it dry out if its a warm day.

Then gently hose down from the top, so it all goes into the rain scuttle and away - just use plenty of water until all trace has gone.

That's it, job done, repeat if necessary :thumb:


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## 20vKarlos (Aug 8, 2009)

Quality reply Gleem, I’m sure he’ll do well with this one now :thumb:


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## garage_dweller (Apr 10, 2018)

GleemSpray said:


> I have an old cereal bowl and a sponge scouring pad (like you buy for washing dishes).
> 
> Have an open hose ready or a hose spray gun set on a gentle spray pattern. Get the windscreen wipers out of the way. Wear disposable gloves.
> 
> ...


That's a great reply and what I do. You could also try using 0000 wire wool with the paste.

What does leaving it for a minute do? I though the work was done by BKF in the scouring stage, not by leaving on for any time.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## GleemSpray (Jan 26, 2014)

garage_dweller said:


> That's a great reply and what I do. You could also try using 0000 wire wool with the paste.
> 
> What does leaving it for a minute do? I though the work was done by BKF in the scouring stage, not by leaving on for any time.
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


 I have found that if you basically work it gently onto the glass, then leave it for only a minute or so, it deff seems to soften any hard bonded contaminates and you seem to get a better result first time.

So now i put it on, leave for one minute, then start to gently scrub.


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## thesmileyone (Dec 8, 2016)

So wet microfibre, + barkeepers friend powder...did this today. 

It's much better, just noisy wipers now, the passenger one seems to "jump" when it gets almost to it's bottom resting position and can't figure out why. Noticed a slight bit of juddering from the driver one but only when the windscreen was practically dry. I've not sealed it or polished it, just used the barkeepers a few times. I can now see the lines where the wipers stop etc which I could not see before. 

I will give it a go when it rains, if it works then i need to look at replacing the wipers I think, they are incredibly noisy...squealing (and squealing when cleaning them with a cloth) for genuine audi ones that are only a week old. 

People rave about PIAA Si-Tech ones on these cars so...


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## BrummyPete (Jun 10, 2010)

Sounds like your getting there mate 

Sent from my SM-G781B using Tapatalk


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## thesmileyone (Dec 8, 2016)

GleemSpray said:


> I have an old cereal bowl and a sponge scouring pad (like you buy for washing dishes).
> 
> Have an open hose ready or a hose spray gun set on a gentle spray pattern. Get the windscreen wipers out of the way. Wear disposable gloves.
> 
> ...


Thank you for taking the time to reply. I didn't see a page 2 until now when I was wondering where my last post went! I will try this again if need be, this way


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## 20vKarlos (Aug 8, 2009)

thesmileyone said:


> So wet microfibre, + barkeepers friend powder...did this today.
> 
> It's much better, just noisy wipers now, the passenger one seems to "jump" when it gets almost to it's bottom resting position and can't figure out why. Noticed a slight bit of juddering from the driver one but only when the windscreen was practically dry. I've not sealed it or polished it, just used the barkeepers a few times. I can now see the lines where the wipers stop etc which I could not see before.
> 
> ...


give it another couple of passes with the Bar Keepers and it should stop the juddering, it sounds like you're almost there :thumb:


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## Kif (Sep 30, 2009)

If after a few more goes with the BKF you still have some remaining issues, then another suggestion I have seen is to slightly 'twist' the wiper arm itself so as to present the wiper blade to the screen at a different angle.


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## RS3 (Mar 5, 2018)

I would try bosch blades to see if the blades are root cause.


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## Big Black Shed (Jun 30, 2021)

Whenever I’ve had juddering or skipping wiper blades it’s always a case of scrub the screen to death and then use a terry cloth soaked in WD40 or GT85 to clean the wiper blades. Keep cleaning the blades until the cloth isn’t fetching black off the blades. 

Always worked for me.


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## packard (Jun 8, 2009)

BKF solved it for me on many cars and always using OEM and not any kind of Bosch wipers as on last 3 cars all Bosch fitted juddered like an skipping kangaroo


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## Johnyb (Feb 5, 2018)

Mine were driving me crazy! I had glass sealant on but my wipers were driving me crazy juddering, I just used a cutting compound and a das6 to machine polish it off, was off in 2 mins, coating totally dead. what a relief! So I stupidly used a snow foaming sio2 coating all over the car and the wiper judder was back, machined it again with menzerna cutting compound and it was dead again. will stick to hand waxing from now on!.


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## macmaw (Mar 5, 2007)

I would go with Cerium Oxide pasta with rayon pads. 
If you don’t have a machine polisher, you can buy a hand puck applicator for them. 
A detailer wouldn’t charge you an arm and a leg to remove it however.


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## broncoupe (Aug 19, 2010)

Check wiper arms the Rubber blade must be at right angle 90 degree to glass 
If the wipers froze one morning that can be enough 
Used to be really common quick twist can sort


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## Summit Detailing (Oct 9, 2006)

Carpro Ceriglass..and a good arm workout if you don't have a machine polisher:thumb:

I'd charge you a nominal fee to remove...£25

Cheers,

Chris


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## donnyboy (Oct 27, 2005)

I had issues with smearing and juddering. Tried a few things. Strong cleaners, magic erasers. new blades etc.

This is what cleaned it - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Soft99-G...en-Cleaner-Polish-MADE-IN-JAPAN-/402309524902

Then the glass sealant - https://www.amazon.co.uk/SOFT99-410...35ZJYB8/ref=pd_lpo_2?pd_rd_i=B0035ZJYB8&psc=1

If I ever get issues with glass I go straight to the cleaner.

Set of both - https://www.amazon.co.uk/SOFT99-Glaco-Windscreen-Compound-Cleaner/dp/B074KBQP5C


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