740 headlamp wiper blades
 

The wipers on the headlamps on my 740 look to be in good condition, but the blades look as if they have had little use, and they are old and hard. Is there something I can do to soften the blades, or should I just buy a new pair? I know they only cost about £8 for the pair, but I like to restore things if it is possible. Too much salvageable stuff just gets thrown away, and that doesn't help the environment.

It's difficult to find the shorter 5" blades for my 745 facelift.

Solution I buy a pack of two of those cheapo replacement blades for £1 at the £Shop. Cut them to size and fit to the headlight blade holder. You get a lot of blades for £1!

Bob :)

I use the same solution for the 13" tailgate wiper Bob! :thumbs_up:

As for softening the rubber, sometimes silicone spray lube works, soak the blade with it and leave to soak in for 20 minutes or so then gently wipe off the excess. Usually helps, certainly does on door seals etc to keep them supple.

If you want to experiment with softening rubber the man in this video tried a number of methods in a semi-scientific way and concluded that a 3:1 mixture of isopropyl alcohol and methyl salicylate was the most effective. Unless you happen to have the ingredients lying around it’s likely to be more expensive and certainly messier and less certain than the aforementioned approach.

+ YouTube Video

Thanks for the comments and advice. I decided to try cleaning the rubber with vinegar, and then spraying the blades with dry lube as suggested. That seems to have worked wonders, but it has become a bit academic. The cleaning has revealed that the washer head and the connecting plastic is broken, so I will have to buy some new bits. What I will be able to do now is to test the wiper motor, and the washers. If those are OK, then I'll buy the new bits. If they aren't, then I may have to live without headlamp washers.

If you can't find them elsewhere 740 original Bosch headlight washer arm tops which hold the wiper blade and into which the washer water tube connects to the inbuilt jet are still available from Volvo (or were a couple of years ago).

The motors can be stripped down and are usually quite fixable. There are a couple of good articles on the subject.

Bob.

Also currently available from Brookhouse Volvo and from Skandix (quite well hidden in the Electrics section!).

Tks Stephend - I would get the part from Brookhouse or Volvo (after comparing prices!!) rather than Skandix where, I assume the cost after shipping to the UK, will be exhorbitant. I got mine from the local dealer 10 mins away.

Should anyone be interested the oem Bosch part is handed Volvo Pt. Nos. 3518091 L and 092 R.

Bob.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/294135090293
Bob.

Tks Bob ..... the trouble with those ^^^ is that they are flexible and fit/slide into the old blade 'back holder'. They might be good for postage by the supplier but, are not easy to simply 'cut and fix' with the new plastic rigid back directly into the original wiper arm like these :

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/124550579...75.c101224.m-1

Oh!! inflation ups the currrent price a bit from £1 !!

Bob :)