C6 A6 Windscreen Wiper Question

[senna60_94]

Recently, I asked my domestic helper to wash the exterior of my car, & I've forgotten to set the wiper's service position for her. She manually moved the wipers up (I guess a few inches above the normal parked position) in order to lift the blades off the glass. After that, she manually pushed the wipers back to the parked position. My question is, will that cause lasting damage to the wiper mechanism/motor?

This is the only time it has happened as it has only been washed twice, & last time I did remember to set them to service position. After this episode, I've tested the wipers & they seem to work fine.

[Chris_B]

I'd guess (and this is only a guess!) that all that ahppens is that the wiper servo motor is cranked round a bit by manually moving the wipers, and I doubt any damage will ensue.

Any unusual noise or juddering motion when using the wipers?

[senna60_94]

No judder & no noise, but it's parking level is now maybe 0.5-1cm higher than spec (spec is 10-15mm from the bottom windscreen trim).

Does the Audi motor use worm gears? If that's the case, will the motor's gears strip teeth when the system is moved manually?

TIA

[Chris_B]

Sorry, don't know if it's worm gears or not - a cross-post in Audi Technical might get a few eyes with access to tech details.

Just a thought, but the rest position is electronically calibrated I think - dealer (or expert with a VAG-COM) might be able to re-calibrate it?

[badgera]

I sometimes find that when in the maint position I move the wipers whilst cleaning them, and then they just go back to the correct position.

Check the position a few times as the wipers are supposed to park in slightly different positions now and again to stop wear on the blades.