Galaxy Mk. I O/s Wiper Blindspot

[Guest chunkyandlouie]

Forum member "SHAZZA" raised a topic recently expressing her concern about this problem.

 

18 months ago my front end was seriously damaged as a result of a collision with some wild deer which ran into the car.

 

The accident happened in wet, "dirty" conditions.

 

I wasn't able to take any avoiding action as they were obscured by the blind spot which I estimate as being between 8 - 10 inches including the front pillar. My wife who was sitting in the middle row centre seat saw the deer approaching but said nothing as she naturally assumed I could see them as well.

 

Shazza and I are willing to take this issue forward with the manufacturers, through the Consumers Association, as a valid Safety Issue.

 

If any members have any concerns or examples such as mine would they please post replies to this topic.

 

After a month or so I will collate the responses and begin a dialogue with the CA.

 

Thanks.

[gazza007]

This problem occurs with Early Mk2's of the trio too with Banana blades. I guess they have addressed this with the revised wiper arms and straight blades. I was having a look at a new Alhambra last week and they're much better.

I would like to see if I could fit the newer arms to mine as the blind spot can be a pain at times as you have to lean forward. Not sure if manufacturers would cough up. Has anybody done this??

I remember a story in the 70's, Ford Pinto I think that had a badly positioned Fuel tank and in certain accidents would explode. The Manufacturer worked out that it was cheaper to pay out compensation rather than recall all the cars.

[iainkirk]

That might have worked in the '70s, but certainly won't in these claim-hungry days we are now in!

 

Just consider what happened in the US a few years ago with the tyres on the Ford Exploder...

 

That cost 'em a fortune.

 

 

Good luck with your efforts, however I doubt you will have much luck with the Consumers' Association, who are after all a private company.

 

Try your local Trading Standards office instead, but don't all vehicles have blind spots?

 

Not a recall issue if you ask me.

 

I would note that I am being Devils' advocate here, so don't have a go at me...

 

The accident happened in wet and dirty conditions - were you driving at a speed suitable for the wet and dirty conditions?

 

Were there signs warning of deer?

 

Were you looking where you were going?

 

I had a Mk1 Galaxy and never had any problems with visibility.

[Guest nimrod]

I would imagine that if this blind spot contributes to the cause of a great number of accidents and is logged by the accident investigators it possibly would have been sorted by now

IIRC the Pinto incident was covered by Ralph Nader in his book Unsafe At Any Speed.

exploding pinto's ! and how to get away with unsafe designs

[Guest Shazza]

The blindspot caused by the driver's side 'A' pillar is bad enough on its own, but coupled with the bowed windscreen wipers which don't touch the edge of the windscreen anyway, and with the unwiped part at driver's eye level, it really is a major safety hazard and I can't believe that Fords continued to fit these windscreen wipers for 3 years before they changed them.

 

When I was driving in snow, the snow was packed up the side of the windscreen that the wiper wasn't touching and I literally couldn't see to turn right or go round a roundabout. I had to lean over towards the passenger seat, or open my side window and stick my head out. Neither are good practices when driving, especially when driving in hazardous conditions like snow. I was terrified I'd hit a cyclist or something.

 

I think that if enough people complain to the Consumer Association and Fords about them, even if Fords don't actually do anything now, they can't say at a later date that they weren't aware of the problem, and if anyone does have an accident due to this design fault, maybe they would have a claim against Fords.

 

It can't hurt to try, can it? Don't all be so apathetic. After all, it might be you that has the very type of accident we're talking about.

 

Sharon

[Guest EVSS]

ive just sold our company transit and now use the galaxy until the replacement van arrives (yes i know wife does school run etc for kids) and i must say was in london on business on saturday whilst raining and the vision out of the screen was appalling, you had to lean forward to see others(must be a good 4 to 5 inches of screen just non existent. gary ps but saying that i still wouldnt swap it for anything else....

[Guest Shazza]

I e-mailed Fords (via their website) last week about this problem, and this was the reply that I received today.

 

Dear Miss Webley

 

Thank you for your email.  We are sorry to learn of the concern you

have experienced with the windscreen wipers on your Galaxy.

 

We are naturally sympathetic and can appreciate how distressing this

episode may have been for you.

 

We spoke with our Technical Department who confirmed that there are no

known concerns with the windscreen wipers on your model of Galaxy, and

as such there would be no safety recall issued.

 

If you feel there is a concern with the wipers on your vehicle we

would suggest that you contact your local Ford dealer. They are always

the best people to turn to as they have all the necessary facilities

and experience, as well as direct access to our technical support

services.

 

Ford Motor Company undertake continuous product development and we can

assure you that customer feedback is greatly appreciated. It is only

through such feedback that we can improve our products and services.

Thank you again for taking the time and trouble to contact us.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Chris Foster

Ford Customer Relationship Centre

 

I have now sent this reply back to Fords:

 

Thank you for your e-mail.  I did speak to my local Ford dealer about the badly designed front wipers but basically, he said 'tough'. The person I spoke to said they were made that way because the vehicle was supposed to be left-hand drive, which is utter rubbish because the wipers are the same on the left hand side and would cause just as much of a problem.

 

I have been contacted by someone else with a Galaxy with the same wipers who actually had an accident caused by the blind spot that I'm talking about.

 

Now that you do know of the safety issue, perhaps Galaxy owners with this type of windscreen wiper can contact you for compensation should they have an accident caused by this design fault, as you are obviously not prepared to look into the problem.

 

Sharon Webley

 

Watch this space for their reply.

[Tigger]

I have had this problem before and had about the same reply from Ford. The wipers seem to change depending on year and model. Both mine have had the pasanger wiper leading making the driver wiper stopping well befor the edge of the window. I found RainX quite good but this has been a problem from the start.

[Richmond]

10/10 for effort, Shazza, but I doubt that any one seeking compensation on the grounds that the wipers leave a blind spot would succeed :blink: . The driver can see the danger, that s/he can't see properly, and so must take steps to minimise the damage or potential damage, that is, slow down or stop. If s/he notices, or should have noticed, that visibilty is dangerously limited and continues to drive, any damage suffered is likely to be regarded as their fault, not Ford's, even if the design of wipers/screen is acknowledged to be poor and Ford knew of the problem.

[Guest Shazza]

So Richmond, you would advise us not to do any right turns or go round roundabouts in our Galaxies in snow or mucky conditions? Should we get out and push them round instead, or just abandon them there?

 

Anyway, this is the reply I got from Fords:

Dear Miss Webley

 

Thank you for your email and for your further comments which we have

taken on board.

 

We are unable to pass comment on issues that we have not been privy to

and therefore cannot advise on the concerns of other Galaxy owners you

have been in contact with.

 

We feel it is important to reiterate that our Technical Department

have advised us that the concern you describe is not known or

widespread, hence no safety recall has been issued.

 

In regards to your comments on possible compensation we must advise

you that Ford Motor Company do not pay compensation.  Should you

experience such a situation as you have described we would suggest

that you perhaps contact your insurance company.

 

Thank you again for taking the time and trouble to contact us.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Chris Foster

Ford Customer Relationship Centre

 

Shazza

[Guest yurir]

Wipers apart, as far as the blindspot casued by the A-pillar, which covers about 20 degrees for most people, unfortunately, I think this is a problem on any slopey screen vehicle, simply because the of the need to strenghten the slope.

 

Note that the Galaxy has one of the shallowest screen slopes in the MPV class, which is probably what adds to its aesthetic attraction.

 

It seemed a good idea at first glance, but now having experienced it, I'd be more inclined to go for a car with a more perpendicular screen, next time. Reduced mpg and all that, but what to do ?

[Richmond]

So Richmond, you would advise us not to do any right turns or go round roundabouts in our Galaxies in snow or mucky conditions? Should we get out and push them round instead, or just abandon them there?

Keep your hair on :( ; I'm not advising anything, just saying what I think would happen. If I drive my car when I can (or should) see that it is in a dangerous condition and as a result I cause damage, I'll get the blame and Ford won't. Rightly or wrongly, this is likely to be true even if the cause of the dangerous condition is not me but an inherent fault with the car. It's even more likely to be true if Ford could show that I was party to an internet discussion about the danger! That is not to say that I think that Ford should do nothing about the problem.

 

It's all a bit academic as no-one is thinking of suing Ford because of the poor wiper coverage so far as I know.

 

I like Ford's claim that they 'do not pay compensation.'; I bet they do if a court tells them to :blink: . You might want to say 'Pinto' to them.

[Guest Shazza]

What's the 'Pinto' thing about then?

 

Shazza

[Guest nimrod]

What's the 'Pinto' thing about then?

 

Shazza

 

pinto link

[Guest Shazza]

In response to Ford's e-mail saying that they didn't pay compensation, I said 'are you quite sure about that?' and I sent the Pinto link.

 

This is their latest reply.

 

Dear Ms Webley

 

Thank you for your further email.

 

We would re-confirm that we do not pay compensation.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Joanna Fyfe

Ford Customer Relationship Centre

 

Shazza

[gazza007]

Why not ask as a concerned customer if they would meet some of the cost to replacing the wiper arms to the newer style. Had a good look today at a new Alhambra in the showroom, def much more sweep, amy make some investigations on replacing mine.

As I always say, no harm in asking, you may be surprised

[Richmond]

I have a late 2001 Galaxy and the sweep of the windscreen wipers is fine; they sweep right up to the side edges of the screen. Unless your screen shape/size or the position of the wipers is different, you should be able to achieve the same result with the arms and blades fitted to mine.

[Mussey1]

Hi All,

 

Had my windscreen replaced on Saturday due to a tiny chip on the passenger side.

Could not be repaired as apparently it is not possible to drill into the heated windscreen.

 

When the job was finished the chap told be that I may notice the wipers were sitting slightly higher than normal and that they had adjusted them to increase the sweep on the drivers side. He told me that 'as a company' RAC auto windscreens set the wipers like that on Shalaxies when replacing the windscreen.

 

The result is that the wiper now sweeps to within 1.5" to 2" from the A pillar.

 

I do however have straight wiper blades that I bought in Halfords which also help.

 

To sum up then for MK1 owners ..... Buy the stright blades from Halfords and go to RAC auto windscreens to get the wipers adjusted.

 

I will post a photo over the next few days so you can see the difference!

 

Mussey1.

[MrT]

Can you explain what you mean by increasing the sweep and how this is done?

 

I can see how you can move the drivers wiper arm one groove anti-clockwise on the spline so it moves closer to the pillar, but then it parks above the shelter of the plastic surround and bonnet and causes more wind noise at high speed.

 

My Galaxy is late 2001 but is has come with (or has had replaced) two bowed 700mm blades. I bought the Halfords straight blades and oddly one is 700mm and the other is 650mm. Is the shorter blade for the passenger side and does this sweep a smaller area than the long blade. Why is it shorter?

 

Also the curved passenger blade fits nicely into the curve of the plastic tray when it parks, the new straight one does not.

 

A WORD OF WARNING TO ALL. IF YOU LET THE HEAVY WIPER ARM ON A GALAXY SPRING BACK ONTO THE GLASS WITHOUT A RUBBER BLADE, IT WILL CRACK YOUR WINDSCREEN. I HAVE SEEN THIS HAPPEN ON A 1997 MODEL.

[Mussey1]

MrT,

 

Wiper does sit higher than the plastic surround and I had thought that wind noise would be bad. Was on the motorway on Saturday and I noticed no difference at all, only wind noise I could hear was from door mirrors or roof bars.

 

Asthetically I would prefer to have the wipers sitting back in their original position, but the increase in visibility is considerably better, so unfortunately I think it has to be a compromise.

 

Try it and see what you think!!

 

Mussey1.

[gazza007]

any pictures?

[Mussey1]

I'll get a picture this evening.....need to get new batteries for camera!!

 

Mussey1

[MrT]

Any ideas why the new passenger wiper blade is shorter? Are the arms longer on the newer models?

 

Does this leave a noticeably larger unwiped area at the top in front of the passenger?

 

I was considering leaving the long bent one on the passenger side and the new long straight one on the drivers.

[MrT]

I looked at an 03 Galaxy today and noticed that it had perfectly straight wiper arms. Mine have a offset "Z" in them so that the wiper blade is parallel and and around an inch above the rest of the wiper arm?

 

Which sort do you have?

 

I really would like to get better wipers added to my car.

[Mussey1]

Pics of readjusted wipers.