Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

On my S4 dhc which is RHD as I live in the UK the windscreen wipers park
on the left. Is this normal? Surely they should park on the right?

Can the parking position be changed?

--

Regards,

Steve Waterworth
***@***.***

Einstein: "The faster you drive, the slower you age..."

To change I _think_ you would move the wipers arms to the right-hand
position, then swap the polarity on the wiper motor so that it started off
in the opposite direction.
Never tried this so don't know if swapping polarity is feasible but then
mine park on the right anyway. However I've seen pictures of the Elan in
either direction.

Simon

_____

From: Steve Waterworth [mailto:***@***.***
Sent: Tue, Mar 23, 2004 20:20
To: ***@***.***
Subject: [LotusElan.net] Wiper Parking


On my S4 dhc which is RHD as I live in the UK the windscreen wipers park
on the left. Is this normal? Surely they should park on the right?

Can the parking position be changed?

--

Regards,

Steve Waterworth
***@***.***

Einstein: "The faster you drive, the slower you age..."




<>

FWIW, assuming you are looking at the wipers from inside the car, on both my
current USA LHD S3 and previous USA LHD S2 the wipers park(ed) on the right.
Could this mean that park opposite to drive is right?

Jon Eckman

----- Original Message -----
From: "Steve Waterworth" <***@***.***>

Steve

Fortunately there are only two parking positions for the wipers (left and
right)

Both are correct.

I think it is possible to change parking position by dismantling the wiper
motor gearbox , separating the nylon pinion from the output shaft/crank,
displacing it 180 degrees and reassembling.

Reversing the motor polarity wont do anything useful.

Ian Phillips

68 S4



-----Original Message-----
From: Steve Waterworth [mailto:***@***.***
Sent: Tuesday, March 23, 2004 8:20 PM
To: ***@***.***
Subject: [LotusElan.net] Wiper Parking


On my S4 dhc which is RHD as I live in the UK the windscreen wipers park
on the left. Is this normal? Surely they should park on the right?

Can the parking position be changed?

--

Regards,

Steve Waterworth
***@***.***

Einstein: "The faster you drive, the slower you age..."








Copyright) LotusElan.net and the author.

Wipers 'Park' on the opposite side to the driver as to not obscure the
view ahead. As the wipers sweep upwards to the right on RHD cars the
right hand wiper sweep's all the way to the 'A' pillar and does not
leave a 'missed arc' part of the windscreen like the left hand wiper or
visa versa on LHD cars.

Cheers.
Ian.

'72 Plus 2


Jon Eckman wrote:

I recently went through this problem with my plus 2. When I bought the
car (RHD) the wipers were parked on the left in front of the passenger.
I re-wired the car but couldn't get the wiper motor to work at all. So,
I removed the housing cleaned the commutators and connected everything
back up. As I did this the wipers immediately parked themselves on the
right, which I found somewhat distracting.

After much puzzling and fiddling, I opened up the side of the casing
which covers mechanism that operatea the wiper rack. On the main gear
is a cam which operates the parking switch. If I remember correctly,
the main gear comprises of a plastic part and a metal part. I simply
separated the two, reversed them 180 degrees and put it all back
together again. The wipers now park on the left.

Hope this helps

Kevin

-----Original Message-----
From: Simon Knee [mailto:***@***.***
Sent: 23 March 2004 20:16
To: '***@***.***'
Subject: RE: [LotusElan.net] Wiper Parking

To change I _think_ you would move the wipers arms to the right-hand
position, then swap the polarity on the wiper motor so that it started
off
in the opposite direction.
Never tried this so don't know if swapping polarity is feasible but then
mine park on the right anyway. However I've seen pictures of the Elan in
either direction.

Simon

_____

From: Steve Waterworth [mailto:***@***.***
Sent: Tue, Mar 23, 2004 20:20
To: ***@***.***
Subject: [LotusElan.net] Wiper Parking


On my S4 dhc which is RHD as I live in the UK the windscreen wipers park

on the left. Is this normal? Surely they should park on the right?

Can the parking position be changed?

--

Regards,

Steve Waterworth
***@***.***

--- In ***@***.***, Ian Formstone
<ianformstone@f...> wrote:

True on most all cars. Not so on the Elan (mine at least).
The wipers are mounted perfectly symmetrically and can be
arranged to park in either direction. They do leave an
unswept corner, but it isn't big enough to seriously limit
vision for me. Some (earlier) Mercedes were like this, too.

Best regards,
Bob
_________________________
***@***.***

On Tue, 23 Mar 2004 20:20:21 +0000 Steve Waterworth
<***@***.***> writes:
On my S4 dhc which is RHD as I live in the UK the windscreen wipers park
on the left. Is this normal? Surely they should park on the right?

Can the parking position be changed? CHANGED IT ON MY 67, SO if yours
uses a similar wiper unit, it CAN BE TOO. It is very easy - Mine has a
round cover on the end of the gearbox. The cover has the limit switch
inside. It stays closed, keeping the motor energized except for a small
part of the cycle. If the wiper switch is off when this part is reached,
the motor stops. I did this over 30 years ago, to switch the parking
position to the opposite side. Do not mess with the arms or shift them
on the shafts, or try to make the motor go backwards - you will wreck the
gears in short order.. Keep everything like it is, and simply change the
stopping point. Easy. George

--

Regards,

Steve Waterworth
***@***.***

Einstein: "The faster you drive, the slower you age..."







Copyright) LotusElan.net and the author.

I have looked in Robinshaw & Ross and Taylor and invariably the wipers on
the ?lan park on the right side for right hand drive cars. I didn?t see any
pictures of LHD ?lans.



For the Plus 2 it is the opposite. In the pictures the wipers are mostly
parked on the left side for RHD cars but there were a few instances of the
right side (just to prove that it is a Lotus).



Don Fysh



_____

From: Jon Eckman [mailto:***@***.***
Sent: Tuesday, March 23, 2004 2:56 PM
To: ***@***.***
Subject: Re: [LotusElan.net] Wiper Parking



FWIW, assuming you are looking at the wipers from inside the car, on both my
current USA LHD S3 and previous USA LHD S2 the wipers park(ed) on the right.
Could this mean that park opposite to drive is right?

Jon Eckman

----- Original Message -----
From: "Steve Waterworth" <***@***.***>















_____

I have looked in Robinshaw & Ross and Taylor and invariably the wipers on
the ?lan park on the right side for right hand drive cars. I didn?t see any
pictures of LHD ?lans.



For the Plus 2 it is the opposite. In the pictures the wipers are mostly
parked on the left side for RHD cars but there were a few instances of the
right side (just to prove that it is a Lotus).



Don Fysh



_____

From: Jon Eckman [mailto:***@***.***
Sent: Tuesday, March 23, 2004 2:56 PM
To: ***@***.***
Subject: Re: [LotusElan.net] Wiper Parking



FWIW, assuming you are looking at the wipers from inside the car, on both my
current USA LHD S3 and previous USA LHD S2 the wipers park(ed) on the right.
Could this mean that park opposite to drive is right?

Jon Eckman

----- Original Message -----
From: "Steve Waterworth" <***@***.***>















_____

I'm surprised this topic has surfaced again, the archives must be full of circular (or semi-circular) arguments about it!
Picture caption from page 48 of John Bolter's book:

"An interesting variation in windscreen wiper arrangements. As was usual practice the Bell and Colville demonstrator has the wipers parked to the drivers side whereas the convertible with the hood erected has the wipers parked to the left, even though the steering wheel is on the right"

In other words, it's a Lotus, anything is normal.
----- Original Message -----
From: Don Fysh
To: ***@***.***
Sent: Wednesday, March 24, 2004 12:56 AM
Subject: RE: [LotusElan.net] Wiper Parking


I have looked in Robinshaw & Ross and Taylor and invariably the wipers on
the ?lan park on the right side for right hand drive cars. I didn't see any
pictures of LHD ?lans.



For the Plus 2 it is the opposite. In the pictures the wipers are mostly
parked on the left side for RHD cars but there were a few instances of the
right side (just to prove that it is a Lotus).



Don Fysh



_____

From: Jon Eckman [mailto:***@***.***
Sent: Tuesday, March 23, 2004 2:56 PM
To: ***@***.***
Subject: Re: [LotusElan.net] Wiper Parking



FWIW, assuming you are looking at the wipers from inside the car, on bothmy
current USA LHD S3 and previous USA LHD S2 the wipers park(ed) on the right.
Could this mean that park opposite to drive is right?

Jon Eckman

----- Original Message -----
From: "Steve Waterworth" <***@***.***>















_____















------------------------------------------------------------------------------






***@***.***

Surely it'd go the other way Ian?
However I think your right and you'd need to dick with innards to do it
properly.

_____

From: Ian Phillips [mailto:***@***.***


Reversing the motor polarity wont do anything useful.

Ian Phillips

Except I just read all the replies and Georges response sounds best.

Which side they park on doesn't really matter does it (don't go any faster).
What I want to know is what is the best rubber to fit in the original
holders.
The type you get with classic chrome blades are complete shite.
I replaced with Bosch rubber bits from halfords but these are pretty crap,
screech and judder and squeak.
I need wipers that actually work, any suggestions.

Simon


_____

From: Simon Knee [mailto:***@***.***
Sent: Wed, Mar 24, 2004 11:37
To: '***@***.***'
Subject: RE: [LotusElan.net] Wiper Parking


Surely it'd go the other way Ian?
However I think your right and you'd need to dick with innards to do it
properly.

_____

From: Ian Phillips [mailto:***@***.***


Reversing the motor polarity wont do anything useful.

Ian Phillips










<>










_____

I would think the default would be to park on the same side as the
driver to stop any cleared water creeping up the screen once the wipers
have stopped?

However looking at the marks on the windscreen it would appear that the
wipers have always parked on the left. However I have yet to drive my
elan in the rain.

Simon Knee wrote:

--

Regards,

Steve Waterworth
***@***.***

Einstein: "The faster you drive, the slower you age..."

You're missing out on loadsa fun!!!


_____

From: Steve Waterworth [mailto:***@***.***

However I have yet to drive my
elan in the rain.