How to change the wiper blades on your Alfa Romeo Giulia
Just because a car isn’t a common sight on the roads does not mean that owners can’t perform basic maintenance on it by themselves. The Alfa Romeo Giulia is a great example: did you know that these are probably the easiest cars around on which to replace the wiper blades? Follow this step-by-step guide to get the job done within a minute or two – and with two pieces of soft cloth as your only tool!
Before we get started, we have to point out that this is a shortcut technique: the official method will demand that the car visit a dealership to have new wiper blades fitted, and for good reason.
Seeing as the Giulia (and related Stelvio) hide much of their wipers under the bonnet’s trailing edge, the proper procedure prescribes that the car must be instructed (via the dealership’s computer interface) to park the wipers in their “service position”. This will allow the wiper arms to clear the bonnet, minimising the risk of damage to the wiper arm and bonnet when performing this task. Failure to do so (combined with over-enthusiastic tugging on the wiper blade) could bend the wiper arm and scratch the paintwork on the bonnet’s trailing edge.
But there’s a way around this, and all it needs is a little protection and patience. It is actually possible to access the wiper blade mounting points with the wipers in their normal resting position, because the locating tabs are very easily accessible, even when the wipers are partly hidden away. Follow this very simple procedure, and your vision will be clear again in no time.
Let's get started!
1. Place a soft cloth between the wiper arm and bonnet (yellow arrow), then gently lift the wiper blade just far enough to get your fingers between the blade and the windscreen.
2. Depress the plastic locating tab with your left thumb (red arrow), while sliding the wiper blade towards the passenger side of the car (green arrow). This will release the wiper blade from the wiper arm.
3. Remove the old wiper blade, and put a second piece of cloth between the wiper arm and windscreen before setting down the wiper arm.
4. Fitting the new wiper blade follows the exact same procedure as removal, only with a reverse in the sequence. Slide the new wiper blade onto the wiper arm, until the locating tab clicks into position.
5. Remove the two pieces of cloth, and then perform the exact same procedure on the other wiper blade.
6. Gently wipe down the windscreen where the two wiper blades rest against it to get that spot free of dust and grime, and then test the wipers using the car’s screen washer. Inspect the locating tabs afterwards, just to make sure that they’re seated properly.
7. Wipe the sweat from your brow, congratulate yourself on a job well done, and grab a frosty drink to celebrate success!
Related: Read our review of the Alfa Romeo Giulia 2.0T here.
* Many thanks to the friendly folks at Bidvest McCarthy Alfa Romeo Centurion for their assistance in obtaining these images.