Rear wiper almost not touching the window

[BlackWorksInc]

So today I realized my rear wiper wasn't making proper contact with my rear window. I left it running and watched it sweep and saw the air gap where it wasn't touching. If you lightly pressed the wiper down as it swung it cleaned perfectly.

I took the insert out (factory wiperblade so insert is removable) and found that it was very wavey, I straightened it out and reinstalled it and it helped significantly, but still didn't contact all the way. So I firmly pressed the shaft portion of the wiper arm towards 3 o'clock until the blade made good contact again. The key here is to firmly, not forcefully push on the spline shaft section to reorient the motor assembly and allow better pressure on the window. I think when I was replacing the blade before I must have pulled on the arm enough to pull the spline shaft backwards some.

 

[nevada]

im having this same problem. I just lubed the pivot, we'll see how that works.
I pushed against the shaft, and it seems tight, I don't think it moved there. and the spring tension feels pretty strong.


this sucks, I was hoping being newER it would work better. I think the rear wiper works better on my 85, and it doesn't work great, and RARELY parks correctly.

 

[WXman]

For what it's worth, I ordered a replacement arm from Amazon for really cheap, I want to say it was less than $30 shipped. It does a much better job of wiping the entire glass.

Had to rent a 3-jaw puller tool from AutoZone to get the original arm off. Then applied a little grease before sliding the new arm on and tightening.

 

[awdjunkies]

Funny I just noticed mine barely touching as well. :tsk: I'll tinker with it a little to see if I can get it to make better contact. I'll try your suggestion guys..

If I think about it, I'll take a pic or two.

 

[dave4242]

I have this same problem with my 04. I removed the wiper arm but cannot remove spring as my pliers can't seem to grab it. The spring is under quite a bit of tension even with the arm straight. Does anyone have trick to remove the spring so I can shave down the stop on the arm?

 

[Dylan]

Funny I just noticed mine barely touching as well. :tsk: I'll tinker with it a little to see if I can get it to make better contact. I'll try your suggestion guys..

If I think about it, I'll take a pic or two.

No need to remove the spring. You can, but it's too much work for what's actually needed. You can cut down the little bumpstop at the vertex of the hinge. If you cut it down, it will allow the spring to pull the arm closer in, and closer to the window. I was able to successfully do this a couple months ago.

 

[nevada]

No need to remove the spring. You can, but it's too much work for what's actually needed. You can cut down the little bumpstop at the vertex of the hinge. If you cut it down, it will allow the spring to pull the arm closer in, and closer to the window. I was able to successfully do this a couple months ago.

yours works good now? pics of where exactly you filed it? what did you use?

hm, I never actually checked to see wtf. I didn't even think about if there was an interference issue. I just checked, and its VERY close to touching when parked, I can imagine there isn't enough room to allow good pressure against the glass.

i'll be filing mine down soon.

 

[dave4242]

Dylan, how did you file down the stops on that long arm? I have a Dremel I was thinking of using. I just don't know how to get in there and file it without damaging anything.

 

[Dylan]

I'll post pics later. I used a small pvc pipe-type saw, fine toothed. Took maybe 10 mins of sawing, seeing how close, then sawing again if it needs more.

 

[toyo]

Mine was doing the same thing. Went and bought a new arm and all is perfect. Went aftermarket 1st and it was worthless. Toyota part worked perfect as expected. Besides, now it all looks new!

 

[dave4242]

I'll post pics later. I used a small pvc pipe-type saw, fine toothed. Took maybe 10 mins of sawing, seeing how close, then sawing again if it needs more.

Dylan, you are the man! Took off the arm and bent it at the elbow to get at the 2 rectangular stops on the long part of arm. Used a dremel to cut most of the way through them and then just popped the pieces out with a small chisel. Wiper completely contacts window now.
Thanks!

 

[Dylan]

Dylan, you are the man! Took off the arm and bent it at the elbow to get at the 2 rectangular stops on the long part of arm. Used a dremel to cut most of the way through them and then just popped the pieces out with a small chisel. Wiper completely contacts window now.
Thanks!

You bet man, glad it worked out. Sorry I havent been able to post pics yet, been out of town for work.

I bought my wiper arm as after market off Amazon (actually bought two, i broke the first one trying to resolve this).

As [MENTION=632]toyo[/MENTION] said his direct fit replacement from the dealer worked fine from the get go, so maybe this is just an issue buying aftermarket. Either way it's pretty simple to fix/adjust.

 

[Slowgoat]

Thanks dude!

Same problem here, and your fix worked!

:drum:

 

[furious24]

Not sure if this will be the same problem as anyone else had. I noticed mine wasn't touching the glass all the way and when I looked closer I noticed that the base of the arm wasn't in all the way. I pushed on the base of the arm about 3 or 4 times inward toward the back hatch and fixed it no problem in about 30 seconds.

 

[Dylan]

Not sure if this will be the same problem as anyone else had. I noticed mine wasn't touching the glass all the way and when I looked closer I noticed that the base of the arm wasn't in all the way. I pushed on the base of the arm about 3 or 4 times inward toward the back hatch and fixed it no problem in about 30 seconds.

Mine was in all the way. The angle on my after market arm simply wasn't tight enough to contact the window fully. The adjustment i made sawing was all it took.

 

[nevada]

Mine was in all the way. The angle on my after market arm simply wasn't tight enough to contact the window fully. The adjustment i made sawing was all it took.

the thread being bumped reminded me I still need to do this.
I attempted to remove the arm, so I could grind it a bit, it wont budge. it is very stuck. corroded, or the nut was over-tightened(it was VERY tight) at one point, getting it seriously stuck on there.

I soaked it with some oil, and even try using a puller, so far nothing...
will try again in a bit, im just worried about damaging the motor/splines, and have to tear the entire thing apart.

 

[nevada]

WOOT! got it off.
I had to clean up the threads a bit, as my puller mushroomed the end just slightly. I trimmed a tiny bit off the stops, put it all back together, and it works perfectly!

 

[Dylan]

WOOT! got it off.
I had to clean up the threads a bit, as my puller mushroomed the end just slightly. I trimmed a tiny bit off the stops, put it all back together, and it works perfectly!

Glad you got it. When I did this it was during the cold winter and I tried PB, a puller, etc...everything but a torch or grinder. I live less than a mile from the dealer and they got it off for free. Yes they destroyed the arm by cutting into it, but I was replacing it anyway.

 

[nevada]

Glad you got it. When I did this it was during the cold winter and I tried PB, a puller, etc...everything but a torch or grinder. I live less than a mile from the dealer and they got it off for free. Yes they destroyed the arm by cutting into it, but I was replacing it anyway.

if I had been replacing it, I would have went straight to cutting it.
I ended up using a battery cable puller. I had to cut a washer to put on the back side, since the arm is plastic, my puller jaws were just cutting into it. but, with constant pressure, and some PB, it finally came off with a POP.

stoked to finally have a working wiper, especially coming into the winter season here.

 

[reddi red]

discovered this problem a couple of weeks ago.
thank goodness for this thread, wish it had pics though.

hopefully tackling and solving this problem this weekend!