"Ghetto" solution to rear wiper challenge

[1998Exp]

As we are all aware, the design of the 2nd gen rear wiper is horrible: it either doesn't have enough pressure to wipe the glass correctly or, when adjusted - one way or the other - to wipe correctly, gets caught under the bottom of the glass when parked. Owners of most of the 2nd gens around here, where it rains most of the year, just gave up and can't see a thing through the rear window. My solution: mount the arm turned a couple degrees ccw from the original parking position, making it rest at the bottom of the glass instead. This, of course, eliminates the convenience of being able to open just the glass, keeping the tailgate closed, which may be useful for carrying long items, for example. So this solution is not for everyone. If you do so, it's advisable to avoid mishaps by accidentally opening the glass with the wiper resting on it. I simply tied the loop at the bottom of the glass to a metal piece on the latch with bailing wire, but an electrical solution is probably more elegant. There is a small catch: the inside panel must be removed to gain access, and it cannot be re-installed with the glass closed without making a small cut in the top, to let the loop through. Comments?

 

[C420sailor]

I just don’t use the rear wiper. I drive trucks on a part time basis, so I almost never use the rear view mirror anyway

 

[donalds]

I got mine to work every time just took some time
Little welding
Mod to the motor

If you really want to fix it ill give u more imfo

 

[1998Exp]

I got mine to work every time just took some time
Little welding
Mod to the motor

If you really want to fix it ill give u more imfo

Interesting! Did you stiffen the motor mount? Can you post your mod?

 

[donalds]

I'd love to post it but that would be requiring me to take apart the door
I removed the rubber isolators from the mount welled in some washers instead bolt it down. Install it then use a marker to mark where you need to weld your washers
I also took a part the motor itself and removed the grease from the sliding contacts that are in there
It technically will wear them out faster but it will actually work
I used a winter wiper blade so it's covered in rubber less to get caught on
I think that's it

If you need help just ask

 

[joney]

As we are all aware, the design of the 2nd gen rear wiper is horrible: it either doesn't have enough pressure to wipe the glass correctly or, when adjusted - one way or the other - to wipe correctly, gets caught under the bottom of the glass when parked. Owners of most of the 2nd gens around here, where it rains most of the year, just gave up and can't see a thing through the rear window. My solution: mount the arm turned a couple degrees ccw from the original parking position, making it rest at the bottom of the glass instead. This, of course, eliminates the convenience of being able to open just the glass, keeping the tailgate closed, which may be useful for carrying long items, for example. So this solution is not for everyone. If you do so, it's advisable to avoid mishaps by accidentally opening the glass with the wiper resting on it. I simply tied the loop at the bottom of the glass to a metal piece on the latch with bailing wire, but an electrical solution is probably more elegant. There is a small catch: the inside panel must be removed to gain access, and it cannot be re-installed with the glass closed without making a small cut in the top, to let the loop through. Comments?

Eventually will try this, don't like where the wiper sits on the metal panel. Glass doesn't open on its own anyway. Probably tackle that after determining why that wiper doesn't work either. Long list of picky little things to work on! But rotating the position is a great idea!

 

[1998Exp]

I'd love to post it but that would be requiring me to take apart the door
I removed the rubber isolators from the mount welled in some washers instead bolt it down. Install it then use a marker to mark where you need to weld your washers
I also took a part the motor itself and removed the grease from the sliding contacts that are in there
It technically will wear them out faster but it will actually work
I used a winter wiper blade so it's covered in rubber less to get caught on
I think that's it

If you need help just ask

Thanks donalds! The motor mount is very flexible indeed - obviously designed that way on purpose, though it's not clear to me what that purpose might have been. Great that eliminating some of the flexibility works, but not sure how: the main problem appears to be that putting enough pressure on the wiper will catch it in the gap between the bottom of the glass and the metal. That's probably where your winter blade comes in.
Care to explain why you removed the grease?

Incidentally, just about any SUV made in the last 20 years has the motor mounted in the glass, eliminating the entire debacle. Unlike our Gen 2, in most if not all of those, the glass is fixed.

 

[C420sailor]

A good mod for the glass is to remove the studs from the hinge that go into the hatch—they are the weak point and pull out. Get some stainless flat head machine screws, drill through the hinge and countersink the outside for the heads. Through bolt the hinge to the hatch, and smear some ultra black over the screw heads.

I went from replacing broken hinges every few months to permanently fixed

 

[donalds]

In order to get the wiper to put more pressure on the glass you have to remove the wiper arm and open it you'll see there's stops so that it can only be so far towards the window I grinded them down with the Dremel tool
This will make it get caught in between the window more So there is a fine line
Be sure that your wiper is getting stuck in the glass and not getting stopped by the rest for the wiper
I removed the grease
the grease is there obviously to prevent Any damage these motors never worked well in the 1st place so I got to thinking is the grease causing resistance in the sense circuit sure enough it was I figured the window can sit there and not work or I can remove the grease and it will at least a little work for years before it Dies

Also I noticed after removing the grease the wiper wipes with much more authority