Rear wiper not wiping correctly

[tcbayer]

Here's a dumb problem, but a problem none the less...

My rear wiper arm was bent (somehow) and now it is next to impossible to get it aligned correctly again.

The arm either it skips along the glass, (I have changed the blade), misses the glass in the middle altogether, or the arm gets caught in the groove between the glass and tailgate and won't jump out unless I get out of the car to pull it out (which is fun in traffic in the rain). Any variation of "bending" produces one or more of these bad results.

I can't seem to get it "bent" back the way it was. Any ideas that I'm obviously missing??

 

[302Xplorer]

I have the same problem, when my wiper works.

 

[aldive]

A fairly common problem on out trucks that can be fixed in a couple ways: (1) replace the wiper arm with the "new" Ford one and/or (2) replace the rear wiper motor. It took both to finally resolve my problems.

Details on both are found here: http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=135863&highlight=rear+wiper

Good luck ....

 

[tcbayer]

Yeah, I kinda figured I'd have to replace the arm. The motor works just fine; I've never had an issue with the motor not working. I don't think that needs replacing at this time.

I was hoping there was a workaround (other than getting out of the car) to make it work.

Thanks for the redirect to the other thread.

TB

 

[spoiledbrat7118]

mine always works it just always misses most of the glass...been like that since i bought it....never really used it so didnt bother trying to fix it......

 

[gijoecam]

I had the "fixed" arm and it still didn't work.... missed a big chunk of the glass in the middle. I modified the wiper arm to work and it's never cleaned better. Pics are in the gallery in my sig. Use the pull-down for the "wiper mod" gallery.

-Joe

 

[Buzzsaw]

Joe,

Could you describe what the mod's were that we see in the pictures? Or is there a description for those pictures that I'm missing?

 

[gijoecam]

Oops.... for some reason I thought I had more pictures of it..... Guess not.

You can see the pic here of the inside of the wiper arm. The two "fingers" that are shiny near the pink marks are what stop the arm from making contact with the window. They stop the arm itself from swinging down far enough to keep the wiper in contact with the glass.

I actually took the arm off the truck, removed the spring, and used a small hack-saw to trim approximately 1/8" off the length of those fingers. You could probably do it in-place with a Dremel and a cutoff wheel. I wanted to make sure I didn't nick the spring and cause a weak/rust point on it.

-Joe

 

[Buzzsaw]

Oh Cool, that makes perfect sense, I'll have to go home and give that a shot. I saw the shiny marks and thought that must be involved somehow but wasn't putting it all together. Does the newer improved arm help with the problem of the wiper blade getting caught down in the groove between the glass and tailgate? Mine will get itself out of there if I turn it off and back on, but does seem to get caught down in there a lot.

 

[gijoecam]

Oh Cool, that makes perfect sense, I'll have to go home and give that a shot. I saw the shiny marks and thought that must be involved somehow but wasn't putting it all together. Does the newer improved arm help with the problem of the wiper blade getting caught down in the groove between the glass and tailgate? Mine will get itself out of there if I turn it off and back on, but does seem to get caught down in there a lot.

Don't quote me on this, but I thought they changed the ramp on the door to fix that problem.... maybe they replaced the ramp AND the arm? All I know is that I had the "correct" arm from the factory and it was still missing the part in the middle of the window. It's never wiped it cleaner since I did the mod.

-Joe

 

[Buzzsaw]

On my way home from work the wiper got stuck in the groove and wouldn't come out, so I went to the dealership and picked up the new arm, $42.51 including tax. I installed it and a new blade ($6.88) and for right now everything looks to be working good. I turned it on and off several times and it worked every time. I will give it a few days and see if it comes back up off the window and if it does I will try the mod at that time. Also, I'll wait and see if it gets trapped back down in that groove. Thanks for the help and the pics, I definitely understand much more about how that thing functions. Hope the original post guy finds a cure for his blade problem. Didn't mean to hi-jack the thread but I thought we were all on the same page so I meant to just chime in, not take over. I'm thinking if the wiper gets caught in that groove again I might try some type of rubber weatherstripping from the end of the window back to about the middle of the blade to keep the end of the blade from dropping down in there and hopefully fit it so that the window would open and close flush with the rest of the door. Just a thought...

Thanks guys,

 

[blackbeauty]

I HAD the same problem. I just bent the whole arm a little so it touched more glass and it did the trick.

 

[Buzzsaw]

Hey guys,
I just went back out there and looked at the rubber boot that the wiper arm comes down and rests in and if that ramp was built up just a little in the right place and angle it should keep the arm up high enough to get over to the window instead of dropping into that groove. I guess that's the ramp that Joe up above was talking about. The probably have a new one that is already built up but it looks to me like you could cut a rubber spacer and put in at the bottom and lift that bad boy up just a bit to get the blade past the groove. There's also that little bit of plastic on the blade arm that if it was just a tad longer would serve the same purpose. Take a look at that and see what you think. I know the crew that posts on this site will have a winning idea to fix the problem without costing an arm and a leg.

 

[tcbayer]

I'm thinking if the wiper gets caught in that groove again I might try some type of rubber weatherstripping from the end of the window back to about the middle of the blade to keep the end of the blade from dropping down in there and hopefully fit it so that the window would open and close flush with the rest of the door.

This was wahat I was thinking of doing to keep the blade out of the groove. I can then bend the arm any way I need to to get maximum "wipe-ability" with having to worry about making the arm so tight to fall in the groove.

That rubber arm rest should be raised up so that the wiper stays on the glass for as much as possible, and then when the wiper blade reached the bottom of the window, the armrest should lift it off the glass and away from the glass so that the liftgate can be opened freely.

Thanks all.

 

[kands]

Just wanted to say a big thanks to gijoecam for the info above. Using your info and pictures I have today sorted out a problem that drives me nuts whenever I drive the car in the rain.....
Many thanks Joe

Keith

 

[gijoecam]

Just wanted to say a big thanks to gijoecam for the info above. Using your info and pictures I have today sorted out a problem that drives me nuts whenever I drive the car in the rain.....
Many thanks Joe

Keith

In the UK, that's probably pretty often!!

Happy to help!

 

[hardywo]

My prob's slightly different: my rear wiper only works for the single pass when I push the wash button, but for that moment it works perfectly. If I just try to turn it on by turning the knob, it clicks like it's getting ready to wipe, but seems to get stuck and won't leave it's perch. Any ideas about that one?