Rear wiper sucks!!!

[Lazzman]

The rear wiper on my "X" Sport is really poor at cleaning the window it makes little contact with the window leaving smudges and smears and a very small cleaning path. Please note the blade is new and the truck has performed this way since new.

The blade cannot get proper contact on the window.

Is there anyway to remedy this?

 

[aldive]

I tried everything, The fix for me was replacing the rear wiper motor.

Good luck ............

 

[smiley1]

Dealer fixed mine right in front of me. He bent the arm in the mid section toward the glass. Fixed ever since.

 

[aldive]

Dealer fixed mine right in front of me. He bent the arm in the mid section toward the glass. Fixed ever since.

You are lucky, my friend.

I tried all the bends, a new wiper arm, etc to no avail. The new motor did the fix for me.

 

[Buzzsaw]

I also tried bending, new replacement blades, nothing fixed it completely until I replaced the wiper motor assembly and a new wiper arm. The first new wiper motor that I got from the dealer only lasted about 2 months and started doing the same thing. I took it back, they gave me another new one and this one has so far lasted and worked fine. This is for my 01 Explorer Sport. No problems so far from the 05, Knock on wood.....

 

[gijoecam]

I fixed mine 4 years ago and it hasn't missed a swipe since (and that's with a 16" blade on it too!!)

Bending the arm didn't help. Replacing the motor would not have changed the angle of the motor shaft either.

Flip the arm up. Underneath it are two curved nubs that the outer part of the arm rests on when it flexes towards the spring. These two little nubs (unnecessarily) limit the flex of the arm towards the glass. I chopped those two little nubs back with a die grinder and viola!! Haven't had a problem since!! (Except a toasted wiper motor, but that's another story!)

I took mine all apart, but a few minutes with a dremel should be simple enough.

-Joe

 

[newc5188]

Wait till it completely stops working.... I used to complain of mine missing too but at least I could still feel comfortable putting it in reverse early in the morning.... now I have no rear windshield wiper, what a PITA.

I bent the arm of my wiper and it worked well for about a week and then I noticed the motor arm was no longer center in the hole of the hatch and then a year or so later it stopped working altogether. Wiper motor + arm are definitely on my oh-so-long list.

 

[iowaboy]

I don't know what they do at the dealership, but everytime I get my oil changed i ask them to adjust the rear wiper and it works better for a couple weeks, and they don't charge me for it, yes i paid for it ($22 for an oil change!) . Whatever they do, must be easy or they would charge me, but then I would complain about not fixing it permanently. Think I'll look at GIJoe's solution.

 

[03ExplorerSPT]

There was a TSB for a new spring put out a couple years ago. The new spring puts more force on the arm to make it wipe the whole window.

 

[gijoecam]

There was a TSB for a new spring put out a couple years ago. The new spring puts more force on the arm to make it wipe the whole window.

Mine had the revised arm, but no amount of spring tension would let it flex far enough to REACH the window. Bending the arm wasn't enough either as it was flexed as far as it would go.

Honestly, I looked at everything, and those fingers stop the arm from flexing far enough..... why they're even there is beyond me. In the three years since I fixed it, it's never missed a spot.

-Joe

 

[Lazzman]

Thanks for the info....I got some grinding to do!!!

 

[skfullen]

I fixed mine 4 years ago and it hasn't missed a swipe since (and that's with a 16" blade on it too!!)

Bending the arm didn't help. Replacing the motor would not have changed the angle of the motor shaft either.

Flip the arm up. Underneath it are two curved nubs that the outer part of the arm rests on when it flexes towards the spring. These two little nubs (unnecessarily) limit the flex of the arm towards the glass. I chopped those two little nubs back with a die grinder and viola!! Haven't had a problem since!! (Except a toasted wiper motor, but that's another story!)

I took mine all apart, but a few minutes with a dremel should be simple

Thanks to GIJOECAM I just tried this fix on a '99 and an '00 XLS. Within fifteen minutes with a dremel tool I had them both fixed. Heck, this is awesome. I've owned them both since new and just figured that blasted rear-wiper blade was the one thing that was NOT going to work!

Thanks for the quick fix.

 

[gijoecam]

Glad it worked for ya!!

-Joe

 

[BShow]

Thanks to GIJOECAM I just tried this fix on a '99 and an '00 XLS. Within fifteen minutes with a dremel tool I had them both fixed. Heck, this is awesome. I've owned them both since new and just figured that blasted rear-wiper blade was the one thing that was NOT going to work!

Thanks for the quick fix.

Awesome. I will do this tomorrow.

 

[celly]

I tried this mod tonight. Very ingenious. Appears to do the trick. My rear wiper wasn't as bad as some I've had (this is my 4th Explorer), but it wasn't perfect. Now it's much closer to perfect. Only tested in my driveway though. Now if only I could get the wiper to start on its own without the occasional "push start" (gets sort of stuck). Is that the motor or some other inadequacy of this horrible design?

Is a 16" blade effective in the rear?

 

[gijoecam]

I tried this mod tonight. Very ingenious. Appears to do the trick. My rear wiper wasn't as bad as some I've had (this is my 4th Explorer), but it wasn't perfect. Now it's much closer to perfect. Only tested in my driveway though. Now if only I could get the wiper to start on its own without the occasional "push start" (gets sort of stuck). Is that the motor or some other inadequacy of this horrible design?

Is a 16" blade effective in the rear?

Time for a new motor. One screw next to the latch (under the cover), two screws in the handle, push the trim towards the roof, (duck!!), three screws in the mounting bracket, two screws that hold the motor to the bracket, and one plug. The whole job takes all of 15 minutes the first time, 10 or less the second on-up.

I've been running a 16" blade on mine since the first time I had to replace it. (close to 7 years now) It works just fine.

-Joe

 

[jkexplorer]

Flip the arm up. Underneath it are two curved nubs that the outer part of the arm rests on when it flexes towards the spring...
-Joe

At the risk of sounding like an idiot where exactly are these curved nubs. I looked at my wiper and didn't see anything, so I must be looking at the wrong spot. You wouldn't by any chance have a picture that you can post?

Thanks,

Jerry

 

[celly]

My "nubs" are two curved metal pieces at the base of the arm, right where it connects to the spindle on the motor. You'll see that the end of these things push up against the outer edge of the arm (when arm is in position to wipe). Grinding them down prevents it from pushing on the arm which is why I think this mods works. Bad design by Ford. I used a small grinding wheel on my Dremel. Careful not to grind anything else in the process. I kept the fluid line in place and you can definitely clip the line if you're not careful.

Sorry, no pics handy.

 

[aldive]

A picture of this would be nice.

 

[gijoecam]

I had a pic of it at one time, but it was blurry as all get-out.... If you flip the arm out away from the window, right next to the hinge point, on either side of the spring.... Wish I had my camera with me....

-Joe

edit: Found 'em!!

The second one is a little fuzzy.... but you can see the shiny fresh-ground parts there. I shortened mine up by about 1/8" or 3/16". Not much more than that. It doesn't take much....

-Joe