Wiper Arm Woodruff Key

[LonestarBuckeye]

New to the forums!

I bought a used 03 Explorer Eddie Bauer. After a couple of months I purchased new wiper blades that are supposed to reduce chatter and smudging, and they never really worked well, constantly left spots on the glass where the rubber wouldn't touch the glass. Took the wiper arms off and noticed there seems to be a woodruff key missing. I know its there for alignment, but does it add stiffness to the arm to better hold the blades on the glass? $50 in wiper blades that never worked right. I cant find anything online and even Ford Parts has no info.

 

[Number4]

Where is the location of the woodruff key? I've not seen anything like it on the arm assembly.

 

[TechGuru]

I had to tighten the spring on my wiper arms to get my new beam blades to make full contact. You have to bend that V clip near the base with some big long handle pliers.

 

[p38fln]

It looks like it has a key, but it doesn't. To align the blades, put the blade on the windshield between the two lines on the windshield then snap the arm assembly down.

The official answer is to replace the entire arm (It doesn't come with a blade), which is about $20 for the OEM part from your favorite online Ford dealers, or around $45 from your local dealer.

Replace both of them, even if only one side is making noise. Otherwise you'll replace one and then notice how much nicer the wipe is on that one.

The new ones have a different style spring, hopefully it lasts longer.

Note that even though both sides use a 22" blade, the arms are NOT the same. Be sure to specify the correct side of the vehicle for the new arm.

 

[LonestarBuckeye]

Thanks for the info! I ended up bending the arms for now. Though at the angle they sit now, they look odd and out of place. Looks like I'll be ordering new arm assemblies soon.