Rear Wiper Spring? (1 Viewer)

[hwi1s0n]

Greetings,

My rear wiper won't stay flush with the glass (only closest to the pivot- anyone else seen this issue? IS it the spring in the wiper arm? IF so is that available and what is the part #?


THANKS,

Harry

 

[jpoole]

Is the arm moving freely throughout its range? If it's binding up then the spring may be fine but unable to overcome the binding. You may want/need to remove the arm and lubricate/exercise it through it's range if it's binding up.

If the arm is moving freely then it should be easy to tell if the spring is broken, stretched or disconnected.

It's also possible that you have an issue with the blade itself though that doesn't seem to be what you are describing. If you are stumped from this point perhaps a few photos of the contact you are seeing and condition of pivots/arm would be helpful for the forum.

 

[hwi1s0n]

Is the arm moving freely throughout its range? If it's binding up then the spring may be fine but unable to overcome the binding. You may want/need to remove the arm and lubricate/exercise it through it's range if it's binding up.

If the arm is moving freely then it should be easy to tell if the spring is broken, stretched or disconnected.

It's also possible that you have an issue with the blade itself though that doesn't seem to be what you are describing. If you are stumped from this point perhaps a few photos of the contact you are seeing and condition of pivots/arm would be helpful for the forum.

Moving freely as in "in and out" versus left to right as the motor drives it?

 

[jpoole]

I was referring to the movement of the arm related to the spring that holds the wiper against the window. If you are facing the rear hatch and the wiper is off this would be the movement of the arm as you pull the wiper off of the glass and then in the other direction as you move the wiper towards the glass.

Two issues that I've seen cause coverage issues are:

1. The pivot that allows the arm to move towards and away from the glass can get gummed up with rust/etc. This will make hard for the spring to keep the wiper blade against the glass. This is what I was referring to in my earlier post when I suggested you may need to remove the arm and oil/exercise this pivot. If the spring appears intact and undamaged it's likely fine and so you may need to find other issues. I assume that you would have noticed if the spring were missing or damaged.
2. The wiper blade doesn't conform to the shape of the glass through the stroke of the wiper (while it's on) causing a portion of the wiper stroke to have only partial coverage of the glass. As a wiper blade gets older it may stiffen into the shape it takes when parked/resting, then when you turn the wiper on it may be too stiff to flatten or bend to stay in contact with the window along the length of the wiper blade. If the wiper blade is old get a new one to see if that resolves this issue. If it's a relatively new wiper blade you may be able to gently massage it into a better neutral shape that allows it to remain in contact throughout the sweep of the wiper.

Have you played around with the rear wiper? You may want to turn it onto intermittent operation and then sit back there with a spray bottle and do some tests as you mess with the blade and arm to get a feel for what the problem is.