Rear Window Wiper - Doesn't wipe middle part of window!
Jason Hegel
on my 98' Explorer XLT misses the middle third of the back window. It hits
the first part and the final part, just not the middle where it is needed
most. To the best of my knowledge, it has always done this. I have owned
this truck for about 2 months so far and I love everything except for the
tire noise (I have the Firestone tires, yuck!) and this rear window thing?
Does anyone have any ideas for adjusting it, or is it back to the dealership
(yuck!)?
Also, as a side note, what should I replace the Firestones with? 15" wheels
(If I remember correctly) and they will probably last for awhile, but they
are noisy as all get out...
Thanks for the help...
Jason
BTW, we had ice here in Dallas last week just before Christmas... 4 wheel
drive and anti-lock brakes really DON'T help on solid ICE!!! :)
Thankfully, I found out the easy way pulling out of my apartment complex
before I hit the highway! The thing just slid all over the place. I
finally just parked and ordered a pizza... :)
Matthew Maynard
at it). my explorer does that frequently, it eats the wiper blades like
something else!
Jessica Menard
covers. ?? Perhaps there is a certain brand that works best? Thanks...
Michael
readjusted the arm and now it's working fine.
Michael
Jessica Menard wrote in message <368F8A4F...@wt.net>...
Jon M. Pearsall
and got worse over the supper. Its not the wiper blade but the arm...
With the rear wiper OFF, hit the button that causes it swipe once and
quickly run to the back of the truck (you'll probably have to stand outside
the truck and reach inside the window to be able run fast enough). When you
get to the back of the truck, and the arm is sweeping back down but is in
the middle of the window, grab it and hold tight! Don't worry; it doesn't
seem to hurt anything; the engineers probably took into account the arm
getting blocked by something (ice, etc.). Now that the arm is in suspended
in the middle of the window, I'll bet you'll easily see that the the edges
of the blade just don't touch the glass at all. Put just a little pressure
on the arm, though, with your hand, and you'll see the blade will then flex
with the curvature of the glass and touch the glass everywhere.
I think the problem is that the tension spring in the arm that holds the
blade against the glass weakens and then doesn't put enough pressure on the
arm to force the blade to flex enough. Probably a slight design flaw sine
the rear glass in the '98s is more curved than previous models. I'm
guessing it got worse for me over the summer 'cause when I washed the truck,
I'd swing the arm outwards (like it allows) to clean underneath it. This
probably stretched the spring, though, and continued to weaken it slightly
over time. I fixed it by just carefully bending the arm inwards. Was very
careful (and that arm is a pretty strong bugger!) and results were good.
Blade now touches the glass everwhere. Only problem now, though, is that
the blade touches the metal body of the truck when the wiper is off and the
arm is in its rester. I suppose that's gonna cause trouble with the paint
over time. I'll probably just bend the arm back and then complain to my
dealer about the problem.
Jason Hegel wrote in message <764r1e$77c$1...@newshost.cyberramp.net>...
Travis Dixon
> getting blocked by something (ice, etc.). Now that the arm is in suspended
> in the middle of the window, I'll bet you'll easily see that the the edges
> of the blade just don't touch the glass at all. Put just a little pressure
> on the arm, though, with your hand, and you'll see the blade will then flex
> with the curvature of the glass and touch the glass everywhere.
> I think the problem is that the tension spring in the arm that holds the
> blade against the glass weakens and then doesn't put enough pressure on the
> arm to force the blade to flex enough. Probably a slight design flaw sine
> the rear glass in the '98s is more curved than previous models. I'm
A coworker of mine bought a used 96 limited that had some sort of helper
spring on the rear wiper. It it didn't seem to be real factory since it
scraped the hell out of the paint on the arm, but other than that it looked
like it was made for the job. Possibly you could find something similar
at a local auto-parts store that carries accessories like this?
--travis
98 Explorer
I did the same thing, I can bend the wiper arm and it does a nice job cleaning the window.
Unfortunately all the filth from the window runs down the back of the Explorer. Then you have the
wiper blade grind it into the paint....while the wiper blade rests there (I am sure jiggling and
bouncing while you go down the road.. the rest of the truck does) in that mixure while pressed
firmly against the finish. This can't possibly be a good thing.
The other day I was behind a new Blazer and noticed it's wiper also rests against the tail
gate. I also noticed a faint outline of some kind of clear sticker that is under the blade surface
protecting the paint. I am going to call the dealer tomorrow (Chevy) to see if they sell this clear
sticker, if so I am gonna grab one, enjoy a nice clear window and have the piece of mind that my
paint isn't being wore off by my wiper blade.
BTW if you remove the wiper arm, you will see there are actually two metal stops (before the hing)
that hold the wiper up. If these weren't there (or shortened) it would allow the wiper to move
closer to the window. I might just take my Dremmel tool and shorten these stops if all else fails.
1998 Explorer Sport
>
>With the rear wiper OFF, hit the button that causes it swipe once and
>quickly run to the back of the truck (you'll probably have to stand outside
>the truck and reach inside the window to be able run fast enough). When you
>get to the back of the truck, and the arm is sweeping back down but is in
>the middle of the window, grab it and hold tight! Don't worry; it doesn't
>seem to hurt anything; the engineers probably took into account the arm
>getting blocked by something (ice, etc.). Now that the arm is in suspended
>in the middle of the window, I'll bet you'll easily see that the the edges
>of the blade just don't touch the glass at all. Put just a little pressure
>on the arm, though, with your hand, and you'll see the blade will then flex
>with the curvature of the glass and touch the glass everywhere.
>
>I think the problem is that the tension spring in the arm that holds the
>blade against the glass weakens and then doesn't put enough pressure on the
>arm to force the blade to flex enough. Probably a slight design flaw sine
>the rear glass in the '98s is more curved than previous models. I'm
Jon M. Pearsall
<3691a440...@news.nb.net>...
>On Sun, 3 Jan 1999 15:17:36 -0500, "Jon M. Pearsall" <jpe...@NOSPAM.net>
wrote:
>
> I did the same thing, I can bend the wiper arm and it does a nice job
cleaning the window.
>Unfortunately all the filth from the window runs down the back of the
Explorer. Then you have the
>wiper blade grind it into the paint....while the wiper blade rests there (I
am sure jiggling and
>bouncing while you go down the road.. the rest of the truck does) in that
mixure while pressed
>firmly against the finish. This can't possibly be a good thing.
Yes, I'm noticing this, too, now that the winter weather has kicked in and
the road salt, etc is out there. Think I'm going to bend the arm back the
way it was and just complain to the dealer about it and try and get a new
wiper arm with a nice new spring.
> The other day I was behind a new Blazer and noticed it's wiper also rests
against the tail
>gate. I also noticed a faint outline of some kind of clear sticker that is
under the blade surface
>protecting the paint. I am going to call the dealer tomorrow (Chevy) to see
if they sell this clear
>sticker, if so I am gonna grab one, enjoy a nice clear window and have the
piece of mind that my
>paint isn't being wore off by my wiper blade.
Let us know what happens!
>BTW if you remove the wiper arm, you will see there are actually two metal
stops (before the hing)
>that hold the wiper up. If these weren't there (or shortened) it would
allow the wiper to move
>closer to the window. I might just take my Dremmel tool and shorten these
stops if all else fails.
Yeah. I noticed that; don't have any way tools to do something like that.
I also briefly thought about grabbing a pair of needle nose vise-grips and
trying to detach the one end of the spring then giving it another turn or
two to tighten it. Looks like a fairly strong spring so I decided not to
muck with it.
- Jon Pearsall, '98 Sport SOHC
98 Explorer
Here is the GM part number you need....
Part Number: 15685148
Description: Protector
Thing works sweet, only cost $7.53 It is a clear plastic sticker simular to those on the EB and
Premium Sports fender flairs. I cut mine down as the piece is way to big. I cut the sticker to the
proper length and width leaving enough to roll up and over the drip edge under the rear window. It
seems that the wiper actually bounces off of that ledge on it's way down to the bump stop. I bent
the wiper arm to give a good contact to the rear window and that was that. Used a squirt bottle to
wet the window and hit the switch.. wiper now works through-out it's entire cycle and comes to rest
nicely on the "protector" sticker. Won't it be nice to hit the rear wiper and actually be able to
see clearly through the rear window?
Jon M. Pearsall
>On Tue, 5 Jan 1999 15:57:56 -0500, "Jon M. Pearsall" <j...@dxiNO.SPAMcom>
wrote:
>
>Here is the GM part number you need....
>
>Part Number: 15685148
>Description: Protector
>
>Thing works sweet, only cost $7.53 It is a clear plastic sticker simular
to those on the EB and
>Premium Sports fender flairs. I cut mine down as the piece is way to big.
I cut the sticker to the
>proper length and width leaving enough to roll up and over the drip edge
under the rear window. It
>seems that the wiper actually bounces off of that ledge on it's way down to
the bump stop. I bent
>the wiper arm to give a good contact to the rear window and that was that.
Used a squirt bottle to
>wet the window and hit the switch.. wiper now works through-out it's entire
cycle and comes to rest
>nicely on the "protector" sticker. Won't it be nice to hit the rear wiper
and actually be able to
>see clearly through the rear window?
Cool. Thanks!