Hi everyone,

I have a minor, albeit annoying problem with my '96 Ex. The rear wiper blade fails to contact the top center part of the glass. The result is nice clean glass everywhere, except the part which is right in my field of vision when I look in my rear-view mirror.

I've tried different brands of blades with no improvement, so it seems that the problem is with the wiper arm. The arm looks fine on inspection, however. Has anyone else experienced this problem, and is there a fix for it?

Thanks much!
Kevin

 

I've always jsut bent the arm slightly to fix this problem.

Mason

 

Thanks, Mason. Just to clarify, do you mean to bend the wiper arm itself, or to bend the blade assembly that snaps into the arm? I've tried bending the blade assembly before, but that made things worse.

Kevin

 

Actually both, if you need to. It just takes some trial and error until you get better contact with the glass.

Mason

 

OK, I'll give it a try...gently, this time.

Thanks!

 

did this work for you? My wife's '01 explorer is doing the same thing. I notice the pivot point moves in and out some while the arm moves, could this also be a problem?

 

Bending/tweaking the arm helps, but can also make the problem worse. A better approach is to take the arm off and clean the pivot points and spring assembly real well, lubricate, and reinstall. When washing, make a point to pull the wiper arm out periodically and flush the spring/pivot area real well - that area accumulates a lot of dirt. Periodic cleaning and lubing 1x/yr has kept the rear wipers working perfectly on my 2 Fords.

 

How do you remove the newer style arm? As on a '01, there is no catch to pull out like the old style? Also, Should there be any play in the pivot point in the hatch itself? I think that is the problem, the are is raising about 1/2" off the glass in the center of stroke.

 

Yes it did. I was a little afraid to try this for fear of breaking the fool thing off, so I bent it a little bit at a time. And I mean a liiiiiiiiiiitle bit.

Before you start, hit the rear window washer button so that the streak pattern will show you where the blade is riding over the glass. Bend ever so slightly to close the gap, and test by hitting the washer button again. Repeat until the streak pattern is gone. Then sit back, have a beer and admire your handiwork.

It's a good thing.

Good luck!

 

I have finally managed to fix this annoying little faullt on my 99 Explorer. The problem is that the wiper spindle is at the wrong angle where it sticks out from the tailgate.

The angle measured between the spindle centre and the glass gets bigger as the blade gets into the vertical position and gets smaller as the blade moves to the sides.

I fixed this by removing the tailgate inner panel (4 spring clips at top of window opening and 2 half way up sides of opening, then lift cover off bottom "hook" locations). Locate the wiper motor monting points and physically bend the tailgate inner slightly inwards at the lower mounting point. This realigns the wiper spindle so that the blade maintains a more even angle with it throughout its travel.

This worked for me without any bending of arms or blades.

 

thanks uk, I suspect that is the problem here, I will try that.

 

I know this is a old thread, but this rear wiper non contact problem has bothered me from day one on my 99 explorer. Instead of bending the holding bracket, I added washers to the lower mounting bracket for the wiper motor. 100% better. Thanks