[Waffles ZX3 Kona Sport]

I removed my rear window wiper arm the other day and ever since then, it will only wipe the bottom half of my window clean. The wiper travels the entire length it's supposed to, but doesn't clean the upper half of the window. I've tried tightening the nut, loosening it as safe as I felt possible (finger-tight) and somewhere in between. Anyone got any ideas?

Thanks,
- Waffles

 

[StealthGray]

Something is not sitting right. I had the same problem when I tried to use a Mazda 3 wiper arm, couldn't make it work, sold it to PuroLatino and he installed it with a washer behind it, and of course it worked.
It sounds like the arm is cranked down too far on the spindle (can't believe I just remembered that word!), hopefully some good ideas are coming along.

 

[Waffles ZX3 Kona Sport]

So maybe I should pull the arm off, put it on loosely and finger-tighten the nut?

 

[TerryB]

I've tried three different brands and shorter lengths. Also tried bending the blade at different angles and mine still won't sweep clean. I've got the shortest flex blade they sell and it's better, but still not a tight sweep on the top.

 

[StealthGray]

So maybe I should pull the arm off, put it on loosely and finger-tighten the nut?

Yeah... something else to try is to put it on loosely, run the motor up until the wiper is vertical, and then try to get the wiper to seat on the window. You'll have more force on the wiper at the bottom of the window, but if you can get it to stay where it belongs at the top you're set.
You might want to PM PuroLatino and ask him what his trick is... if it worked for the Mazda 3 wiper it should work for the stock one too...

 

[Waffles ZX3 Kona Sport]

So today I tried adjusting the wiper arm, and had no luck. First, I checked out what was wrong, and confirmed that the wiper was not contacting the window while it was vertical. So I took it off and tried setting it on loosely. Didn't work, it was too loose I guess. The motor turned but didn't turn the wiper fully. So then I tried tightening it down some, but had the same issue - the blade wasn't fully contacting the window while it was vertical. Damnit! [mad]

You might want to PM PuroLatino and ask him what his trick is...

OK I will do that. Thanks!

 

[Waffles ZX3 Kona Sport]

Well I got to look at this with my father today and we figured out what was wrong (I never got around to PMing PuroLatino).

The Problem: Apparentely not all 14" (or is it 15", I forget) wiper blades are made equal. What was happening is that the new wiperblade's back was a different angle than what came with the car. So when the arm was vertical, the spring (under the wiper arm) was pushing on the bottom end of the wiper blade, causing it to lift on the top end.

The Fix: We took a couple of locking pliers and made the bend in the wiper arm bigger. It works perfectly! I'll get pics ASAP (I can only get pics of the finished product though, because I didn't take any "before" pics - but we should all know what the wiper arm looks like).

 

[TerryB]

I'll have to get a new wiper if I want mine fixed. I have one of those flexible ones. You can't bend them because they're already shaped with a curve.