I noticed I got leaves under the black plastic wiper rest area but it is pretty hard to clean as there is not much access. Is it as simple as opening up the hood and removing a few screws to remove the plastic piece to be able to clean underneath? Or is this something someone should leave alone and not touch unless really necessary?

 

use the rl's snowpark feature... you can push the wipers up to reach that area... try it!

 

Good thinking CL6 but I did that. The problem is that the damned leaves (or pieces of leaves) are very deep under the plastic covered area and still not reachable even with the wipers out of the way. That's why I've been thinking about taking the plastic part off to be able to get rid of those leaves...

 

How about using a leaf blower in that area? I have had very good success using a leaf blower.

TC

 

I just use a shop vac with a long, slender nozzle (which is about a foot long and only 2" in diameter) attachment to suck them all out!

I would imagine any vacuum with a long, slender nozzle attachment would also work.

Works great.

 

Thanks for the inputs. I did try the shop vac with the long nozzle accessory but only got mitigated success. The long nozzle accessory was too big and did not get deep enough. I have not tried the leaf blower though; I wonder if it would work with the small pieces of leaves (or other stuff falling from trees) or if it would just push them further into the drain/mesh area... Looks like no one ever removed the plastic part for cleaning purposes.

 

There is a crevice attachment that may have come with the shop vac. Or is that what you are calling the "long nozzle" ?

 

I know that's what I meant by long nozzle... Do you find it does the trick for you? Am I the only one with nasty bits and pieces from the trees?

 

In instances such as this (or similarly when cleaning out the housing for the cabin air filter) I duct tape a piece of 3/4 inch diameter pvc to the end of the Shop Vac "crevice tool" (which I agree is often too big). It's a jury rigged solution but only takes 30 seconds to set up and works like a charm.

 

For the most part, it does the trick.

 

Great idea!

 

Good idea kmcheney. I put your idea to practice last night and taped a piece of garden hose and the end of the Shop Vac accessory I don't use very much. That way, it gives me a small and flexible attachment to get into the wiper rest area. Works well, thanks.