Hey guys,

I'm having trouble with my drivers side windshield wiper. I have put 2 different brand new wiper blades on but when the wiper makes the return pass, it doesn't have good contact with the windshield. It leaves large areas of water still on the windshield, this problem gets worse the faster I am going.

My guess is that the spring in the wiper arm is weak and not applying enough pressure on the windshield.

Again, I've tried two different (both high end wiper blades) but they both don't make good contact with the windshield. When it makes the the first pass upward from the rested position the contact is fine, and completely wipes away the water, its only when it is going back down (returning) that it doesn't make good contact and leaves streaks of water/snow.

Anyone else ever have a problem with this? Should I just replace the wiper arm assembly or can the spring be replaced?

Thoughts?

 

i dont think so, since too much pressure is bad. if there was too much pressure, the midpoint of the wiper blade would be pressed down too much, and the edges would end up with less pressure

 

Currently the streaking is happening in the middle, which makes it sound like there isn't enough downward pressure. I agree, too much would be a bad thing too.

I don't know what else it could be.

 

I think some WD-40 in the right spot will fix this.

My guess is that the rivet where the wiper arm meets the mount near the hood is rusty. This keeps is from pivoting freely and will result in contact loss.

When the wiper is moving upward the pivot is allowing the arm to move in contact with the windshield and pushing it slightly away from its resting position. If the rivet is rusty and it can't freely move back you'll lose contact with the windshield in the downward motion.

I'd make sure that rivet joint is free of rust or corrosion and you should be fine.

 

I'll check that after work. I read on a couple other forums where the pivoting point of the arm was rusted and not allowing enough downward pressure from the wiper arm.

I'll report back.

 

what kind of wipers are you using?

 

I'm using the ones from Costco (good year brand). They used to be the single flexible style but now they appear to be like a more traditional wiper with two pivoting ends.

I checked the spring and it still seems strong. I also checked the pivoting point and it pivots perfectly fine, I even sprayed some WD40 on it anyways and worked it up and down for awhile.

I also cleaned the wiper blade off with rubbing alcohol and the windshield.

It still leaves that streaking area when the blades goes back down (returning). At this point, I guess I'll have to bite the bullet and buy another wiper blade. Maybe I'll try another single flexible wiper blade because they used to work fine (the costco goodyear ones). I'm also using RainX washer fluid.

I don't know what else it could be but it's getting annoying....fast.

 

So I bought a set of Anco Profile wiper blades. These are the single flexible beam style instead of the traditional blades (like the ones Costco used to sell). Installed them after work yesterday and no more streaking.

Apparently the costco wiper blades now suck (good year).

They had the Anco profile wiper blades on sale at fleet farm for 8 bucks a piece and if you bought two, you get a 10 dollar mail in rebate.

Problem resolved, thanks.