Sticky worthy??? Quick fix for rear wiper motor turning but not moving wiper arm

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273hypo

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Does your rear wiper motor make a clicking sound but the wiper arm doesn't move? It may not be the wiper motor broken again but something simpler and free to fix in less than 10 minutes. When my third rear wiper motor in a month stopped moving the wiper arm I investigated further. Turns out its not a bad motor or worn gears. The cause is wiper arm assembly spring. The spring coils are too strong and knock the pivot screw out of alignment with the internal gear drive. Take note of how your rear wiper motor is working by listening for the click which should be the wiper arm rotating on the windshield. If your wiper arm doesn't move then remove the wiper arm and watch the pivot screw. If it turns then this fix is for you!!!

Here is the fix - You will need a flat head screw driver and a 1/2" wrench, that's it!

1. Remove rear wiper arm assembly, remove plastic cover from base and loosen & remove nut. Then pull off rear wiper arm assembly, you may need to pull with some force! See pic #1 & #2
2. Turn over the wiper arm assembly. Backside facing you. Next, pry open / expand wiper arm spring (bend wiper arm back which stretches the spring)
See pic #3
3. Place flat head tip of screw driver into the first spring closest to wiper.
4. Release spring, trapping tip
5. Twist flat head tip which create an opening (about 1/8") between the spring loops.
See Pic #4.
6. Spring wil look like bubbled (See pic #5) after you enlarge a few of the spring coils.
7. Repeat from step 3 with the second spring and so on until you feel you created less tension and a flatter appearance from the base of the arm to the tip of the wiper blade.
8. Reinstall and test....you should see difference in how freely it moves.
9. Yes, this proceedure applies less pressure to the glass but it still cleans the water off of it properly.

Maybe if the mods agree this can be a sticky for those who think its a wiper motor failure but really is too much tension from the wiper arm spring.

Let me know how you make out fellas! It worked for me!

Its been a few days now and my rear wiper always rotates when I turn it on...at least 50 tries so far!!!

273HYPO

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aircargoo

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i never ever use that wiper in rear. wish it wasnt there:smokin:....would look cleaner back there. car wash never get it right to around it when washed.:buttkick:....lol
 

GAINMOB

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i've never used it...in 7.5 yrs...nor on my 4runner that i had...
 

Big Red Monster

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i think we all can agree shaveing that damn thing off our tailgate looks better. im gonna do that on mine eventually
 

TactialMonkey

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i never ever use that wiper in rear. wish it wasnt there:smokin:....would look cleaner back there. car wash never get it right to around it when washed.:buttkick:....lol

I just took mine out and put a VW logo over the hole I mean the expedition is really just a monster wagon
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piano_71

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This is an old thread, but I have to say this helped me fix my rear wiper. I didn't have to adjust the spring, just remove and reinstall. On mine, the nut was too loose, and that prevented the motor from operating the wiper. Once reinstalled, everything worked as expected.
 
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