REAR WINDSHEILD WIPER

Just wondering if anyone have had any problems with the wiper on the back window of their truck. I have a 99 Explorer and it seems to be always in and out. Any suggestion will be greatly appreiated.

Burnt Orange

99 Explorer 20" Wheels
Reply to
Jeffrey Privott Sr.
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My rear wiper does not clean the whole window area. It misses spots. Spoke with Ford and apparently this is a common problem. But never had them fix it so could not say how much or even what causes the problem. Checked google to no avail. Anyone with a solution or fix, would be appreciated.

Reply to
Lance

It might be a common problem, but it's not really Ford's fault.

Ever notice how much FILTH ends up on the back of any SUV? That filth also finds its way into the hinges and springs of the wiper arm.

Keep the arm hinge and spring clean and regularly lubricated, and you won't have any trouble with it. I had a '99 XLT for three years, in really sloppy, salt-covered-roads weather, and I never had trouble with mine. Just keep some WD-40 handy, as well as a roll of paper towels to keep the spray from getting on the window or paint.

Ford's best idea was to ditch the design they and everyone else were using, where the wiper parks in a bracket below the glass. My '02 has the wiper permanently mounted ON THE GLASS. It doesn't need to move onto or off of the glass---it just wipes the glass. MUCH better design, and it even requires less maintenance.

Reply to
JonnyCab®

Reply to
John Shoemaker

My '98 Explorer had the problem off of the showroom floor and my '98 Mountaineer had it when I bought it used in '00. Two dealers, both admitted it was a problem and both fixed it for free in about five minutes. I never had an issue with my '96 which had a different design.

Just

Reply to
Jim Tiberio

Found this on an Explorer forum.

TSB 15406 BACK GLASS WIPER SKIPS GLASS APR 17, 2002

SOME 1998-2002 EXPLORER SPORT AND 1998-2001 EXPlORER/MOUNTAINEERS MAY EXHIBIT A REAR WIPER THAT DOES NOT SUFFICIENTLY CLEAN THE BACK GLASS. TO SERVICE, FIRST INSPECT FOR THE LETTERS 'AB' STAMPED ON THE WIPER ARM JUST BELOW THE WIPER BLADE PIVOT PIN. IF THE LETTERS ARE NOT STAMPED ON THE ARM, INSTALL NEW SERVICE ARM PART # XL2Z-17526-AA. NOTE: ENSURE THAT THE NEW SERVICE ARM ASSEMBLY HAS THE LETTERS -AB' STAMPED ON ORIGINAL WIPERS WITH 'AB' STAMPED NEAR THE PIVOT PIN WERE REVISED TO APPLY MORE PRESSURE TO THE BACK GLASS.

Reply to
Lance

Reply to
Big Shoe

from: Richard

My 99XLS had the same problem of missing some of the glass. It was because the wiper arm was bent either from "jumping" back into the holder or from car washes. I had my son turn off and on the wiper while I was misting it with a hose. A slight bent here and there fixed the problem /Richard

Reply to
Debbie Grimes

A common problem with my '96. In my experience replacing the wiper arm only fixes the problem temporarily - I think it's really a design problem. From what I've seen, the problem seems to be caused by the pivot pin, or actually, the metal casting part of the wiper arm that attaches to the motor post. As time goes on, the casting corrodes enough to prevent the pivot joint from... pivoting. I don't think the problem is actually the pivot pin itself, but the clearance between the corroded cast part and the rest of the blade (wish I could describe it better). I've never had to bend the arm to apply more pressure to the window - if the pivot moves freely, that's usually sufficient. Due to the angle of the wiper motor to the window, the arm needs to be able to flex in order to apply equal pressure at different points of the wiper sweep. Recently, when my rear wiper started streaking again, I took the arm off and noticed the pivot had almost no range of motion. Once I got it lubed up and flexing freely again, all was well.

I've had the best luck with the following:

  1. keep the pivot pin area lubed, or more precisely, the area where the bent metal part of the arm overlaps the cast metal portion. It gets awful dirty back there and freeing it up with lubricant solves the problem more often than not. On my vehicle, this seems to be the most consistent cause of wiper streaking. I suppose the joint could get corroded to the point where even lube won't help any more.

  1. use a high quality wiper blade (the flexible bracket part that holds the rubber wiper refill). Anco metal ones seem to work better than cheap plastic ones, and the more attachment points holding the rubber wiper, the better - my guess is more attachment points better distribute the rubber wiper force against the window, preventing "high spots" that leave unwiped streaks.

  2. keep the back window well coated with Rain-X or similar "water repellant", which seems to make it easier for the wiper to move across the glass (e.g. they make it harder for the dirt and grime to stick to the window). For the last 5 or so years I've been using something called STP Vision Blade, similar to Rain-X but a different chemical composition (fluorocarbon vs. silicone?) that lasts a lot longer. Tough to find any more, don't think they still market it under that name, but you might find it in the closeout stores (Odd Lots is where I bought my last 10 pkgs at .50 ea) or online (eBay auctions on occasion). Lasts a good 6-9 months per application. It's made by PPG (the glass people) and the local Ziebart also applies it as "Aqua-Pel", but you'll probably have to pay to have them put it on. Don't know if it is packaged for retail any more, but you might be able to get it from an auto glass place.

Steve

96 XLT
Reply to
Just_Steve

Reply to
Big Shoe

Would you post what your new wiper arm part number was? I had found a TSB and posted it on here a few days ago. But I had never heard if it worked, I myself have not tried it yet. If you have a different part number than the one on the TSB, I may go out and buy the one on the TSB and post my results on here.

Thank, Lance

Reply to
Lance

Reply to
Big Shoe

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