Rear wiper not contacting rear glass

[TNJYOUNG]

Good morning everyone,

I have a question regarding the rear wiper bar/blade. A few months ago I went through the car wash and it knocked off the plastic pice that covers the rear wiper arm mounting nut. Since the arm itself had been faded from the sun, I just ordered an entire new arm assembly. When it came in, I changed out the arm assembly (one single nut) and since then the new arm/wiper blade is not making full contact with the glass when it is raining. The wiper blade contacts the lower portion of the glass, but leaves the top portion untouched. As you may imagine, this affects rear visibility since the entire glass is not cleared with each swipe of the blade. To troubleshoot, I have loosened the nut, tightened the nut, and changed out the wiper blade. Any other thoughts or people who have experienced something similar?

Kind regards,
Jason

 

[yukonlou]

Make sure that the wiper arm went into the hole straight... The shaft usually has splines and you need to make sure they match the position from the arm. Seems that the arm is "cocked" in the shaft and not laying at a 90 degree angle and it does not apply full pressure against glass due to angle. Take the arm off, and wiggle it as you install it... you might need to move slightly to make the splines match... even perhaps lifting the blade up a bit so it engages correctly...

 

[TNJYOUNG]

Okay, the verdict is in. It was not what you suggested, however I did not know that the shaft was splined. Due to this, I had "cross-threaded" the splining and I thought I had really screwed things up. Off, on, off, on, off, and on again with the replacement. Each time the unit was getting stuck (due to cross-threading) and I was having to use channel locks to remove. Finally, frustrated, I put the old one back on. To my surprise it worked perfectly. I was just going to leave it on when I realized why the plastic nut cover had come off in the first place. The piece that goes over the stud had lost its tab that the plastic cover "snaps" into. So I took the one piece from the new one, removed the j-spring, and then attached it to the old arm. Replaced the cover and it works perfectly now. The only thing that I can think of is that the cheap Chinese made replacement arm was off just enough in quality control that it did not work. Due to this, I am posting a link to the replacement part you DON"T want to buy! Thanks for your comment, however, because it caused me to try again and to learn.

Cheers and happy holidays!

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Black-Rear-Window-Wiper-Arm-Blade-For-Chevrolet-Tahoe-Suburban-2500-1500-07-13/192606250635?ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649