Wiper blade sits too high

[joshwilson3]

The wiper blade on the driver side sits too high when it is parked. The passenger side is fine. They both wipe fine. Is there an adjustment you can do to adjust how high the arm is in park?
Here is an Anco blade driver side:

I put in new Trico Exact fit blades. And it was worse. They wipe fine though. The Exact Fit blades are like a half moon shape which is why I think it is worse:

And with the Trico Exact Fit blade, when the driver side goes into park. The washer hose clip pops off. It didn't do this with the Anco blade:

 

[joshwilson3]

I got to looking at it. And I think the problem is the driver side arm is parking too close towards the engine. Thus cause the arm to rid high on that stopper causing half the blade to stick up over the windshield. I'll try adjusting the driver blade and move the arm closer towards the top of the windshield.

 

[Baldie88]

Be careful with your adjustments as the blades are notorious for hitting in the middle. I've seen somewhere an article on how to adjust them correctly but darn if I can remember it now. You might do a search and see what comes up.

I seem to remember something about at their full sweep (by the A pillar) the drivers is suppose to be 1 1/2" away from the pillar and the passenger is 1" away.

Do you have a manual? I'll see if I can find something tonight when I get home from work.

Ron
"Baldie88"

 

[joshwilson3]

Be careful with your adjustments as the blades are notorious for hitting in the middle. I've seen somewhere an article on how to adjust them correctly but darn if I can remember it now. You might do a search and see what comes up.

I seem to remember something about at their full sweep (by the A pillar) the drivers is suppose to be 1 1/2" away from the pillar and the passenger is 1" away.

Do you have a manual? I'll see if I can find something tonight when I get home from work.

Ron
"Baldie88"

I don't have a manual. I did read a Corvette Magazine article telling you where to adjust them. I adjusted the driver side so it is back far enough, but that it doesn't cause the blade to sit raised up when in park. I think the arm was parking too close to the firewall causing the blade to stick up.

I also adjusted the passenger side so the blade touches the driver side blade when in park. Before the blade was parking like an inch above the driver blade. This way, it hides more.

The only thing I don't understand, is even though I adjusted the driver side arm, the Trico Exact Fit blade was still raised up like in the 2nd pic. And then when I ran the wipers, the driver blade wouldn't go to park. As I guess because after I adjusted the arm, and the Exact Fit sit so low. That plastic clip piece on the arm would hit the stopper piece and prevent the arm from going to park.

Others have used those Trico Exact Fit blades with no problem. But I ordered new wiper blades from the dealer at $9 a piece. They are made by Anco. GM # 12363800. I believe they should be the same as the ones from Corvette Central or Ecklers. But I will find out for sure when I pick them up.

 

[Baldie88]

I looked at my manuals when I got home and couldn't find any information on adjusting them. I then remembered that I talked with Gordon Killebrew at the National Caravan this summer and he's the one that told me about the adjustment I mentioned.

For what it's worth I have the Anco blades and my drivers side does sit up a little higher than the passenger side, much like yours.

You might try searching the C4 site on "wiper adjustment". There is a lot of good information here.

Good Luck. Sorry I couldn't be of more help.

Ron
"Baldie88"

 

[joshwilson3]

I looked at my manuals when I got home and couldn't find any information on adjusting them. I then remembered that I talked with Gordon Killebrew at the National Caravan this summer and he's the one that told me about the adjustment I mentioned.

For what it's worth I have the Anco blades and my drivers side does sit up a little higher than the passenger side, much like yours.

You might try searching the C4 site on "wiper adjustment". There is a lot of good information here.

Good Luck. Sorry I couldn't be of more help.

Ron
"Baldie88"

I did install Trico Teflon blades. But the damn hose clip on the driver arm would pop off when it went into park. As it hits that plastic bumper piece that sits at the base of the windshield. So, I returned them and got the Anco Aerovantage as that piece doesn't pop off the arm with that blade. I think it is cause the blade sits a little higher. I'm guessing it must be something with the windshield as that piece should'nt pop off. I did notice that plastic bumper sits like a cm above the windshield.

But anyways, the blades weren't hitting or anything. Then with the new blade as it is a littler longer than the old one, I adjusted the driver arm. And could tell they were hitting in the middle. You could only tell when it was set to high, and you sprayed water. They quit doing it when they wiped up the water.

I started adjusting the passenger side, and had it park half way up the windshield, and they still did it. I don't know what I did as they weren't hitting before even with the passenger blade touching the driver blade when they were parked.

I'll have to look at it tommorrow, but I'm guessing something must have messed up if they just started hitting in the middle regardless of where I position the arms as they weren't doing that before.

 

[BOBLO8292]

Use the genuine GM blades, they sit lower & wont hit the hood, this happened on one of mine when aftermarket blades were used, and we run into that complaint at the dealer.

 

[joshwilson3]

Use the genuine GM blades, they sit lower & wont hit the hood, this happened on one of mine when aftermarket blades were used, and we run into that complaint at the dealer.

I never had a problem with the blades hitting the hood. This thread isn't about blades hitting the hood.

I already tried GM blades, and they don't work on the driver side. As the ends are too tall and don't fit in the holder in the middle of the windshield for the driver blade. So, don't use GM blades. Plus the GM blades seem like they are pretty crappy. $9 at the dealer also tells me they are crappy.

Also the blades were too short cause a plastic piece on the driver arm kept popping off when it went into park. Look at the 3rd pic. The same thing happened with Trico Exact Fit and Trico Teflon. The only blade it didn't do that with is Anco Aerovantage cause that blade is a little taller than the other ones mentioned. I don't really know why that is happening, but I guess I'm stuck with Anco Aerovantage.

Now, I've just got to figure out why the blades are hitting in the middle when they never did that before. My guess is something got messed up.

 

[joshwilson3]

I looked at my manuals when I got home and couldn't find any information on adjusting them. I then remembered that I talked with Gordon Killebrew at the National Caravan this summer and he's the one that told me about the adjustment I mentioned.

For what it's worth I have the Anco blades and my drivers side does sit up a little higher than the passenger side, much like yours.

You might try searching the C4 site on "wiper adjustment". There is a lot of good information here.

Good Luck. Sorry I couldn't be of more help.

Ron
"Baldie88"

I think I found the problem for the chatter. As while the blade are wiping, no problem. But when I spray water on it, they chatter and I can hear alot of noise from the wiper parts in the cowl.

With the blades in park, and everything bolted down. I'm able to move the passenger arm past the firewall. I say it shouldn't do that. Does that mean I need a new passenger arm, or would that be something else in there?

 

[boomdriver]

I do know that there are bushings as well as links in the mechanism.

Did this begin with ill fitting replacement wipers or refills?
I've found that most refills will not fit old blade mounts. They end up loose or even fly off.

You should not be able to move either arm when the are folded in, And, any movement by one should be duplicated by the other.

Good luck....I had one yrs ago that would swing almost completely off the A-pillar....besides the obvious, it was hard on the paint....

 

[joshwilson3]

I do know that there are bushings as well as links in the mechanism.

Did this begin with ill fitting replacement wipers or refills?
I've found that most refills will not fit old blade mounts. They end up loose or even fly off.

You should not be able to move either arm when the are folded in, And, any movement by one should be duplicated by the other.

Good luck....I had one yrs ago that would swing almost completely off the A-pillar....besides the obvious, it was hard on the paint....

The blades never chattered, hit or made any noise before. I had adjusted them around with no problems and with new wiper blades on them.

Then the last time I made a small adjustment, and I noticed while on high, the blades were fine. But then when I missed water on the windshield, they started chattering, and sometimes hit, and I could hear a noise that sounds like it is coming from the cowl.

After it clears the water, everything is fine. Though I never before had problems like this. I tried adjusting the arms again, and couldn't get rid of the chatter and noise when on high and the windshield wet.

Then while in park. I tried move the driver arm to the left and right, and it was tight. Then I noticed on the passenger arm, I could pull it down to the firewall, but didn't notice any movement of the linkage inside the cowl.

I'm guessing what could have happened is at some point while adjusting the passenger arm, maybe I pulled it down before I had the nuts all the way loosened?

If I pulled the passenger arm off, would I be able to tell if it is bad? How do you get the arm off?

 

[boomdriver]

has that windshield had Rain-X applied in the past couple years? Wipers HATE that stuff and make all kinds of racket when working. It makes them drag and screech.

Its been awhile....but I THINK that you can access the linkage by removing a cover thats over both sides. I would not swear to it though. From what I can recall, the linkage arms that swivel will have a bushing so the fastener can be tight and still allow the joint to swivel. The possible adjustments are many and pretty sensitive. The arm runs off an eccentric-lever that acts like a cam and rotates the wiper shaft then returns it the opposite direction as the eccentric runs past its apex. The linkage simply gets pushed back and forth and thats translated into a circular motion at the shaft. The small amount of back & forth motion is very sensitive to the adjustments because the shafts rotation is an exact amount AND "timed" to operate with the other wiper. So, if there is a loose joint in the linkage, that means that wiper shaft will loose some tension as it tries to rotate the shaft downward, so the wiper blade cannot come all the way down. It stops "high" on its rest and has a little slack.
I disassembled mine ONCE....I remember it to be do-able but a PITA. The arm mount is held on the shaft by a clip type retainer under the mount. The shaft has a groove where the clip snaps in.
The most common mistake that is made is that the wiper mount gets taken off the spline shaft and gets remounted slightly different and that leads to never ending frustration. IF arm mount gets pulled off the wiper shaft, be certain that it goes back on exactly where it was. Beyond that, I'd advise gaining access to the mechanical linkage and observing that as it operates to get a good "feel" for how it works. You might be able to spot a mechanical defect as it works. It can be tricky. Try not to stand there watching the wipers go back and forth for too long, as that mas motivated many family members to call for an intervention....:~)

Good Luck with it.

 

[CorvetteArchives]

Cripes! ...talk about a seemingly simple job snowballing!

Mine arent perfectly parking/ hidden as well as I'd like and I'd thought of adjusting them.
If I've learned anything from this thread is that if the wipers are working OK and park decently...dont mess with them even if off a little! Thanks Josh!
Good luck getting them back to normal..I feel for you!

 

[joshwilson3]

I pulled the arms, and the spline on the transmission looks fine. The arm parts looks fine, though a few of the ribs looked a little worn.

When the windshield is dry, they wipe fine. But when you spray the windshield, the arms have alot of vibration. And you can hear alot of racketing sound coming from inside the cowl. And when you put it on high, the wipers start hitting no matter where I adjust the arms to.

Then when the windshield drys up, everything is fine. While they are wiping, you just spray a little water, and they start vibrating and making a loud racket sound from inside the cowl. Everything looks fine inside the cowl.

It didn't do this before till after I had been adjusting them. I'm guessing it must be something that got messed up with the transmission? Is there any way I could tell if the problem is from the transmission if I pull it?

 

[boomdriver]

I would'nt.

Thats just me.
If it were me, I would go back and re-do or un-do everything that led to this point and isolate the one action that made it worse.

 

[joshwilson3]

I would'nt.

Thats just me.
If it were me, I would go back and re-do or un-do everything that led to this point and isolate the one action that made it worse.

I've got it adjusted good enough. I don't use the wipers much, so I won't have to worry too much if they are gonna start hitting.

 

[boomdriver]

Glad you got some satisfactory results. Wipers can be tricky because of the mechanisms involved. A quarter turn of the shaft takes several inches of travel by a lever and the minimal amount of motion that the shaft makes is greatly magnified at the end of the wiper blade. So the adjustment/timing is critical for counter rotating blades. If they ran parrallel it would'nt be nearly so bad.