I know. Stupid question. Here’s the thing. I locked up my windshield wipers and the whole mechanism had to be replaced. I just noticed, though, that when they’re in use, the driver’s side wiper doesn’t go completely vertical. I just can’t remember if the wipers always went to that point, or if they are supposed to go completely vertical.
The dirt streak in the picture shows how far they currently go. They should be going further up, right?
You probably need to pull the arm again and rotate it a few notches. Yeah should cover the whole windshield for side vision. Oh looks like it is parked higher too so go back and check work for proper adjustment.
The thing is though, that originally when they’re off they were laying too high. So if I rotate them a few notches they’re going to be way high again when they’re off.
Is there a way to make them go higher up the window, but still lay flat when they’re off without being further up the window when they’re off?
Looks about normal to me. I do not know if there are limit adjustments.
Well, I dunno but that is not right. The blade is not parked and you have no corner vision.
Did you replace the motor, the transmission, or both as a unit? Could the motor be mounted wrong? Check the book. I guess I’d try taking both blades off and bring the motor to park then park the blades where they should be and start over. It almost like it’s reversed or the right is holding the left.
Maybe a mech will chime in.
They both were replaced as a unit. And it was done at a shop.
The wiper arms are positioned correctly in the park position, blades are attached to the arms.
To move the position of the arms to clear higher on the windshield will result in arms parking higher on the windshield. There could be something loose in the wiper linkage, but I think you will have to accept the wiping range of these wipers.
That’s what I was thinking. But was curious if they normally go completely vertical in general, or if I was just imagining they do? And, if they do go completely vertical normally, then why wouldn’t they do so here? Is it possible that they used the wrong part for my vehicle?
(The receipt said “WPS World Power Systems windshield wiper motor” FWIW, though they replaced the whole assembly.)
I still think the left blade is not parked far enough and the sweep is not complete enough. Must be an after-market part that may not be oem. For the first time in 3 months it rained last night and my left blade sweeps to within 2 inches of the pillar and also parks at the base of the windshield. And I replaced my transmission with no problem. A Rockauto part but don’t recall if OEM or not.
Yeah, first it was parked high. Then they lowered it two notches. Then it was hitting something and making a noise when the wipers were on full power. So then they raised it up one notch. So I’m happy with where they’re parked. Lower than it was originally, but not low enough that it’s making a knocking sound on high. The fact that it’s not sweeping all the way bothered me, though. Guess I may just have to live with it.
I just looked at few videos on wipers. With most of them, the wipers did go completely vertical. But in this video the guy talks about realigning the blades, and he demos it at the end (at 5:45) and says it’s perfect. Yet his blades are coming up to about the same place that mine are. So I guess it just depends on the transmission.
I think that’s pretty close to how my Corolla’s WW’s work. No Caravan experience though. Lots of Caravans on the road, so before doing anything to “fix” it, maybe check one of those you see in a parking lot.
Just a thought. If I remember correctly, on my 2001 Windstar there were nylon (grommets) on the wiper linkage rods connection points. if the nylon wears the holes become more oval shaped. which might not give you the whole range of motion like when it was new.
Mine had those nylon grommets. Thing is the arm was under the connector instead of on top. So when it wore, the arm dropped out and no wipers. I saved my old transmission with some good connectors on it, but I saw somewhere where you could buy them instead of replacing the whole transmission for $100.
Yeah, good idea! Especially if it’s an older model.
In this case they replaced everything – motor, transmission, linkage rods. So I have to assume they’re not worn.
Side note: the reason they replaced everything is because the gears in the transmission and rods were stripped. The motor was fine. But the motor and transmission came as an assembly.
Based on my limited experience with windshield wiper realignment, you do not want to get this wrong. There may be expensive and difficult complications.
Can you be more specific? Are you saying I shouldn’t try to have the shop readjust them?
If there were an installation error, I would expect the repair shop to warranty their work.
I don’t know how a problem would cost more than the original replacement cost, broken windshield? Body computer failure? Earthquake?
