wipers/RAV4 2011

I bought my 2011 RAV4 used. About 2 years ago the wipers broke (I cannot remember how they behaved …but ultimately they stopped working though I tried my usual technique of waiting and hoping…I got a new motor). This past Spring my daughter took the car to Valvoline for an oil change and also wiper change (overpriced I know but I am lazy and unskilled car wise).When she drove away the wipers kept getting tangled and got stuck upright. She went back and they could do nothing. hey took of the new wipers and refunded her $. I took to my regular car place (NOT where the motor was replaced…which was a place near where my daughter used to work highly recommended by her colleagues and workplace…but it is not nearby) and they said new motor for $750! I paid nowhere near that when the motor had been replaced two years ago.
Oh I remember…I initally broke them two years ago by leaving the motor running and wipers on in my work parking lot all morning…but they were replaced with a new motor.
I have just been driving around with one wiper that works but rests in the up position. The $750 quote said it was a rough winter so this sort of stuff happens…I get that but the motor was newer than the car!
Then my daughter took car to a different Valvoline for oil change and the owner there was horrified at the wiper and the Valvoline connection and said he’d help…not sure what that means…financially or fix it?
Any suggestions?

Jeanne

Hard to tell what’s going on, but it kind of sounds to me like when Valvoline replaced the wipers they put blades that were too long on there, and that’s how they got tangled. This could have jammed the blades together and made the blade arms pop out of position.

They may just need to be re-set and tightened down.

If the one wiper is working, then the motor shouldn’t need replacement because the motor drives both wipers. This reinforces the idea that the wiper arms are loose and need to be re-positioned and tightened.

Agree with shadowfax, More than likely the wiper arms are stripped and need to be replaced. It is not a hard diy, but it should not be a terribly expensive fix, you need a second opinion!

This vehicle uses one motor to drive both wipers.
http://www.toyotapartsoverstock.com/showAssembly.aspx?ukey_assembly=487279&ukey_make=1060&ukey_model=15445&modelYear=2011&ukey_category=21641

IMHO the oil change monkeys at the first Valvoline probably forced the wiper arms while trying to remove the blades… probably because the kid had no idea how to remove blades. Since this vehicle uses only one motor, than if you have one blade working it ain’t the motor. It has to be the linkage. Any competent shop, especially a body shop, can remove the cowling and repair the problem. And it won’t cost $750.

And I strongly recommend that you suggest to your daughter that she not use quickie lubes anymore for anything at all. Their business model is to hire very inexpensive, very inexperienced young kids, give them unacceptable time limits to do their work (especially since they’re often told to do things they’ve never done before) and pocket the profit for things that are better left to an actual mechanic. These quickie lube places are responsible for far too many of the posts we get here. Most of them are destroyed motors. Your daughter was lucky. The damage they did to hers is relatively inexpensive to repair.

I agree with the above post 100%. Find a competent mechanic, not a chain, and stay away from the chains like Valvoline.