Anyone removed the rear wiper?

Well to be honest, NO, I don't know why you would, but its easy enough to get into the hatch, remove it. You then have to plug and paint the hole. I would like t see your results when you do it. Be sure to post a pic!!

 

I don't live where the rear wiper seems necessary and I find it obstructing the rear view from inside and outside the car. I removed the entire blade from the spline and will be removing the mechanism inside the hatch cover and plugging the hole soon. Rain-X on the glass repels rain and it snows here about one day every two years.

This link:

http://priuschat.com/forums/prius-main-forum/52136-no-rear-wiper.html

shows a fleet car without a wiper at all.

I will post another picture when the deed is complete.

 

I have... i didn't want to pay to replace the blade, so i removed the arm.. unbolt and place a jack head over the shaft sticking out.

 

What's a "jack head"?

 

yes.. a jack in the box head...

without it there's a rubber grommet that fits around an axle that sticks out about an inch... without covering the metal, it will rust over.. otherwise you see a point sticking out of the back glass... i'll think about pics....

 

Well a couple of days ago I threatened to post a pic of the entire rear wiper removed, motor and all. I had already removed the blade assembly. I mean, I like Jack in the Box well enough, but wanted something just slightly more sophisticated.

So, today after removing the lower hatch panel (which must be removed to safely remove the center panel which covers the wiper motor,) started the project. There is an easily found video sticky of someone removing this piece to change his license plate bulbs. He does it with one hand while pointing the video camera with the other. In my opinion he would not be able to do this one-handed had it not been removed before. It's a little difficult to get your fingers underneath the panel to 'pop' out the first couple of panel fasteners.

It is almost impossible to remove this panel without having some of the blue fasteners (there are 11 in all) stay in the hatch. They must be removed and replaced into the panel before re-installing it. I used a pair of needle nosed pliers to lever the stuck ones out. I suggest placing a piece of cardboard under the fulcrum of your lever to prevent scratching anything. These are out of sight when the panel is replaced, but why scratch paint even if it's hidden?

The narrow panel covering the wiper motor is much easier to remove. It is held by two white fasteners (one near each end) and three pink ones across the center. The pink ones are designed differently from the white ones. they slide over an extension and fit into slots rather than circular holes. Nevertheless, all five should be on the panel before replacing it. In regard to both panels, make sure they are aligned as perfectly as possible before applying the pressure necessary to pop the fasteners back into place.

With the motor exposed, you will see three 10mm bolts that need to be removed and the electrical supply clip that needs to be disconnected. Once you find the little tab that needs to be depressed, the two pieces slide apart and you can safely remove the bolts.

I plugged the hole with a hard rubber stopper from Lowe's hardware department - in those drawers that slide out. A 1-3/8" size stopper fits perfectly, but comes out too easily when pressure is applied from above. Since I did not want to epoxy it into the opening, I got a larger 1-5/8" stopper ({they're about $2} there wasn't a 1-1/2")and cut it off above where it fit in very tightly and sanded it down to where it is level. (Don't sand while it is installed, of course - scratched glass is unattractive.)

After replacing the panels, I cut a circular piece of vinyl overlay material. You can find this stuff at Home Depot sold under the Gila brand name and it is designed to be used as a window tint - I already had some from left over from my headlight/taillight overlay project. I wet the surface and the vinyl, squeegeed it over the rubber stopper, overlapping the glass about 1/2" all around and - viola!

 

Both. Pics of this Prius' overlays may be found in the modifications forum under the thread title 'eyelid overlays reduce apparent size of headlights' and/or my photo album.

As you can see, the circular overlay in these two pictures is not perfectly smooth. (You won't notice it from a few feet unless you are specifically looking for it.) This is partly due to the fact that the galss edges of the hole are beveled and the liquid used to apply it to the glass remained in the gap. In addition, the top of the rubber stopper is somewhat uneven and pitted. In the near future I am going to remove the vinyl and try to smooth out the surface and fill in the bevels - most likely with epoxy. I wanted to stay away from any permanent type fix so that the wiper motor and arm could easily be replaced for resale or trade of the car. But I don't think a thin layer of epoxy will be too hard to remove from the edge of the glass. In any case, the edges of the rubber grommet which seals the spindle will cover the bevels and not be visible should I replace the wiper.

If I can make the epoxy perfectly smooth, there won't even be any need for the vinyl. I'll post a picture when I can get around to trying this further improvement.

 

Okay, here's the final version close-up in the worst possible light. Direct sun near noon, casting shadow. And another in the shade.

As threatened, I smoothed it out with black epoxy and cut a smaller vinyl disc with about 1/4" overlap. It is not perfect, but I like it much better than the wiper assembly which I don't use. I used stuff I already had on hand. Bought two stoppers @ $2 each, since I didn't know which size I would use. Total cost about $4, not counting time which is, of course, priceless. I saved the receipt, so if I can't find another use for the 1 3/8"er, make it $2.

 

VERY NICE JOB!!! Looks nice, watertight. and 1 less thing on the car to replace blades on yearly!!!

 

Great work! You would really have to be looking for the cover to notice there was once a wiper there. I had not thought of removing the rear wiper assembly, but as mentioned, it is pretty much useless. Who knows, it may also reduce the wind resistance a small amount and improve your mileage.

 

Correct me if I am wrong but I suppose that there were no error codes from having the motor assy removed.