Rear Wiper Design Correction Modification

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Vincent @ Apr 27 2006, 03:01 AM) [snapback]246017[/snapback]</div>

You are quite welcome. I just looked at that page for the first time since I made it, and found several typo's! Please point out any typos that you come across on my pages. I seem to be blind to them when I first create the pages. I also wish I'd cleaned the rear window and de-rusted my pliers before taking the pictures.

 

Now we find the truth... you are a mere mortal like the rest of us... :lol:

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(darelldd @ Apr 27 2006, 10:55 AM) [snapback]246163[/snapback]</div>

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(trvlnagain @ Apr 27 2006, 02:32 PM) [snapback]246293[/snapback]</div>

But with delusions of grandeur!

 

Very nice- took me about 45 seconds to do this and solve that problem for good. Thank you very much. I suspect they added that tab so that people would not drive around with their wiper up off the glass; design/build to the lowest common denomenator!

 

Although I haven't done that yet, thanks for having mods like that in one convenient place. Twice I've had questions asked about mods (anytime camera and removing the rings) and it's easy to direct them to your site.

 

Could it be that Toyota discovered that wind rushing over the top of the car lifted the wiper off the glass at high speeds? So they made it so it couldn't lift? Just wondering. :huh:

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Vincent @ Apr 27 2006, 06:01 AM) [snapback]246017[/snapback]</div>

Yes, THANK YOU Darell! A little twist with my pliers, and that tab snapped right off!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(darelldd @ Apr 27 2006, 09:55 AM) [snapback]246163[/snapback]</div>

I'm tellin Toyota! That's gotta be a warranty violation :lol:

 

I'm gonna wait until a few of you brave souls have checked that out.

 

The mod takes less than 2 minutes and it sure makes it nicer to clean the back window.

Thanks,
Kent

 

I will add that in a moderate rain and about 35-40 mph the wiper tends to chatter a bit. But I can't say for sure that it's attributable to the mod. But it never did it before, but to just be able to clean the window is enough to warrant doing it.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Frank Hudon @ May 3 2006, 07:31 PM) [snapback]249474[/snapback]</div>

Before the mod the wiper lifts an inch or two without restriction. It is not likely that any chatter within that range is caused by the mod. I have no chatter either before or after the mod.

 

There's lots of good info on the Priuschat website. But for some of it, I wish Toyota would chip in and say if they agree or disagree.

In this case, it seems the ability to lift the rear wiper might be limited so that the wiper won't rise up when traveling at high speeds and/or during cross winds. The front wipers would be pressed down by wind. But it seems possible that the rear wipers could lift up.

As a result, until I hear a more convincing argument, I'm going to assume the engineers at Toyota knew what they were doing in this case and not remove the lift restriction on the rear wiper.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Vincent @ Apr 27 2006, 07:01 AM) [snapback]246017[/snapback]</div>

Thanks!

On my prius the part was a little plastic tab that I easily sliced off with a pocket knife.

 

I suspect that the feature was included to prevent the wiper arm from being lifted up when the car is in an automatic car wash. A snag by a spinning drum would be nasty.

But I'm not sure how to check this suspicion w/o risking damage. Have any of you who have removed either the tab or the whole cover used an automatic car wash?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(knowledgeseeker @ May 6 2006, 01:27 AM) [snapback]250656[/snapback]</div>

You could be right. The Toyota Matrix as a rear wiper WITHOUT the tab in the cover however. We run the Matrix through the car wash without incident. But the Matrix rear window is much less slanted than the Prius rear window. If I have a problem at the same car wash with the removed tab I will replace the cover and let you know.

 

I had 2000 MY Celica before the Prius. It is also a hatchback and the rear wiper can be lifted up. However, it is longer and heavier than Prius'. I never took the Celica to the machine car wash..... maybe once without any issue.

Dennis

 

Most rear window wipers are horizontal when not in use, so there's relatively little chance of the spinning rags in carwashes lifting them up.

And most conventional cars have a sharp corner above the rear window which would tend to protect a wiper from spinning rags.

But the Prius has a vertical wiper and the roof is at about the same angle as the rear window, so there's nothing to prevent the rags from catching the wiper and pulling it up, then destroying it as the rag spinner passes over.

So I think I'll not do the mod. It might be fine, but the risk of having to replace the rear wiper just doesn't seem worth the payoff of easier cleaning.