[waltrav]

Does anyone have a squeaky rear windshield wiper?

The noise on mine has become progressively worst around 10 C or 50 F which leads me to believe the rubber compound has become harder over the 2 years (2002 Rav) and worst in the winter.

My friend s rav is the same year and his was acting up sooner. He was paranoid and thought his mechanic swopped them. Even joked that I switched them :shock: .

Anyhow, I suspect Toyota’s Supplier for that part is to blame.

Cheers,

Walt

 

[garfieldgurl]

Walt,

Does the squeak happen when there is light or heavy rain? Mine squeak when there's light rain, and I think it's cuz there's not enough water to wipe :?, but after reading your doubts, I now have a small doubt :roll:.

Miriam

 

[Mohit]

You should change all wiper refills at least once a year.

 

[waltrav]

Thanks guys, I have had a cold in the last couple of days so I will spend some time to look at it later. Also it is below -1 here now and i like the indoors much better.

As for running my wipers. I run them only when raining. Of course the rear has much less water on it than the front in a rain storm.

I hate to see front wipers go when there is tons of salt on the road or when the windshield is dry. Makes those nice etching lines in the glass much sooner than later.


Walt

 

[EHinthe604]

I too have experienced sqeaky rear wipers. The problem became evident as of late during the cold snap and snowfall in Vancouver. I noticed that the problem goes away after the car warms up. The rear wiper takes a little longer to warm than the front wipers, primarily because the rear defroster does not emit as much heat as your front windshield heater vent. After a few minutes of driving (sometimes as long as five or ten), the rear wiper blade has time to warm up a little, and the squeaks and chatter go away.

 

[Jeff]

The design of the Rav's rear wiper stinks in general. I replace mine every year and it works fine for the first few months but by winter time it's all but useless. It freezes up a lot so even though it moves back at forth it won't clear anything. I clean it every so often which helps somewhat but it's still not very good at wiping. It also squeaks now and then, mostly right after you turn it on when it's cold out. I don't really care that much because most of the rear wipers on cars I have driven in the past did not work well.

 

[EHinthe604]

Frankly, I think rear wipers on most SUVs and minivans generally stink, at least in my experience. I'm not sure whether it's due to poor design on the part of the manufacturers or lack of care among owners.

I do use my rear wipers often, especially since my rear spoiler "funnels" air (along with rain water and road grime) down the back of my rear window. I've noticed that I barely had to use my rear wipers before I had my rear spoiler installed.

 

[Signguy]

Are the rear wiper refills only a dealer item?

 

[Jeff]

From my experience I would say yes, since they are such a specialized part and I haven't seen any aftermarket wipers in the specific size and style.

 

[waltrav]

Are the rear wiper refills only a dealer item?

There is another thread where we talked about the Rubber replacement

I looked at C-Tire (auto part store) and the guys waisted my time in selling me the wrong ones so i went to Toyota.
I was ripped off buy toyota, $30 for a few feet of rubber.

Someone replied that in Sweeden (or somewhere near there) that Toyota only charged a few dollars because the Government protects consumers... :shock:
Nice concept. Here we get treated like a bunch of cattle and the Gov. feeds us to the Vampire bats. :wink:

 

[Phourwheel]

Are the rear wiper refills only a dealer item?

Wipers are very much affected by extreme cold, we had a week-long cold wave a couple of weeks ago, and all my wipers are now in bad shape. Squeaky or even "clunky"... I don't want to replace them until I'm sure we won't have another freak spring snow storm....

You can get refills at your local Pep Boys, Autozone, Walmart, etc.... I never buy just the rubber blades anymore, because they never work. They're always warped one way or another. I buy the ones that come with the hanger-shaped frame, and for the rear wiper, I just remove the rubber blade from the assembly and replace the blade on my RAV. I usually can't get a 12" blade, so I get the 13" and cut an inch off. For some reason the rubber blades that come with the frame are not warped.... A lot cheaper than the OEMs. Besides, even OEMs need to be changed after a cold wave. And as Mohit mentioned, you're supposed to change them once a year, or at least whenever they no longer wipe the way they should....

Cheers!

Philo

 

[Snyrav4]

In addition to changing the blade, clean the window with a commercially available powdered cleaner for auto windows... or Bonami kitchen & bath. This cleans the built-up road grime that alcohol based cleaners can't get. The Bonami is less than a buck, GM charges over $10 for the same stuff.

DO NOT USE COMET or that type of abrasive cleanser.