We had a strange winter up here in the Boston area. Every week it seemed that
we had an ice storm. So every morning, from November through March I had to
chip ice off of the windows of my Rav, and hence my rear window wiper blade is
shredded. I am now faced with the unfriendly task of replacing the blade.
One of the few disappointments I have in my Rav is the non-standard rear wiper
blade. Over the years I have always maintained my own wiper blades since
getting it done at the dealer is way expensive and time consuming. Well I have
finally managed to replace this one myself, and it was non-trivial. I thought
that some other people on this forum might be interested in what I went
through to get it done.
First of all, it is nearly impossible to find a replacement blade. I first
went to WalMart where I have found replacement blades for my cars for years.
They usually have a good selection of several brands for very good prices.
WalMart doesn't even *list* a rear blade for the Rav4.
So I went to AutoZone, and they looked up the Rav4 in their computer and sold
me a very nice 12" Anco blade for about 8 bucks. This was the entire blade
assembly, not just the refill. Unfortunately, it would not fit on the wiper
arm. The non-standard, plastic attachment on the wiper arm is too thick to
even fit into the Anco blade, and the attachment to the blade is incorrect.
I took the blade back to AutoZone and they sold me a pair of 12" rubber
refills for about 7 bucks. I took the refills home and tried to install them
into the blade assembly that is on the car, but they did not fit either. The
rubber is too thick to go through the claws on the blade. I finally found
somebody at AutoZone who told me that both Honda and Toyota have put
non-standard blades on the backs of their SUV's, and I will have to go to the
dealer to get a replacement. There is currently no third party equivalent.
I finally caved in and went over to the dealer to buy a refill. They sold me a
12" piece of rubber for $7.94. That is correct. The refill (not the whole
blade assembly) cost me $7.94. But it appears that I am stuck with it since
that is the only source of the blades. How do you spell *gouging*?
I downloaded the .pdf file from this forum which describes how to replace the
refill, and following those directions allowed me to get the job done. But I
thought that some photos which show how I did it might be useful, since none
of this is obvious from looking at the blade.
The first thing you have to do is pry off the cover over the arm attachment in order to tilt the arm back far enough to get the blade off. This is easy. Just put your fingers under both edges of the cover, pull the two sides of the cover gently apart, and the cover will come up. Very little force is required.
![Image]()
Then, tilt the arm back over the spare like this:
![Image]()
To get the blade assembly off, rotate the outer end of the blade toward the passenger side of the car until it clicks. This releases it from a little plastic block that holds it on.
![Image]()
Here is a closeup:
![Image]()
Slide the wiper blade to the left, and it comes off of this totally non-standard, cheap, plastic connector. There is just a round rod inside of the blade that fits inside of the hook, and the plastic block on the arm locks it in place.
![Image]()
So now I have the blade off and I need to replace the refill. Here is a photo of the blade and the $7.94 refill. The blade assembly is asymmetric. The part of the blade to the left in the photo goes on the driver's side of the car, and the part on the right side of the photo goes toward the passenger side of the car. There are three claws holding the refill. The two on the right are on a pivoted piece, and the one on the left is fixed to the blade.
![Image]()
To get the refill out, you push gently down on the middle of the blade to bend it so that the end on the passenger side will come out over the endstop. Like this.
![Image]()
At that point, you can gently work the entire refill out of the two claws on that end and out of the blade. Just go slowly and work it through the claws gently so as not to break the cheap plastic.
Once the refill is out you can remove the metal pieces from the rubber refill. The metal pieces are bent, and the bend goes into the refill so that it will bend the rubber down toward the curve of the window. Here it is in its proper orientation.
![Image]()
Put both metal pieces into the slots in the rubber refill and then re-insert the refill into the blade assembly. To do that you put the end of the refill into the middle claw on the movable piece near the passenger side of the blade.
![Image]()
Keep pushing the refill through the next claw on the passenger side of the blade.
![Image]()
Bend the refill gently to pull it over the endstop of the blade again.
![Image]()
Then push it back up to the left and through the fixed claw on the driver's side of the blade. When it is through the left claw, the end on the right side will snap in behind the endstop of the blade.
To put the blade back onto the car, place it over the totally non-standard, cheap, plastic, strange hook on the arm
![Image]()
and twist it down toward the window until it snaps back over the funky plastic block.
![Image]()
Lower the blade down to the window and snap the arm cover back down over the arm.
we had an ice storm. So every morning, from November through March I had to
chip ice off of the windows of my Rav, and hence my rear window wiper blade is
shredded. I am now faced with the unfriendly task of replacing the blade.
One of the few disappointments I have in my Rav is the non-standard rear wiper
blade. Over the years I have always maintained my own wiper blades since
getting it done at the dealer is way expensive and time consuming. Well I have
finally managed to replace this one myself, and it was non-trivial. I thought
that some other people on this forum might be interested in what I went
through to get it done.
First of all, it is nearly impossible to find a replacement blade. I first
went to WalMart where I have found replacement blades for my cars for years.
They usually have a good selection of several brands for very good prices.
WalMart doesn't even *list* a rear blade for the Rav4.
So I went to AutoZone, and they looked up the Rav4 in their computer and sold
me a very nice 12" Anco blade for about 8 bucks. This was the entire blade
assembly, not just the refill. Unfortunately, it would not fit on the wiper
arm. The non-standard, plastic attachment on the wiper arm is too thick to
even fit into the Anco blade, and the attachment to the blade is incorrect.
I took the blade back to AutoZone and they sold me a pair of 12" rubber
refills for about 7 bucks. I took the refills home and tried to install them
into the blade assembly that is on the car, but they did not fit either. The
rubber is too thick to go through the claws on the blade. I finally found
somebody at AutoZone who told me that both Honda and Toyota have put
non-standard blades on the backs of their SUV's, and I will have to go to the
dealer to get a replacement. There is currently no third party equivalent.
I finally caved in and went over to the dealer to buy a refill. They sold me a
12" piece of rubber for $7.94. That is correct. The refill (not the whole
blade assembly) cost me $7.94. But it appears that I am stuck with it since
that is the only source of the blades. How do you spell *gouging*?
I downloaded the .pdf file from this forum which describes how to replace the
refill, and following those directions allowed me to get the job done. But I
thought that some photos which show how I did it might be useful, since none
of this is obvious from looking at the blade.
The first thing you have to do is pry off the cover over the arm attachment in order to tilt the arm back far enough to get the blade off. This is easy. Just put your fingers under both edges of the cover, pull the two sides of the cover gently apart, and the cover will come up. Very little force is required.
Then, tilt the arm back over the spare like this:
To get the blade assembly off, rotate the outer end of the blade toward the passenger side of the car until it clicks. This releases it from a little plastic block that holds it on.
Here is a closeup:
Slide the wiper blade to the left, and it comes off of this totally non-standard, cheap, plastic connector. There is just a round rod inside of the blade that fits inside of the hook, and the plastic block on the arm locks it in place.
So now I have the blade off and I need to replace the refill. Here is a photo of the blade and the $7.94 refill. The blade assembly is asymmetric. The part of the blade to the left in the photo goes on the driver's side of the car, and the part on the right side of the photo goes toward the passenger side of the car. There are three claws holding the refill. The two on the right are on a pivoted piece, and the one on the left is fixed to the blade.
To get the refill out, you push gently down on the middle of the blade to bend it so that the end on the passenger side will come out over the endstop. Like this.
At that point, you can gently work the entire refill out of the two claws on that end and out of the blade. Just go slowly and work it through the claws gently so as not to break the cheap plastic.
Once the refill is out you can remove the metal pieces from the rubber refill. The metal pieces are bent, and the bend goes into the refill so that it will bend the rubber down toward the curve of the window. Here it is in its proper orientation.
Put both metal pieces into the slots in the rubber refill and then re-insert the refill into the blade assembly. To do that you put the end of the refill into the middle claw on the movable piece near the passenger side of the blade.
Keep pushing the refill through the next claw on the passenger side of the blade.
Bend the refill gently to pull it over the endstop of the blade again.
Then push it back up to the left and through the fixed claw on the driver's side of the blade. When it is through the left claw, the end on the right side will snap in behind the endstop of the blade.
To put the blade back onto the car, place it over the totally non-standard, cheap, plastic, strange hook on the arm
and twist it down toward the window until it snaps back over the funky plastic block.
Lower the blade down to the window and snap the arm cover back down over the arm.
