Hi all, new to this forum.

Wondering if anyone is experiencing the same problem... When its summer the wipers work fine. With Winter the front wipers don't seem to clean as good, until the car has warmed up. The rear wiper on the other hand seems to be a little worse. seems as if though ice gets into the spring and the wiper doesn't contour the window anymore, lifts up at the 1/2- 3/4 mark. So i'm being left with a huge spot of snow/ice on the window. Wiper blades are new and i also use the defrost. I have done some searching and seen some put the rear wiper vertical, does this help rectify this problem, or is it more just for dirt? What can i do for the front wipers? Thanks guys

 

Could always pull the wipers up at night.

Have you replaced the wipers recently?

The wipers arent meant to push snow off the windshield. Making sure that you clear the wiper area too.

 

Putting the wipers up at night or during the day seems like a vandalism waiting to happen. If it's a light dusting of snow I use my wipers, if its anything more I brush it off. Yes the wipers were replaced this year.

Earlier today while driving with no snow or ice on the window I used my rear wiper with windshield washer. Same issue, the wiper bottom lifts up off the window and only cleans the top portion. (it was colder out earlier) Now I was thinking of changing the spring, but later today it's working fine as the weather is warming up. Im wondering if it's the cheap plastic wiper. Would the metal wipers be better and can I get them for the Fit?

 

Usually, when my wipers do something like this, it's because a little ice has gotten caught in the various pivots and cantilevers of the wiper blade (not the rubber bit, of course, but the holder bit). Usually, lifting it off the window and flexing it back and forth a few times will help the problem. There are some aftermarket wiper blades made that have a rubber boot over all the pivoting bits that are said to help considerably in this; I haven't tried any personally, but it makes sense.

On the other hand, a metal blade won't be much better and may be worse; some designs are a little more open and hence tend to collect slush and snow a little more readily.

Leaving the wiper blades up away from the window while the car is parked may appear to invite vandalism, but it certainly does prevent them from being frozen onto the window while the car is parked, and with that sometimes prevents them from getting mucked up. Around here, it's a very, very common practice to leave the wipers lifted when parking.

The wipers have a much harder job to do in the winter than in the summer, what with frozen stuff and salt and whatnot. They aren't going to remove ice from the window (that's what a scraper and defroster are for), and they aren't going to do so well at caked on salty muck (which washer fluid helps with, at least temporarily). Sometimes you just have to settle for "seeing adequately" rather than "spotlessly clean".

 

Thanks for the replys thus far. I'm thinking it may be the spring as i was fiddeling with it and then tried the front ones. The rear wiper spring seems very flimsy. Can you guys give yours a try and see if its just a weak? I'm having difficulty removing it, any tips tricks?

 

THey are not as strong as the front but mine works

GO here to see how to remove. https://www.fitfreak.net/forums/2nd-...-assembly.html

 

Regarding the rear wiper, I have always noticed a little bit of streakyness regardless if my blade is new or old. In the winter especially, I notice this in the front. My blades never leave contact with the rear or front windshield. SO not too sure what to say to be honest.

 

Dunno where you are from but I live downtown and half the cars on my block have their wipers up at night. If you keep them down, they will freeze to the windshield and the rubber will get damaged more quickly.

That being said, my car had aftermarket wiper blades when I bought it and like a genius I bought OEM blades and now the suck terribly. I suspect the blades I used to have where the universal ones you can just cut to the right size from Canadian tire. I'm gonna try and hunt some down to see if it helps.

I can't stress enough how important it is to use a windshield fluid that has a de-icer in it. Absolute bare necessity in Canada if you ask me. Cheapo all season fluid tends to freeze up. I buy the RainX stuff and it works well. Why try and save 1$ off a 5$ jug of windshield washer fluid? It's not a direct fix for your problem but I guarantee it will help loads for your visibility in winter.

 

I really have to disagree to this whole "putting your wipers up invites vandals". I'm sorry I just cannot agree. Coming from a person who use to live in Ottawa, and Montreal, as well as an avid snowboarder, this is common practice we see all the time. I have never had an issue, nor have I ever hear of anyone else having an issue. Now I live in Toronto, so there isn't really a need to do it.

 

If you are worried about vandalism, just use a piece of cardboard or something to keep it off the glass, yet able to still contour to glass
Wax paper would work also

 

Good idea but cardboard does attract moisture and I can just imagine trying to scrape off a stuck on piece of cardboard from my windshield In the morning