Hey guys - I know how to replace a wiper rubber on normal wipers but I cannot work out how to get the rubber and the metal strips out of the 2015 Wiper blades. There are end caps that are probably removable but I dont want to force them off without knowing how to do it. Could someone let me know how to remove the rubbers or get the end caps off ?

Thanks in advance

 

Is in the manual, page 380 : http://techinfo.honda.com/rjanisis/pubs/OM/AH/A5A1515OM/enu/5A1515OM.pdf

I did mine this weekend. Only the rear wiper has metal inserts in the blades.

The front ones just slide into the holder and held on by friction. It makes it easier to remove the holder from the arm by pulling on the tab and pulling up on the holder separating it from arm.

 

I didn't know you could change just the rubber refill.

So I bought a set of front generic holders from Lowes/Home Depot, will also these fit into the wiper arms as they usually have some plastic adapters?

 

I guess if they have the right adapter it should fit. The rubber refills were about $5 a piece.

 

$13 at the dealer and they put them in. I'm happy.

 

Dealer in Toronto wants ~$29 plus 13% taxes ($16.42 and 12.52) for the front pair, anyone find a cheaper source for refills in Toronto? Thanks.

 

Surely there must be cheaper. I paid 13 US for wipers from my dealer.

 

The owner's manual says "pull the tabbed end out" but I have no idea which end is the tabbed end. I don't see any tabs.

 

OK, you can't see the tab on the rubber insert until after you have pulled the end of the rubber insert out. It is on the back of the rubber insert. On my car, it was on the end of the blade that goes under the arm.

 

To get the old rubber refill out, first take the blade off of the arm. Then, grab the end of the rubber refill with the (hidden) tab and push it toward the middle of the blade, kind of making the rubber refill shorter. Eventually the end of the refill will clear the end cap of the blade, at which point you can lift it up away from the blade. After lifting the refill up you can just grab that end of the refill and pull the refill out, slide the refill out. To replace the refill, push the new one in, starting at the end of the blade from which you pulled the old one out. Then, again, to get the end with the tab to go under the cap, compress the blade, make it shorter. Placing the end into the cap - this requires pulling the end of the refill a short distance, in the direction opposite from which you slid the refill into the blade and the direction you compressed it. You'll be "stretching" the refill out after having first compressed it.

It is easier done than said.

 

The stock front blades on the 3rd gen fit are standard 6mm wide "frameless". 90 percent of cars that use frameless blades use this width and shape. I bought two of these blades for .99 on Ebay with .35 shipping. Both 28 inch. I put one 28 inch in the long wiper and cut the other to 14 inches to fit the smaller wiper. Here is the link.

2pcs 28" 6mm Universal Car Rubber Frameless Windshield Wiper Blade Refill | eBay


Hope that helps

James

 

Any thoughts on a replacement for the rear wiper?

 

I've made a series of seven (7) photos of the rubber insert replacement procedure.
Please pay attention to the comments section below each photograph.
The insert P/N: 6622-T5A-003 At Augusta , Me. dealership it was $8.50

I would recommend to stay with the original quality insert. Counting from the actual build date, my wiper blade lasted 3 years . Thats pretty good considering the grit and grime that accumulates on the rear window.

Here is my first attempt on a "How-To" and please... pay attention to the comments section below each photograph.
https://www.fitfreak.net/g/picture/7553023

 

The rubber strips illustrated look more like the standard 6 mm rubber strip for my rear wiper, sans the metal insert, than the 6 mm strips for my front wipers. The illustration shows a strip with 2 grooves - one groove for the metal insert and one groove to slide over the claws in the rear traditional blade. The original strips in the front wipers each had only one groove - for the "claw" that extends the entire length of the flexible spine (I'm calling it a spine for now, until I learn the commonly used word) to slide the strip through, and which holds the strip to the spine.

I tried putting the standard 6 mm strip from the rear wiper blade, into the "claw" of front wiper spine (after first removing the metal inserts from the rubber strip) but the strip did not slide through easily. I couldn't get it down the whole length - the frictional became too great. Simply because the groove in the standard 6mm rubber strip was much narrower than the groove in the original (trapezoidal) 6 mm rubber strip.

Yes, the original strip, with a single groove, had a trapezoidal shape at the back, and was only 5 mm wide at the top of the trapezoid; the "standard" 6mm strip was rectangular, 6 mm at bottom, 6 at top, as well as having 2 grooves instead of one.

 

As far as the rear wiper goes, I've found it easier to install the metal strips first before putting the wiper strip into the blade. Cut the standard 6 mm square rubber strip to length and insert the metal strips. The rubber strip should extend about 2 mm past each end of each metal strip. Then push a drop of contact cement into each 2 mm length of groove at each end of each metal strip, to keep the metal strips from sliding out later. The original rubber strips had rubber stops at one end or at each end (I don't remember) to keep the metal strips from sliding out, but the new cut-to-length rubber strip will not, so you will have to use rubber cement instead. Then slide the assembly into the claws of the blade. The rear blade has plastic stops at each end, to keep the strip assembly from sliding out of the blade. You'll have to bend the assembly a little aggressively, when you start sliding the strip in, in order to get the strip assembly started past the first stop. After that, it's easy going. A bit of silicone lube on the claws and inside the rubber insert's groove, and along the rubber strip's back, could make it easier to slide the assembly into the blade. Once the strip assembly is fully into the blade, you should have about 1.5 to 2.5 mm of end-play at each end of the strip (between the end of the strip and the "stop" on the blade). Before putting the blade back on the arm, wipe off all the silicone. You don't want this smearing onto your window. You can use a rag or paper towel dampened with alcohol or windshield wiper fluid.

 

I just prefer to have the parts left stock as it was from the factory.
The whole replacement (as I've shown) took me less than 10 minutes.
Installing the rubber insert first helped me to keep the assembly stable to make things easier to install the metal splines.

My intent is for the owner that would like to keep their car "stock".
There are a mess of wiper stories where owners have gotten into expensive mistakes when it comes to replacing simple things like "Wiper Blades".

Once you start tossing the original parts in the trash it becomes a PITA to get things back to the original configuration. This is true not only on the Honda..but on ANY brand.

 

The rear blade is different that the front blades. The rear is a 14 inch blade though. An Anco 14B complete assembly is what I put on the back. They are 5 to 6 dollars with free shipping on Ebay

 

The complete Anco number for the rear blade assembly is AR-14B

 

I don't see any reason to replace the wiper blades either, if they are in good shape. Replacing them would be a waste of natural resources too. If I did replace them, I would keep them just in case the aftermarket blades did not work out. But as far as the rubber inserts go - I would just buy whatever insert that fits, and put it into the stock blades. Unfortunately, these are hard to find. Local parts stores have stopped carrying them. And about $10 for a 700 mm long genuine Honda rubber insert, seems like a lot to pay for a strip of rubber. Unfortunately, as I explained, the $0.99 strip linked to by James Butler, as described on the sales page, doesn't look like the original strip; in the picutre it looks more like the strip for the rear wiper.

 

Not to derail this thread but does anyone have an opinion on how essential the metal spline in the rubber insert is for wiper performance?

I went to replace my driver side insert and there is no metal spline (I purchased the 2007 FIT used) + there is no metal spline in the OEM replacement insert!

Any idea where one might purchase just the spline?!

Or would I be better off at this point replacing the wiper blade...? Any current blade recommendations? Thanks!