At my wits end - wiper blades skipping!

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Kyle_Elantra

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My car is a 2013 with about 13,000 miles.

At about 10,000 miles, I noticed that the bottom half of my driver's side wiper blade skipped/chattered. I figured it was due to age and replaced them with Anco blades. That didn't fix the issue, so I spent some more money on Goodyear blades.

No luck. So I tried DP glass sealant, rain-x, changing washer fluid, and even vinegar to remove and water spots (didn't see any).

So I recently bought Rain-X Latitude blades. I then clayed the windshield, did a 91% IPA wipe down, and still, the bottom half of the driver's side blade skips.

The upper half of the blade, and the passenger blade, are fine and wipe without skipping. The dealership told me that no adjustment to the blade assembly was needed, so I'm at a total loss.

Any suggestions on how to make this stop?
 
Bosch icon blades are best I've ever used, lasted me 4 years on the last pair without any streaks or skipping
 
Kyle_Elantra said:
My car is a 2013 with about 13,000 miles.

At about 10,000 miles, I noticed that the bottom half of my driver's side wiper blade skipped/chattered. I figured it was due to age and replaced them with Anco blades. That didn't fix the issue, so I spent some more money on Goodyear blades.

No luck. So I tried DP glass sealant, rain-x, changing washer fluid, and even vinegar to remove and water spots (didn't see any).

So I recently bought Rain-X Latitude blades. I then clayed the windshield, did a 91% IPA wipe down, and still, the bottom half of the driver's side blade skips.

The upper half of the blade, and the passenger blade, are fine and wipe without skipping. The dealership told me that no adjustment to the blade assembly was needed, so I'm at a total loss.

Any suggestions on how to make this stop?
Click to expand...

After all of those suspected problems that you tried I would think that it may be a mechanical issue perhaps? Maybe check the angle of the wiper against the windshield. Your description would lead me to believe it's a contact issue rather than a lubricant/grinding/wiper issue.
 
Some suggest applying whatever windshield sealant/coating you used to the wiper blades themselves.
 
I have the same problem, skipping but much better since I applied the DP Paint Sealant.
First I washed the windshield , clayed and applied the sealant.
I'll keep trying different blades.
This is on my truck.
Aggravating to say the least,good news is now with the sealant I don't use the wipers nearly as much when I get over 45MPH.

Keep trying mate:)
 
Thought I would save a few bucks and bought some Goodyear blades. Within a week the bottom side started to chatter. Went back to Bosch Icon's, problem solved.
 
Havent had the same luck with Bosch Icon's ... recently replaced with Rain-X Expert Fit. I get the same area of smear on the back sweep of the blade where the center support appears to weigh down the blade.

I haven't put Aquapel on lately, didn't have any issues when using it with even cheaper blades.
 
Rsurfer said:
Thought I would save a few bucks and bought some Goodyear blades. Within a week the bottom side started to chatter. Went back to Bosch Icon's, problem solved.
Click to expand...

I agree with Ron!
 
billboard2001 said:
After all of those suspected problems that you tried I would think that it may be a mechanical issue perhaps? Maybe check the angle of the wiper against the windshield. Your description would lead me to believe it's a contact issue rather than a lubricant/grinding/wiper issue.
Click to expand...
^^^:iagree:^^^

Does sounds like an alignment issue.

Bob
 
I tried the Icons with no luck.

I will go back to the dealer to have them check the mechanics again.

They blamed it on the blades because it's only half of one blade.
 
Hi,
Have you machine polished the glass? Also the Einszett Anti-frost Washer Fluid solved my skipping issues. Let me know what fixes the problem.
 
This might be a shot in the dark, and I'm gonna take a guess here.

I could be wrong, but to me this sounds like excess spring pressure, or uneven wiper blade pressure on the Driver's Side Wiper Arm, and may be showing up as more pressure towards the bottom? Or lighter?

Can you look closely at the Wiper Blade itself, and note any difference in compression on the blade itself with regards to thr glass contact area? Perhaps just a finger in between the Blade and the Glass might also help to determine whether there's a difference in the pressure of that Blade upon the Glass?

I'm sort of doubting that there is any tension adjustment of the Wiper Arm Spring within the Wiper Arm itself, but probably wouldn't hurt to look?

One other crazy fix, might be to see if you can swap-interchange the springs from one arm to the other?

Usually Wipe Arm Assemblies today are fairly easy to remove off the vehicle, and take a peek.

At this point, it seems like you're fresh out of ideas, and thought this might be worth looking into?
I know such can be quite aggravating.
Mark
 
I would also assume that the dealer checked to insure both Wiper Arms were tight to their Serrated Drive Posts (not sure this is what they are called?)

Your arrangement might be similar to like my Kia, where there is a Trim Cap on the Bottom of the Wiper Arm that pops off, and the Wiper Arm is held to this Post with a Nut. Commonly, probably a 10mm Nut.

Check both that they are tight. On my own 2001Kia, I had the driver's side wiper arm coming loose 8 months ago because of this attachment Nut.
 
Pulling the wiper blade away from the glass and letting it snap back into position may help reset the proper pressure. There should also be a black mark on the bottom of the windshield where the wiper arm should come to rest in the off position. You can also go on the internet and type in your problem and you'll find all kinds of cures. I agree that it may not be your blades.
 
It is entirely possible the wiper arm has been bent, especially so if you noticed it after going thru an automatic car wash with one of those spinning brushes that travels up the hood and windshield and beats the tar out of the wipers.

Pull the wiper up off the windshield and wet the blade and then carefully and gently set it back onto the windshield by holding it by the arm/wiper mounting point. Pull it back up and examine the wet contact pattern. If it's not uniform, and level, bend the arm slightly until you get the desired result.

My guess without seeing it is the chattering part is being driven slightly into the glass instead of across it as the arm moves on its path.
 
one trick i have used on some cars with long wiper blades and or curved edge windshield is to drop down one size in length. sometimes it helps with chatter
 
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