mlacomb

I'm going to take this to the dealer at some point; however when I bought my CPO 08 ES, on high speed the windshield wiper (driver side) would intermittently smack the a-pillar. Now, even on low - with the right wind, ca-thunk ca-thunk.

I know I read in the past that adjusting the wiper on the stem can help, however the wiper arm is coming to rest on the bottom of the windshield as it always has, so I don't think it's a adjustment issue at this point.

Has anyone here ever had their wiper mechanism replaced due to the blades not being limited properly to avoid this issue?

xanderES

iTrader: (8)

I had this issue start a couple years into ownership. They would only hit when the wipers were on the quickest speed. Since it only rains a couple times a year and it barely ever pours in california it never bothered me enough to get it looked at.

Found some threads that'll help fix your problem.
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/es3...iver-side.html
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/es3...operating.html

garsarno

Had it happen to my previous 2007. Dealer adjusted wiper arm but it came back. Local garage fixed it again as the prt that you attach the wiper arm to was stripped, hence loosening and having the wiper go past the windshield.

mlacomb

Yeah, xanderES I posted the 2nd post on that first thread Guess it's been long enough to strip something out. Given the responses, I doubt the dealer will fix it 100% but since I have the extended warranty (even though I'm fairly confident with a wrench) I'll take it in and have them deal with it until the warranty runs out. If it's a stripped part, here's hoping that it can be replaced properly and not band-aided which was my initial hope here - to find someone who actually had it fully fixed rather than just adjusted.

xanderES

iTrader: (8)

Sorry I couldnt help you out more. I wouldve given you a definitive answer if it rained heavily in california more than once or twice a year! Worst come to worst I'd expect your dealer to only charge you a couple bucks for a new screw. Give us the run down on the solution when it gets fixed!

mlacomb

Yeah; with my extended warranty still good for a little less than 2 years and 25k miles, I better not be paying for jack lol

Wht95scort

Are they set it winter mode?

mlacomb

Nope, not in winter mode. I went out and took a look this afternoon - both sides are resting approximately the same spacing from the lower plastic; there's still some room. I'm going to break out the ratchet tomorrow and take the driver's side arm off and see what it looks like. If I can adjust it slightly down, it won't hit the plastic when coming down (not as close as I originally thought) and that will keep it from smacking the pillar. No sense in taking it in if I can do a little wrenching myself I guess

mlacomb

So the wiper came off easily; almost too easily. Bolt on end of arm; arm has receiving splines that goes over a splined inner screw assembly. I was surprised at how easy the bolt came off; but the arm stays mostly in place via friction on the splines. As long as it stays down, it stays on.

So - looking at the splines, no damage on either side. Cleaned up a little bit but nothing major. Went to put back on and the unfortunate reality is that the splines only really mesh up at one point. One more spline set down and the wiper will hit the plastic so there goes my easy fix.

In thinking to the not-too-tight bolt, I put the arm back on and tightened the bolt slowly, making sure I wasn't mis-threading the splines in position. After sure, I tightened it down pretty far. Thinking that this might have cured the issue, I tried on dry - ok, not hitting - but still damn close on high speed. Sprayed some windshield wiper fluid on the windshield - high speed thunk thunk, low speed damn close.

So... next thing is, the wiper arm itself. It could potentially be slightly bent downwards to give that extra quarter inch clearance... however in playing with it, looking from the car mount side up there is a rivet through the arm segments where it can flip up for wiper blade replacement. My driver's side has noticable movement at this junction point - perhaps this could be where my slop is in making the windshield wipers hit the pillar?

Stay tuned; since I can't get this solved with a turn of the wrench - I'll take it to my dealer sometime and report back.

xanderES

iTrader: (8)

In this case I wonder what exactly it is that causes the arm to hit the side of the pillar over time. Do the splines deform over time causing play or does the whole arm assembly warp due to weather conditions?
I thought you would be able to adjust it down a bit but evidently this is not the case. Im interested in actually hearing about the fix now. Thanks for the write up!

mlacomb

The splines locked into place with little pressure, and there's really no wiggle in the assembly other than the internal mount points (whole assembly can move, but just a very very small amount, as if it's on rubber washer/dampeners.) If I had to guess, that wiper arm movable rivet location is allowing the blade to move just a little bit out of range with momentum/inertia on the upsweep. Moving the passenger wiper arm, the rivet point doesn't move - as it's a lot more solid and has no play. My theory is - shorter arm/wiper on passenger side therefore less stress on up/down movements (side to side on the rivet point) causing less wear.

xanderES

iTrader: (8)

You know i think i remember doing a recall on the IS regarding the wiper nut coming loose. Maybe you could talk to the dealer about it. At least I think it was the IS... could have been the ES. Cant remember which but I definitely remember them vaguely telling me about it when I took the car in for service. Believe it was done with the trunk latch recall at the same time. Maybe its interchangeable and would solve your problem?

Wht95scort

That recall was for the IS.

Has your windshield ever been replaced? Do you use your wipers to clear off snow? The arm being bent is a good possibility. It's also possible you have the wrong size blade on the drivers side.

xanderES

iTrader: (8)

^happened to mine and I never changed the wipers and it never snows in southern california. Problem just randomly started to happen one day.

mlacomb

Haven't ever changed the blade since I purchased the car CPO, only inserts.