Rear wiper insert replacement

[Penphoe]

It is well known that the rear wiper on the LGT wagons are dealer-only parts. People have suggested to use a 14" replacement blade and chassis, however they are quite hard to find. The wiper blade itself is actually 35cm in length. Yep, cm - because the car is Japanese and they use the metric system like Canada and the rest of the world.

 

http://photos.yungfamily.ca/albums/userpics/Darren/Rear%20Wiper%20Replacement/normal_IMG_0988.JPG

 

I did a search on rear wiper insert replacement but didn't come up with much, so I thought I'd write down what I did.

 

Tools:

Owners Manual: Rear wiper blade removal instructions - page 11-63 in the MY05 LGT manual.

Two hands - to remove blade from car and insert from blade chassis

Scissors (to trim the insert blade to length)

 

While the blade looks "okay" ...

http://photos.yungfamily.ca/albums/userpics/Darren/Rear%20Wiper%20Replacement/normal_IMG_0983.JPG

 

It's actually pretty torn up. In fact, there are a lot of micro-tears along the "hinge" on the blade. I didn't macro-photo it because it'd get all washed out with the flash of my old Canon A80 Camera. You can see here that the ends of the blade are all torn up. This blade only has 33k mi.

http://photos.yungfamily.ca/albums/userpics/Darren/Rear%20Wiper%20Replacement/normal_IMG_0985.JPG

 

Anyway, on to the instructions. It can be found on page 11-63 in the owners manual. It's very easy to remove the rear wiper. Rotate the wiper blade counter clockwise just like it says. If it feels like you're going to break it off, just use a firm but gentle touch to rotate it until you feel it "pop" out. Then slide it off to the side to get it off of the wiper arm.

 

To remove the blade insert, pull the rubber blade past the tip of the wiper blade. You'll need to pull it "up" to get past the end cap of the wiper chassis, and pull it "out" so that you can slide the blade completely out. The hardest part is getting the tip of the blade initially out. Once it's out, it's slides out very easily.

 

http://photos.yungfamily.ca/albums/userpics/Darren/Rear%20Wiper%20Replacement/normal_IMG_0987.JPG

 

Once it's out, put the two metal spines off to the side. You'll need them as they give support to the rubber wiper blade.

 

I used an old wiper blade from my old RS as my replacement blade. I simply cut it to the proper length.

http://photos.yungfamily.ca/albums/userpics/Darren/Rear%20Wiper%20Replacement/normal_IMG_0986.JPG

 

If I didn't have an old blade to recycle, I would have bought a 28" replacement wiper blade and then cut it in half. Then I'd have two replacement blades! Like I said earlier, the rear blade is 35cm or 13.75" in length.

http://photos.yungfamily.ca/albums/userpics/Darren/Rear%20Wiper%20Replacement/normal_IMG_0989.JPG

 

Cut the new blade to length (if necessary), and put the two metal spines back into the new blade. The spines go into the top-most slot of the wiper blade insert.

 

Then simply slide the new blade back into place! It takes a bit of fiddling to get it in at first but I'm sure you'll figure it out. Re-install as instructed in the owners manual, and voila! New rear wiper blade!

 

Now if only the uppipe install was this easy...

 

LaterZ!

Darren!!

[Scotty]

I've done that too instead of buying a new one from the dealer. Save yourself the trouble of removing the blade assembly from the car. It is not difficult to swap out the insert while still on the car.

[outahere]

Will the rear wiper arm on your wagon stand away from the glass on its own, like the front wiper arms do? I have tried to do this on my wagon, but it feels like there is a super stiff spring detent on the rear arm (or no detent at all), much stiffer than on the front wipers.

[shutterbc]

I just did this procedure and cut a different brand wiper insert to size. Took a little effort to slide the old blade insert off and I used a ball point pen to help pry it out. The spines were a little bent after I had finished.

 

I just wanted to note that I wasted some time trying to slide the new blade insert into the guide. Depending on the insert used, the guide can "jump" and slide along the metal spines under (instead of over) the rubber. Fortunately this only happens to the first guide and all the rest are easy, then you can use a screwdriver to tuck the rubber back under the first guide (see photo).

 

P.S. my wagon's rear wiper doesn't give me very strong resistance when pulling it away from the glass. In fact it's a little TOO weak; I replaced the blade because it was too stiff and missing contact with half the window when cold!

[Max Capacity]

I buy the trim to fit refills from Advance Auto Parts for a few bucks and use them. It's easy.

[G35C_WRX_MX5_MR2]

I buy the trim to fit refills from Advance Auto Parts for a few bucks and use them. It's easy.

 

Exactly what I did too. Easy and cheap.

Like PenPhoe says, get the long one, 28" or larger and you can make 2 rear wiper inserts from it!