2000 T&C Rear Wiper Blade Replacement - How To?

OK, I'm stumped. The rear window wiper blade will not pull back more than
about 30 degrees for wiper replacement. In other words, it won't pull back
perpendicular to the rear winodw to allow the "snapping" type blades to lock
into position.

Any ideas on how to proceed?
Thanks

 

On my '97 Plymouth Grand Voyager, all that's necessary is to pull the wiper
arm out or toward you, then push the lock (it's near the pivot arm end of
the rear wiper arm) toward the tailgate. Then gently let the arm return to
the "locked" position. Pull the wiper from the pivot, then remove and
replace the wiper blade or element. Use masking tape and put reference marks
on the arm and the rear window to guide you in repositioning the wiper arm
correctly.

If there's no lock (I don't have any experience with 2000 models, though
they're virtually identical to 1996-1999 models), then look for a plastic
cap on the pivot arm. Remove the plastic cap, then remove the nut holding
the arm to the shaft. Next, use a battery cable clamp puller to pull the arm
off the shaft.

I doubt you'll have to do this second procedure unless Chrysler changed the
design of the rear wiper arm on its minivans in 2000. But this is exactly
what I had to do to install the "snap" type blade on my wife's 2001 PT
Cruiser. The original wiper blade had a little tab that clicked into a
retaining hole in the wiper arm; the current Mopar replacement blade has
little plastic arms that snap over the curved end of the wiper arm. There
simply wasn't enough room when the PT Cruiser's blade was lifted off the
glass to angle the replacement blade correctly so the little arms would have
enough room to spread and snap over the wiper arm. This, undoubtedly, is
what you're running into also. Sounds as if Chrysler needs to provide
additional instructions on how to install their newer, better (and cheaper)
OEM replacement blades.

about 30 degrees for wiper replacement. In other words, it won't pull back
perpendicular to the rear window to allow the "snapping" type blades to lock
into position.

 

Are you replacing the entire blade or just the wiper insert? I've
always just bought new refills and replaced the insert only. All you
need to do is pull the wiper off the glass, unlock the one end of the
wiper insert and then slide it out. Slide the new one in and lock the
end and you are done. No need to remove the wiper arm or the blade.


Matt

 

Factory blades don't come with finger-squeeze "locks" since the rubber
wipers themselves have two metal side stiffeners and the blade carrier arm
has two prongs that fit into indentations in the rubber element itself as a
means of locking the wiper blade insert into the carrier arm.

Available aftermarket replacement refills with locks often don't fit the
factory blade carrier, especially when the rubber is inserted into a plastic
carrier. This can be remedied by buying a complete aftermarket wiper blade
assembly and then refilling this with cartridges from the manufacturer of
that blade assembly, if available.

Unfortunately, what used to be a rather simple blade refill changeout every
year has gotten more complicated as auto manufacturers have adopted various
sizes of blades, usually metric. Finding the correct size refill can mean
chasing around to a lot of parts stores. I speak from experience. Also,
the squeeze/snap-lock blade inserts available at chain stores tend to be
made of cheaper compounds that don't last well. In addition, I've found
these universal refill blades, especially those with plastic element
carriers, don't seem to fit, last or wipe as well.

It is possible to get metric-sized inserts that are close to OEM specs, but
it's a real pain to remove the blade and side metal stiffeners, then insert
similar replacements. It can be done, and I've done it more than once. But
the result has been not as satisfactory as using complete new blade/rubber
insert assemblies.

All of this has forced me to buy new blade assemblies in order to get
reliable, long-term wiper performance. Fortunately, Costco and similar
outlets offer them at reasonable prices. And even Mopar has started selling
more "universal" blade assemblies at lower prices. The Mopar rear blade
assembly I bought for my wife's PT Cruiser last week was $10, versus about
$25 for its predecessor. For whatever reason, Mopar doesn't offer blade
refills.

 

Hmm - my experience has been that yes you can run into trouble using
refills that have plastic carriers in the factory wipers, however there is a
simple
solution to this. Take the refill, cut off the end of the plastic carrier,
slide the
rubber refill out of the plastic carrier, then take the factory blade with
the metal
carrier and pull the rubber blade out of the metal carrier and replace it
with the
rubber refill you pulled from the plastic carrier. Trico for example makes
more epensive metal refills that do fit the factory blade carrier and are
the
right width, and the metal carrier is just 2 thin strips of steel that
aren't even
connected to each other. If you look at the factory carrier you will see
that
both ends have a tab that prevents the blade from sliding out. If yours
don't
then someone may have broken them off.

Where I live in Oregon it rains all the time during the winter and I have
tried
every type of wiper refill on the market from the most expensive to the
cheapest, I have even tried those teflon coated blades. All of them do the
same thing, after about 4 months they stop conforming exactly to the
window and they start streaking and squeaking. It is my understanding
that wipers disintegrate due to contaminants - ie: air pollution - as well
as constant bombardment of untraviolet radiation which is always present
outside, regardless of cloud cover. I don't think the blade material
composition
has much to do with this.

Ted

 

Really? When did they stop selling refills? I last bought some about a
year ago at my local dealer and they had refills for both front and rear
of my Voyager.


Matt

 

I'm not sure this is nationwide. My local Mopar dealer said they didn't have
refills anymore. This may just be a local thing, or the guy didn't know, or
he misunderstood my question. But I was pretty specific about refills vs.
the whole wiper blade assembly. So, who knows? Maybe my local dealer just
wants to maximize his profit

 

OK,
Got the problem solved. I was using WalMart purchased blades (Triple-edge,
Anco, and RainEx). They have a somewhat large plastic attachment mechanism
which requires the arm to be nearly perpendicular to the window.

I went to PepBoys and got Exact-Fit brand blades. They have a MUCH smaller
plastic assembly. They slid right in. Surprisingly, it has a better "latch"
and is more rigid.

 

i know what you are referring to, so you have to bend the arm a little to get it
to clear
the glass and still get click into place