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

[Ross]

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

 

[Jim Scott]

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.

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 window to allow the "snapping" type blades to lock into position.

 

[Matthew S. Whiting]

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

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

 

[Jim Scott]

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.

 

[Ted Mittelstaedt]

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.

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.

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.

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

 

[Matthew S. Whiting]

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.

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

 

[Jim Scott]

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

 

[Ross]

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.

 

[mic canic]

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