It’s under warranty but I would like to avoid a dealership trip. It’s the passenger side wiper. Is there stuff I should check on my own? Like fuses .
If the driver’s side wiper is working then it’s not a fuse. One motor drives both wipers.
It’s probably going to be a broken linkage between the two wipers.
This probably wouldn’t be hard to fix yourself, but getting the cowling off from the bottom of the windshield can be a real pain.
Since it’s still under warranty, the best solution would be to take it to Nissan and let them do it.
I don’t know exactly how Nissan sets up their windshield wipers, but generally if it’s just one wiper that’s misbehaving, and the other still works, that’s unlikely to be a fuse issue. Usually the motor that powers them is only connected to one wiper and the other wiper is connected to that with some sort of linkage, usually just a hinged bar. I’m guessing the linkage has snapped, come loose, or one of the hinges is broken.
I agree that it’s probably the linkage that went but another possibility is that the driver’s side wiper isn’t screwed tightly enough into the linkage. Sometimes, the screw or bolt is visible right on the end of the arm. If not, it might be covered up with round cap that can be pried off in a few seconds. Whichever way it is, tighten it and see if it makes a difference. If not, I’m guessing looking at the linkage under the cowl will reveal the problem.
It was loose the dealer fixed it .
They said I need new brake fluid at 32k miles. Is that a legit need?
Your car’s manual indicates the brake fluid should be replaced every 20,000 miles.
driving for 40 years and can’t recall ever replacing brake fluid. somehow never came up any place I went.
It’s different for every car. Some cars you don’t ever have to change the brake fluid.
Brake fluid absorbs water from the air over time. That causes two potentially dangerous problems: it promotes corrosion in the brake system and if you ever get your brakes really hot (like descending down a long mountain road) it can allow the brake fluid to boil. Either problem can cause your brakes to fail. .
If you only keep your cars for a few years, you probably don’t have to worry about changing the brake fluid. If your mechanic is replacing brake calipers every six or eight years because they seized, chances are they replaced the fluid when they changed the components. Replacing the fluid sooner might have helped to prevent the problem.
never had brake calipers replaced that I recall. Lots of brake pad replacements including 2 months ago. I keep cars for a long time 6 or more years.
It’s possible your mechanic changed the fluid when they changed the brake pads. A good brake job will include bleeding the brakes and a good brake bleeding job includes replacing all the fluid. Usually the mechanic will note that they changed the brake fluid though because they will want credit for doing the service even if they don’t charge separately for it. And some mechanics will charge separately for it and even charge for the fluid.
My advice is to change the brake fluid in accordance with the manufacturer recommendations, and at least every four years or so. The risk goes up the longer you neglect the fluid, the worst the risk is because it absorbs more and more water. You probably won’t experience hardware failure within six years, or maybe even eight, but one instance of overheating the brakes and boiling the fluid could be catastrophic and deadly. Seized calipers and rusted leaking brake lines when the car is ten or so years old are both dangerous and are the kind of expense that causes people to ask when presented with the bill, “should I just junk this?”
Reading the subject line of this topic, I’m wondering if I have to worry about rogue windshield wipers attacking me unexpectedly. You know, when they’re goofing off, not doing their real work.
I find that to be an interesting statement and I wonder how you came to it.
I’ve been an auto repair professional for over 45 years. I’ve worked at top-quality independent shops and dealerships. I have never heard that asserted by my colleagues, professional auto repair trainers, trade journals, or factory or aftermarket repair manuals.
“Brake job” is a somewhat broad and nebulous term, but most commonly refers to replacing linings (pads/shoes), where bleeding the brakes virtually never required. Of course bleeding will be necessary if calipers or cylinders are replaced, but said replacement is not needed on every brake job. And the point of bleeding is to remove air from the system, not to replace all the brake fluid. Lining replacement does not call for bleeding, and bleeding does not call for fluid replacement (flush and fill). They are three separate things, each done as needed depending on the particular situation.
The driver’s side is working, so its wiper is attached firmly. It’s the passenger side wiper that might be loose.
It’s my opinion. The service schedule on my car calls for brake fluid to be flushed every two years or 24,000 miles. If someone is getting their brakes serviced, they are going to expect the brake pedal to be firm after, so bleeding the brakes is generally a good idea. Once the pressure bleeder is on, it doesn’t add a lot of labor or materials to replace all the fluid, so, in my opinion, a good shop will do that at the same time.
Changing the fluid every two years or 24,000 miles is both more frequently than most people will do it (ask the OP) and way more often than the brake pads get changed. Chances are good that most cars that need brake relinings are also due for new brake fluid in any event. Sure, if the brake pedal is firm, service records indicate that the fluid is newer than the service interval requires, and you are just replacing the pads, go ahead and skip changing the fluid.
Of course.
The reason to flush, change, or at least bleed out some of the old brake fluid is because the brake fluid in the system does not circulate. The dirty, probably contaminated, fluid in the calipers just stays there. The newer fluid in the reservoir never travels through the lines to the calipers unless you have a major leak issue.
So at least bleed the calipers to get the old dirty stuff out and bring in new fluid, the calipers will last longer and work better with fresh fluid.
I personally over-maintain my car and do a full fluid change every other year or so. I have a hand vacuum pump that makes it easy to pull the fluid through the lines to change it out. One change I will use the normal amber colored fluid, and then the next time I will use the blue fluid. The color change makes i easy to tell when you have new fluid. It is not quite yet a classic car but I intend to keep it for the rest of my life.
I have several cans of the blue DOT 4 stored because it is now unavailable in the some areas of the US. Mainly to prevent idiots from putting windshield washer fluid in the master cylinder. Lawyers.
This was the issue with our Honda CR-V - the passenger side wiper ceased working with the driver’s side. Upon superficial inspection (just observing the problem, and gently wiggling the wiper arm) it was clear it was loose, but the bolt was still tight. I removed the arm and it was stripped, so when the doo-hickey (technical term?) the arm was attached to rotated, there was no grip on the arm. My quick fix to scuff the stripped hole with a small file (imitating the original ridged pattern) seems to give it enough grip when re-installed. I need to get a replacement wiper arm as I am not sure how long that solution will last, but so far it has survived the winter in eastern WA where my daughter is going to school.
Problem happened again and I fixed it myself by tightening the screw. But now it’s not working again.
Could be the hole in the wiper arm is stripped, as in my example above. If you remove the arm and run the wipers, and the mechanism is still working, I would just replace the arm. You can probably get one at low cost from a local auto dismantler. If the mechanism is not working when you run the wipers, then it is something more major.