I just installed new wipers on my car last week, and they “skip” across the windshield pretty much all the time, except when it’s really really wet. Everything I’ve found through google says that skippign wipers is a sign that it’s time to replace them, but they’re brand new! I know they’re the right size, I check my owner’s manual. Any ideas? Are they just crappy wipers?
Did you replace tjust the blades or the whole arms? If the arm is bent then the newness of the blade is not going to fix a skip.
A buddy of mine said it’s because of some kind of coating on the wipers that’ll wear off as you continue to use them.
Possible factors also include improper spring tension of the arms, and the particular rubber compound of the blades (different brands sometimes work differently).
Because they’re happy?
It could also be a faulty windshield wiper motor. This happened to me once on my ridiculously old 1984 BMW - the wipers would skip and drag on the lowest setting, but worked fine when it was very wet or on a higher setting (and replacing them didn’t help). I guess the motor was on its last legs. If you’re having similar problems, you might want to have it checked.
New wiper arm and blades skip on mine.
The kids whacked the old arm at the benefit car wash.
No good deed ever goes unpunished.
Hmm…
See, the old wipers didn’t skip, they just were old, worn and left streaks. The skipping didn’t start until I put the new wipers on. So I don’t think it’s the motor.
I’m not sure of the terminology, but it wasn’t the WHOLE arm that was replaced, and it wasn’t just the rubber part. It was the rubber part, and the archlike part that holds the rubber part.
(| <-like that.
It could be that I just didn’t put them on right, being inept and all. There was a little button to push at the peak of the arch, and the old ones slid off of a hook on the end of the arm. Then the new ones slid on and clicked.
I replaced mine not that long ago, and for a short while they kind of stuttered across the windshield, too. My girlfriend’s wipers did that on her brand-new RAV4 for the first couple of weeks. It went away.
That’s called the blade. The arm goes from the pivot point below the windshield to the center attachment point of the blade. The rubber alone, when being replaced separately, is called the insert.
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If they clicked, it’s a virtual certainty they’re installed correctly.
Get this… your windshield may not be even.
On my 1997 Intrepid I had all sorts of windshield wiper issuse. They always missed one spot so I got new blades, same problem. Then I had the guys at the Dodge pace replace the arm on the one that kept missing a spot. No luck. Finally I got out and rubbed my hand across the windshield and even though it has a bit of a curve to it you can feel a very slight ‘trough’ in the glass, right where the wipers miss.