Mazda5 Rear wiper spring tension?

[IamFODI]

Please excuse the potentially stupid question. The 5 is my first vehicle with a rear wiper.

I changed the wiper blades today. I noticed the tension on the rear wiper blade arm – what's holding it to the rear window – is a lot lighter than the tension on the front arms. It seemed like it wasn't being held onto the windshield with much force. Is this normal?

 

[doctavic]

My rear wiper cleans ok but I do wish it hugged the windshield better. Does anyone have a fix for this?

 

[huesmann]

Same here. The tension on the arm is so weak that it doesn't even make the entire length of the blade contact the glass. Is there any way to improve its strength?

 

[Silentnoise713]

Part of the pressure comes from the metal inserts (two thin metal rails). They don't "wear" and actually conforms overtime to the glass. Prebend the ends to curve a bit more to the glass. Applies to all wipers. While it is easier to replace that whole thing but it really doesn't benefit you (+unnecessary waste) when all you need/want is the rubber itself.

For rear, buy 24" or longer rubber insert and cut out 12" intervals, apply little heat to seal the cut end, and you WANT to reuse the metal inserts (direction matters!). Go fancy and splurge on some silicon inserts so you don't have to bother with it longer. Personally, I just don't find the need to ever to use the rear wipers

 

[IamFODI]

Part of the pressure comes from the metal inserts (two thin metal rails). They don't "wear" and actually conforms overtime to the glass. Prebend the ends to curve a bit more to the glass. Applies to all wipers. While it is easier to replace that whole thing but it really doesn't benefit you (+unnecessary waste) when all you need/want is the rubber itself.

For rear, buy 24" or longer rubber insert and cut out 12" intervals, apply little heat to seal the cut end, and you WANT to reuse the metal inserts (direction matters!). Go fancy and splurge on some silicon inserts so you don't have to bother with it longer. Personally, I just don't find the need to ever to use the rear wipers

Not sure but I think we’re talking about different things here. On mine at least, you can tell the arm itself — not the blade, but the arm it’s attached to, with the spring inside it — has very, very little spring tension. Noticed this problem with a fresh blade so I don’t think it’s the blade.

 

[huesmann]

Yes, it's the arm itself. If the arm was...springier...it would clamp the blade to the glass tighter, and you wouldn't need any gymnastics with the metal inserts.

 

[huesmann]

OK, I decided to get off my butt and do something about this.

Once you pry off the plastic cover on the pivot, you'll see the wiper arm is only held on my an M6 nut (10mm socket):

Might take a little effort to get it off the splined stud. I used vise grips, with jaws on stud and behind arm to give it a little encouragement.

The spring on the back side:

The arm without the spring:

Basically what I did was put a little more bend into the spring—the angled part of the wire. I bent it closer to 90º. Then I hooked the angled end around the metal pin on the pivot, and used a screwdriver to pry the other end back over the plastic bar on the arm.

Now the blade actually contacts the glass along its whole length. Previously it was about 1/8" away from the glass at the ends.

 

[IamFODI]

Nice. Thanks, @huesmann !

 

[dlarkin_dc]

Oh yeah! It's been bugging me a little bit the last few years that even with keeping the curved wiper inserts, the wipe just wasn't as good - especially at the ends. I'm a gonna do this fix this afternoon!

Thanks @huesmann !

 

[hleboklop]

Absolutely exactly this! Had to do the same after replaced the rear wiper blade with a 14". The tension was not enough. Did bend that elbow of the spring, also added some silicone grease to where the plastic parts contact. All good now!

 

[negusm]

I have never gotten aftermarket rear wipers to work. I get them from Mazda and they work fine.

 

[MarioT]

I have never gotten aftermarket rear wipers to work. I get them from Mazda and they work fine.

Second that.

Aftermarket never seem to wipe correctly the upper part of the curved back glass.
Switching back to the OEM one fixed that.

Also learned the hard way to be gentle with the whole arm while swapping it.