windshield wipers missing spots?

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canadave
Posts: 233
Joined: Fri Jul 19, 2013 5:45 pm
Location: St. Albert, Alberta

windshield wipers missing spots?

Post by canadave »

On my 09 Vibe I was noticing that there's a large arc-shaped patch at the bottom-middle of the windshield that the wipers go over, but don't actually clean off. I figured the wipers were getting worn, so I replaced them with new, different wipers. Same issue! Anyone know how to fix this?
2009 base Vibe, silver"
Caretaker

Re: windshield wipers missing spots?

Post by Caretaker »

For me (sitting in the driver's seat) it is the spot at the lower left corner of the windshield. Mine is a result of the washer fluid sprayer not reaching that area whether I am stopped or moving. While moving it is much worse of course since the spray gets moved to the upper windshield as the air moves over the hood of the car. When it is raining, that aforementioned spot on the windshield does get cleaned however. I would have you try a single pressure point wiper instead of the ones that have 4 micro-feet metal pressure points pushing down on the wiper blade. The heavier constructed single/evenly applied pressure wiper like Michelin makes may do the trick for you.
tpollauf
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Location: Toledo/Oregon, Port Clinton Ohio
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Re: windshield wipers missing spots?

Post by tpollauf »

Million dollar question ........ Do you have the ORIGINAL windshield ??? The reason I ask this is because on my son's 2009 Vibe GT we had to replace his windshield and the one that Safelite put in was NOT the same shape as our original ones. This really P I S S E D me of big time! Anyways he brought it to my attention shortly after having it installed that the wipers were missing a portion of the drivers side windshield right in his main forward looking sight! Had it been a little to the left or right then no big deal but it was directly dead center where one would be looking while driving. It only happens during light misty rain. Heavy down pours or consistent rain and it's OK. We also tried different wipers and had some initial success at first but then it went back to missing spots. Hope this helps
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2009 Vibe GT (manual), 2009 G8Gt, 2009 Vibe GT (auto)
2014 Silverado, 2004 Vibe GT

"everything is modifiable"
kostby
Posts: 2422
Joined: Thu Jan 22, 2004 2:52 pm

Re: windshield wipers missing spots?

Post by kostby »

1. Check the wiper arms themselves for proper curvature and tension against the glass.

My son recently purchased a 2013 Honda Fit. He noticed that the passenger-side wiper arm and blade kept vibrating when sitting at idle.
Air pressure kept it on the glass when using wipers at highway speeds.
Checking the arm, there was a large ding and a slight concave bend in the arm. Apparently the wiper arm was hit by road debris and bent slightly.
Gently bending the arm back to the original convex shape solved that problem.

2. Check to see that the wipers on the car are the original 'factory' lengths, and not too long or too short.

The wiper blades on his Fit were "whatever the neighborhood auto-parts store had in stock", rather than the 'factory' lengths, so there was an annoying 8" crescent-shaped streak in the middle of the windshield constantly left un-wiped.
Both wiper blades were too short. New blades of the 'factory' length quickly solved that problem.

3. I've used liquid Rain-X ever since I first heard about it in the 1980's, so I actually don't worry much about the condition of the blades until the rubber is falling off. I also use the Rain-X washer fluid year-round. That seems to make the liquid product applied to the windshield last about twice as long.
Now they have pre-moistened Rain-X wipes that are supposed to be easier to apply. I have not tried their wiper blades that have a wiping edge containing the product, in theory, providing a fresh application every time the wipers are used.
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My 2003 Vibe Base Auto 2-tone Salsa "SalsaWagon" was built in May 2002. I acquired it in Feb 2004/Traded it in on a 2016 Honda HR-V in Feb 2018.
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