GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

My 2004 Vibe's back wiper sprays when I toggle down but it does not then wipe the liquid off (unless I turn on the wiper). Is this normal? Every other vehicle I've had wipes the liquid off after it sprays it. The front windshield wipers do and I thought the back wipers did too.Thanks,Sam

Yes it is normal. You can just "spray" it, but the wiper not going to turn on. Or you can spray it when the wipers are on. I hope I was clear

If you twist it towards you, it'll only spray. If you twist it all the way forward, it'll spray and wipe at the same time.

Yeah, I never understood why you would just spray. It only sprays in one spot. So, I don't see the postive side to that.Inder

Its set up so you can spray and wipe at the same time or if you turn the switch the other way spray with no wipe and then you turn it on after to clean. I've never had a car that gave you both options before.Mines a 2003 Vibe so it may be different?

I do quite a bit of driving around on gravel roads and find the spray-but-not-wipe feature works to my advantage...When there is a thick layer of dust on the rear window, I'll hit the spray for a few seconds to get the rear window wet... After that, I'll switch it to the spray-and-wipe setting to finish cleaning off the window. That's pretty handy to have because if you just use the spray/wipe function, essentially you're running the risk of scratching the glass because the wiper is dragging dirt across the dry window until the fluid finally makes it there... At least I think that can happen, I remember reading something in the owner's manual to that effect. Getting the glass wet then hitting the wiper may prevent scratching...

Mine doesn't actually *spray*...it just "piddles"... Didn't think anything of it, since's Val's Aerio (17mi on the clock at purchase) does the same thing... *shrug*

Yep, that's what they do - just kinda piddles down the back glass. Gets the job done though. I've got the '05 style dual-jet nozzle on mine, so it piddles from two directions.

I have some bad scratching on my windshield which I believe has been caused by driving on dirt roads and wiping the dust off without using any washer fluid.

Y'know, all this time I thought I had a defective rear spray nozzel because it just "poured" down the back glass, rather than spraying a heavy mist. Interesting that they all do it. Wonder what the purpose could be? Just cheap parts? Or maybe it was because a lighter spray could be blown away while driving, and never touch the glass?

mist would blow away at speed and never actually hit the window the tinkle method works so that the fluid will still contact the window when going down the road.

Well, the tinkle method would work well if it then immediately wiped it across the glass. As it is, the tirickle just goes down a narrow stream and it mostly gone by the time I manually turm on the wipers. Frankly I think it's bad design, not having the wipers wipe after the stream fo water.

Try turning the rear wash/wipe the other way. Then it washes and wipes at the same time.

Quote, originally posted by sfarias »Frankly I think it's bad design, not having the wipers wipe after the stream fo water.It's not bad design IMHO, it's quite intuitive.I've had cars in the past that dragged dirt across the glass and scratched them to hell because the blades started dragging before the fluid hit all parts of the glass...Granted, the nozzle location isn't ideal, and anything to the left of the stream can get dragged, but it's logical.