Driver side windshield wiper hitting A pillar

[Ken]

last night I was driving in some heavy rain, and this is the first rain we've had since I had the wiper motor recall performed. At higher wiper speeds I could hear the wiper hitting the edge of the windshield and striking the A pillar- has anyone else seen this? Do the wipers have a range of motion setting that can be reduced to keep this from happening?

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[Heliian]

Take it back to the dealer and they can adjust it.

 

[The Weatherman]

The wiper can be adjusted by physically pulling the retention tab on the base of the wiper arm , lifting the arm up off the motor spindle and setting back down a few cogs over.

Mine was doing the same thing when I brought it home. Took me a couple of tries before I got where I wanted it.

 

[Tony Burgh]

The wiper can be adjusted by physically pulling the retention tab on the base of the wiper arm , lifting the arm up off the motor spindle and setting back down a few cogs over.

Mine was doing the same thing when I brought it home. Took me a couple of tries before I got where I wanted it.

Definitely old school. The stuff you learned how to do when you couldn’t afford to get a mechanic to fix it.

 

[GDN]

If you go pull your wiper off like noted above by pulling that tab and then lifting it off of the splined shaft you can see where there once was a "key". This key is used by the factory to get the wiper on in the correct position. Many of those keys fall out after installation and they get lost and are truly not needed, until you are ready to pull and then put the wiper back on again. My Ford technician actually had glue with him and glued the key back into the wiper arm so it would align properly and wouldn't get lost.

You just need to pull the wiper, look for the keyway on both the shaft and the wiper and better align the blade a little "lower". That way when you turn it on, it doesn''t travel quite so far to the pillar. It is likely only off rotation by one or two splines.

Take a look, fix it, and save yourself the hassle of having to visit an already incompetent dealer who didn't put it back on right the first time.

 

[MBM]

last night I was driving in some heavy rain, and this is the first rain we've had since I had the wiper motor recall performed. At higher wiper speeds I could hear the wiper hitting the edge of the windshield and striking the A pillar- has anyone else seen this? Do the wipers have a range of motion setting that can be reduced to keep this from happening?

Mine has been doing this. I’ll have to re-align it as mentioned here.

 

[Ford Motor Company]

last night I was driving in some heavy rain, and this is the first rain we've had since I had the wiper motor recall performed. At higher wiper speeds I could hear the wiper hitting the edge of the windshield and striking the A pillar- has anyone else seen this? Do the wipers have a range of motion setting that can be reduced to keep this from happening?

Hi, Ken! Are you still experiencing this wiper concern? If so, I would like to look into it on my end. Please send over a private message with your VIN and the name/location of your local Ford dealer.

 

[Ford Motor Company]

Mine has been doing this. I’ll have to re-align it as mentioned here.

Hi Mark, I'd like to see how I can assist you with this wiper concern. Please send over a private message with your VIN and dealer info to get started.

 

[Guppie Driver]

Mine was doing it until they did the recall and now it doesn't, so they must have aligned it better after doing it.

 

[Ken]

thanks for the recommendations, I did manage to get the wiper arm off but I think I didn't move it down enough. At least now I know how the fix it myself, and save a trip to the dealership.

 

[Lytning]

I had the opposite problem. My driver side wiper blade was parking on top of the rubber trim at the bottom of the windshield (Wiper Before Reset photo). I moved the wiper arm one notch on the splined shaft and got clearance from the rubber trim (Wiper After Reset photo). I still have a little clearance at the A Pillar per dust "test" (Wiper After at A Pillar photo).

I have had the Wiper Motor Replacement Recall completed, so the wiper arm may have been incorrectly positioned then. I have no record of the position prior to the recall work.

A few notes on wiper arm removal and re-installation ... the tab on the locking clip swings out away from the wiper arm base (radial to the shaft) and you may need a small straight blade screwdriver to move the tab; it works best to raise the wiper blade up and off the windshield to remove and relocate the wiper arm; when re-installing the wiper arm push the arm fully down on the splined shaft until the locking tab returns up tight against the arm base.

 

[MBM]

I just went out and got mine fixed up, after the wiper motor recall was done, the key must have fallen out and was dropped into the plastic molding below. Took about two minutes, a small dab of grease to hold the key in place, good to go. Thanks to those on this thread for the help!

Added a photo here for anyone else with this issue, showing the key/keyway.

 

[Ken]

bumping this again, I don't see a way to adjust the wiper arm with the key in place. Is the solution to remove that metal piece above and just reposition it without it in there? Does that serve any purpose other than initially lining it up?

 

[GDN]

bumping this again, I don't see a way to adjust the wiper arm with the key in place. Is the solution to remove that metal piece above and just reposition it without it in there? Does that serve any purpose other than initially lining it up?

Using the key in place should put the wiper right where you need it. If yours truly isn't then maybe try removing the key and realigning your wiper. The key is strictly there for alignment at the factory and many of them fall out and get lost. So readjust to make yours park correctly and to just stay off of the A pillar when wiping.

There are some good pictures right above by @Lytning

 

[Ken]

with the key in, it's hitting the A pillar when at high speeds. They probably misaligned it after the wiper motor recall. I'll pull the key out and put it a few notches lower.

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