Rep Power: 812

well to start, everytime it rains i get a LOUD squeaking sound. I'm assuming its from the belts or something? you know the noise that old cars make? yah. it does it when the ac is on or off. Then we have my stupid wiper assembly (not the blades). I've gone through 4 sets of brand new blades including expensive silicon, the worst actually, and they all chatter and skip across the windshield like crazy. I've cleaned the window with auto glass stripper, no effect. I've added rain-x to the windshield, and bought new rain-x wipers, no effect. So in conclusion, the car has faulty wiper assemblies. I think they push the blade too close to the glass. Is there a way to adjust how much pressure, because its obviously a defect. It rains here alot and the wipers aren't helping much at all. I've even tried bending them away and it still doesn't work. It has some kind of spring holding it on. Any ideas?

 
Rep Power: 333

i think it could be the 'aftermarket' wiper blades that you used. i can understand how they wipe "better" than OEM ones because there thicker and that puts more pressure against the windshield when it drags across.

have you tried replacing with OEM blades before?

 
Rep Power: 453

Well I looked through the service manaul and there isnt anything about adjusting the wiper assemblies, so I am not sure about it. I get alot of streaking too, but not as much as you. Maybe try and remove the assembly and reinstall it and see if it changes, it might help.

 
Rep Power: 319

Are you sure you're not running the blades to fast. Mine does that if I have the variable speed up to high, then the wiper tries to wipe something that is to dry and the blade skips because the water is a lubercant for the blade between the windshield and blade. That's just what I noticed

Describe the squeking sound, is like a belt, does it vary with the RPM's, is it contant or pulsating?

 
Rep Power: 812

its that squeaking you hear all the time. Its like a constant eeeeeeeee for like 10 secs and it comes and goes.

Yes i've used oem wiper assembly and blades for 2 years it still does it. And its POURING rain out the windshield gets soaked before the wiper can even go back down. I'm gonna have to think of something here... maybe i should try silicone spray on the rubber? would that streak the glass? I know its supposed to be a lubricant so maybe it'll help.

 
Rep Power: 812

my 87 jetta never had a problem i could run the wipers all day dry or wet and they would never skid. But go figure a new civic does it.

 
Rep Power: 319

Your civic is getting old and it doesn't like the rain anymore

I'm not sure about the silcone thing, if that streaks on the windshield it'll be hard to get off. Acetone would be what I use to remove it, just make sure the acetone doesn't touch the pain or seals of the window. When the blades are new, you are suppose to use some sort of wipe to clean them, I'm not sure what that is though.

 
Rep Power: 812

its just isopropyl alcohol to clean the blades. I have auto glass stripper that also removes silicone if need be. But i believe this is a design issue. What about these newer generation kind?

http://www.tricoproducts.com/news/in...location_id=87

still don't know what to do about the squeak. Maybe some belt lubricant...

 
Rep Power: 319

Look neat, says it's good in snow to Let us know how that works.

The squeek can from so many places, but you say it only squeeks in the rain?

 
Rep Power: 812

ya only when its raining hard. i've heard other older cars do it when turning in any weather. And it kinda changes tone but its a hi pitch squeak and loud too.

 
Rep Power: 319

So many things it could be...

I would imagine you already checked this, but are all the belts tight enough? Then, is one of the equipment most being pulling quite a load to make a belt slip. Do you turn the electrical stuff off when you turn the car off. I had an old prelude that did that if you left the air blower and radio on, if you turned them off when you turned the car off and kept them off for a few second after the car was started, it wouldn't do it. Of course, the alternator went out about a month later

 
Rep Power: 812

only thing i can think is the new alternator that they installed a while back. The ps was done a long time ago and was fine before. And it only does it in rain, thats strange. My friends old grand am does it too (only in rain). And yes I turn off stuff before turning car off. You should see me, first I turn off headlights, wait a few secs, then parking lights, turn off ac (if on, usually not), turn fan off, turn fogs off, ya its a big list.

 
Rep Power: 0

get someone to check the tension on your alternator belt.

 
Rep Power: 812

thanks.

for thw ipers, I ordered some trico innovision blade assemblies that should be here tomorrow. Also found out rain-x is bad for rubber wipers on the windshield (good for all other side windows), so I'll be stripping that off today. Even if the innovision doesn't work any better, at least they will look cooler like on the more expensive cars.

 
Rep Power: 812

wow. i stripped the windshield clean (basically equal to buying a new one), and scrubbed the new rain-x wipers with alcohol. I tried it again, and the wipers were bouncing all over the place! At this point, they are unusable. I even tried rubbing silicone spray on them but it didn't help at all.

Can I wax the windshield to make a smoother surface? Seems like there's way too much friction with everything super clean..

 
Rep Power: 812

well look what I found. i think we have a winner here.

http://www.autogeek.net/autogeek/ds5.html

 
Rep Power: 315

I assume the windshield was wet!

 
Rep Power: 812

um yea it was pouring rain and I was soaked standing outside I'm gonna try stripping again and then the pit filler that I just ordered. I think that will fix the problem.

 
Rep Power: 453

try just using rain-x on the windshield instead of using the wipers.

 
Rep Power: 812

i already tried that, not good enough. and actually rain-x eats away at rubber wipers. The new stuff i'm getting fills in pits in the glass and also repels water. Its the stuff they use on airplane cockpits.

 
Rep Power: 0

i don't know who told you rain-x is bad for rubber, but i can hardly believe alcohol is any better. i have heard of people occasionally using alcohol to clean there blades to get the bug guts off, but i'm sure that overuse would have a negative effect on them... drying them out and causing them to develop a "memory" more quickly.

it sounds to me like you're just using your wipers on too dry a surface, and that's why you're getting the streaking, chattering and just plain ineffectiveness. especially if you're going to be "stripping" your wipers and windshield, you're going to have to wait until both are completely saturated with water before you use your wipers... if not, you're right... you're going to have a problem with too much friction.

here's something to try

clean your windshield with ordinary window cleaner and paper towels, wipe down your wipers with the same moist paper towels you cleaned your windshield with and have a buddy mist your windshield with a garden hose. now, don't immediately use your wipers... wait for everything to get good and wet... then mist your wipers once... it's ok if they skip a little bit, you have to give both sides of the blades a few wipers to get saturated. with the constant sprinkle from the hose and using your wipers about every 10 seconds for a dozen wipes, your blades should be adequately saturated (and all the silicon spray you put on them should be wiped off).

now, dry off your windshield and wipers with a chamois or something. pop up your wipers and moving in small cirlces, use a folded dry paper towel and apply a small amount of rain-x to your windshield as if you were applying a wax to the body of your car. after about 10 mins, you can do a second coat if you want or take another dry paper towel and in small circles buff out the rain-x until the haze has gone away.

now, you can try the hose experiment above and you'll notice how the rain-x makes the water bead-up a lot more than before. in a real driving situation your visibility greatly increased because the wind would blowing those beads of water right off your windshield and you probably would even have to use your wipers to see clearly.

other than the OEM blades, i have also used a couple sets of the ANCO blades and am now using Trico Teflons... they have so far proved to be superior to the previous models i've tried, but they came at a cost. the ANCO's were less than $8/ea whereas the Teflons were like $20/ea.

i wish you luck with your windshield woes and hope that you come to a solution soon.

 
Rep Power: 812

thanks. i'll post my findings later. but now the blades won't even work in pouring rain.