Rear hatch window WIPER

[mahout]

Anybody else annoyed by the dinky area cleared by the wiper on the rear window.window?
I increased mine by exchanging the flex arm and substituting 22" wiper blade.
The fixed connection that rotates with the wiper motor is as far as I know unique so I ground off the pin and substituted an extended flex arm so I could attach a 22" wiper blade clearing top and bottom.
If anyone else is interested i'll post details. Thanks to junk parts almost no cost unless you go for new wiper blade.
Finally, I can see out the rear !

[RobertSmalls]

Yep, I always like to fit the largest blade I can on the factory wiper arm. On my last car, that meant +2" on both the front blades.

However, I find Rain-X sufficient for the Insight's rear glass.

[mahout]

Originally Posted by RobertSmalls

Yep, I always like to fit the largest blade I can on the factory wiper arm. On my last car, that meant +2" on both the front blades.

However, I find Rain-X sufficient for the Insight's rear glass.

The stock 16" blade cannot be extended on mine unless I cut off the lower end where the latching is done. A longer arm from the lower section to the wiper hinge is required.

[Cobb]

Never thought of that. I just removed mines and plugged the whole. In addition to use rainx, I go for shorter wiper blades.

[RobertSmalls]

Originally Posted by Cobb

Never thought of that. I just removed mines and plugged the whole. In addition to use rainx, I go for shorter wiper blades.

Where'd you get the plug? I'm still using the wiper motor to plug my hole, but that's a needlessly ugly and heavy plug.

I'm hoping to find/make a piece of black plastic just the right size, and stick it in place with some flowable silicone sealant.

[Cobb]

I got a plug from the hardware section of lowes. This is the isle with all the draws. I then got some black paint and silicone sealer.

[RobertSmalls]

I grabbed my rear wiper arm out of the pile of parts I've removed from the Insight and measured it. I had a 24" Bosch Micro Edge blade on the stock wiper arm. I guess some brands of blade fit better than others.

Cobb, thanks for the tip. I'll remove the wiper motor and add a Hillman plug this weekend.

[mahout]

Originally Posted by RobertSmalls

I grabbed my rear wiper arm out of the pile of parts I've removed from the Insight and measured it. I had a 24" Bosch Micro Edge blade on the stock wiper arm. I guess some brands of blade fit better than others.

.

Interesting. Wouldn't fit on mine hung up on the bottom.
PS Wiper suppliers all list the rear Insight wiper blade at 16". Thats why I exchanged the arm linkage.

[mikeross]

Surprisingly, mine did not fit well. I did not know that wiper blade suppliers list the rear at 16" though.

[MN Driver]

I looked all over to find that specific Bosch Micro Edge 24", I looked at pretty much every auto shop I could think of and ended up finding one at Auto Zone for about $12 which is much more than I usually pay when I buy wiper assemblies. It seems to fit mine just fine. I hated the look of the Bosch blades when I had a Grand Am but I think this one looks better than the stock one although I don't have to stare at it like I do the front blades as I drive.