I know this is hard to believe, but after 20 years of owning my '86 Vette, I thought it was about time I replaced the wipers. Of course they were dry rot...but they were the originals.

This Vette has not seen rain the past 19 1/2 years.

Now all of sudden, washing the car this past weekend, I turned on the wipers, and they got "hung-up" on each other. Looks like they formed a "T" formation.

Anyone have an idea as to what is happening?

Thank you!!

 

This is what you would call wiper collision. Some say to get an upgrade with the 96 wiper arms and blades.. and others say there is a fix by installing a shorter blade on one side and a longer on the other. But 20 yr old blades ??!!!!

 

My '87 has (knock on wood) never done this, but my friend's '92 did it all the time. The later wipers are redesigned to help with it.

 

What length blades did you buy to replace them? I have found that the parts store catalogs specify a 20 inch blade, but an 86 should take an 18. I put the longer ones on and had the same problem as you.

 

Just bend the right hand arm up abit, and the left hand arm down abit. Then cover your windscreen in rainX and forget all about the wipers!!!

 

Thanks for all the replys.

Original owner.

Since I never drive the car in the rain anymore, and haven't for over 19 years...I think the next time I go to Pep Boys, Auto Zone, etc...I just may look into the 18" blades as was suggested.

Then again...I could remove the blades entirely, and save weight...for my next Musturd challenge.

 

You'll likely have problems with the entire blade (which by part terms, is considered the frame and the rubber) if you go to AutoZone, Pep Boys, etc. The quick connect blades are designed to fit a few different styles of wiper arms and as a result, increase the height of the blade. It may no longer tuck under the hood. You best bet is keeping your original frame and just replacing the refill (the rubber part).

 

HighHopes85,

You are so right...wish I would have kept my frames, and done exactly what you suggested.

Thanks for the reply...might be a little too late for me, but hopefully some other forum members will benefit.

 

To keep from starting a new thread on the same subject

Already, my old blades (which were not stock) seemed to hang on something as they tried to pop out from under the hood. At the time I didn't know what they were haning on but the left one came loose one time when I turned them on. I decided to change the wipers the next day as they were old anyway.

So I bought a nice par of Bosch wipers and intalled them. They worked great but that hangup was still occuring when they tried to come out. Just Saturday it was drizzling a bit so I turned them on.....once... then again. On the third time the left one hung up again and as they pryed themselves loose the left one...again... comes off and flies off the car, all to the delight of my 14 year old, as he cracked up. We were 75+ mph on the 5 freeway so I kept going as there was no hope in recovering "Lefty"

So Just yesterday as I was "wiping" the morning dew off the windsheild with a hand towel and glaring ( more like giving the wiper the "stink eye") I did notice that the right one was contacting against the hood......whala the problem is revealed.

So now here I sit without the original frames but needing a set of wipers that will tuck under the hood or at least not fly off while driving on the Freeway.

Does anybody have a lead as to how to handle this?

 

Nobody here has mentioned this so i will: DO NOT attempt to pull the wiper away from the windshield very far. If you do and you have luck like me, the tab holding the spring in place will break off and you will be stuck with a windsheild wiper that flies up into the air and bangs into the hood when it comes down. :o

 

Sure. Buy some GM wiper blades from the dealer.

 

^^just that simple???

 

If they are just hanging up under the hood because they are too tall, sure. The gm ones will fit under there with no problems. I think they are about $11 each if I remember right.

 

Buy "Trico Exact Fit"

 

You can adjust them so they don't hang up. There's a little tab on the linkage cover that you can pull off. There you see some 10mm nuts you can loosen and adjust the wipers in a way that they stop crashing onto each other instead of using a shorter and longer blade. I did this in mine and I can still use 20" blades.

 

well I was starting to wonder if there was an answer.

Thanks go out to:
kopbet89c4
AGENT 86
Wheelman

I appreciate you taking time to help me out.

 

All you have to do is ajust the wiper arms......!!!!

 

The new Rainx brand blades clear the hood nicely.

 

Aight guys.

I went to Kragen and bought the 18" Trico "Exact fit". Brought them home and installed them. They have about a 1/4" of clearance under the Bonnet (hood). They pop out without a problem. So I think going to a the shorter blade along with the Tricos lower profile has solved my problems.

Thank you guys for your help. You are very nice for lending your time.