So are any of you other bastards also plagued by noisy windshield wipers?

[Ralphie ★]

Mine wipe perfectly but make a horrendous shuddering noise in all but the heaviest rain.  I am hoping to remedy the situation with Rain X wiper fluid.  I used to run that all the time but I have never done my own oil changes on the "new" 2013 car, so the oil chnage places top it up with the cheap stuff.  So I bought some of the Rain X and will beat them to the punch.  Hopefully its lubricating properties will fix the glitch.

[Some Old Guy]

Have you tried replacing the wiper blades?

Mine are 12 years old and work perfectly.

[Ralphie ★]

4 minutes ago, Clark said:

Have you tried replacing the wiper blades?

Mine work perfectly and are 12 years old.

Not yet, trying Rain X first, because they still wipe perfectly.  This has happened on several sets of wipers, and I really miss the beading that Rain X does, so this is my first step.  It is weird, because usually wipers do wear oot and start smearing instead of wiping cleanly, but these are fairly old I think and still wipe perfectly.  Quite a conundrum.

You really have not replaced your wipers in 12 years?  Even with very little driving you would think age would have caught up with them.

[Some Old Guy]

Just now, Philander Seabury said:

You really have not replaced your wipers in 12 years?  Even with very little driving you would think age would have caught up with them.

My truck stays protected from the sun and weather most of the time (carport).  Also, unless it is an emergency, I never drive in the rain.

[JerrySTL ★]

I've found that the Rain-X fluid leaves a film. First try cleaning the windshield very well. 

As @Clark said, have you replaced your wiper blades?

Another issue can be the wiper arms being bent. Sometimes using an adjustable wrench to gently bend the arms back into place can help. When you pick up the blades from the parked position and slowly put them back on the windshield, the wiper blade shouldn't be angled at one side or the other.

[Ralphie ★]

Just now, Clark said:

My truck stays protected from the sun and weather most of the time (carport).  Also, unless it is an emergency, I never drive in the rain.

So do you miss the Mustang? I guess snot if you never drive.

[Ralphie ★]

12 minutes ago, Clark said:

My truck stays protected from the sun and weather most of the time (carport).  Also, unless it is an emergency, I never drive in the rain.

As my friend with the garage-kept 75 vette knows, dry rot can catch up with rubber after a few decades even when protected from the sun, so you are still good for another decade or so!

[Some Old Guy]

10 minutes ago, Philander Seabury said:

So do you miss the Mustang? I guess snot if you never drive.

It's about 100 feet away from me, right now.  I sold it to my next door neighbor.  He loves it.  He has replaced the wheels and tires, tinted the windows and added a VERY loud exhaust system.  I do not miss it.  I see it more now than when it lived in my garage.   

[Some Old Guy]

10 minutes ago, Philander Seabury said:

As my friend with the garage-kept 75 vette knows, dry rot can catch up with rubber after a few decades even when protected from the sun, so you are still good!

I did have to replace all four tires on my truck last year due to cracking of the area where the tread meets the sidewall.  At 15,000 miles and 11 years.  

[Ralphie ★]

6 minutes ago, Clark said:

It's about 100 feet away from me, right now.  I sold it to my next door neighbor.  He loves it.  He has replaced the wheels and tires, tinted the windows and added a VERY loud exhaust system.  I do not miss it.  I see it more now than when it lived in my garage.   

Funny!  A proxy driver. 

 

[Ralphie ★]

2 minutes ago, Clark said:

I did have to replace all four tires on my truck last year due to cracking of the area where the tread meets the sidewall.  At 15,000 miles and 11 years.  

If you were even older or she was younger I would try to set you up with my mother.   Her 2002 Corolla has aboot 30k I think.

 

[Some Old Guy]

1 minute ago, Philander Seabury said:

Funny!  A proxy driver. 

The only sad part is that it is fully exposed to the elements now.  It was kept in pristine condition for 14 years, but now it is suffering the indignities of the sun, rain and road debris.  

[Ralphie ★]

Just now, Clark said:

The only sad part is that it is fully exposed to the elements now.  It was kept in pristine condition for 14 years, but now it is suffering the indignities of the sun, rain and road debris.  

Is your carport a double? 

[Some Old Guy]

6 minutes ago, Philander Seabury said:

Is your carport a double? 

I have a double in the backyard which stands in front of my detached double car garage, but my main one is a single that was part of the original house built in 1960.  I can exit my truck and enter the house through a side door into the kitchen.  Extremely convenient.  Especially for unloading groceries and such.  

[Scrapr ★]

One thing I have done instead of changing wiper blades is to clean them. I would get a good amount of dirt & "stuff" off of mine. Usually helped

[maddmaxx ★]

49 minutes ago, Philander Seabury said:

Mine wipe perfectly but make a horrendous shuddering noise in all but the heaviest rain.  I am hoping to remedy the situation with Rain X wiper fluid.  I used to run that all the time but I have never done my own oil changes on the "new" 2013 car, so the oil chnage places top it up with the cheap stuff.  So I bought some of the Rain X and will beat them to the punch.  Hopefully its lubricating properties will fix the glitch.

New RainX blades on both cars.  Quiet, Smooth.  Otherwise go out and wash your wiper blades with windex or something and see if that helps.

[MickinMD ★]

Thanks for mentioning wiper blades - I drive so seldom I've been lazy about replacing them - they're starting to leave a couple missed streaks when they wipe.

Only the seldom-used wiper on my rear hatch window is noisy when the insert gets old: when I spray water on the windshield to clean it off, I forget it does the same to the rear and I get startled by the squeak.  For my Honda Fit, it's cheaper and just as long-lasting to replace the wiper inserts instead of the whole blade.

So I just ordered all 3 "Genuine OEM" inserts (Front L & R, Rear), for $28.12 on Amazon and I'll get them by 3/9.  The last I checked, they were a little cheaper at my Honda Dealer, but I'd rather get them through isolation when practical.  I also once ordered non-OEM parts from an Amazon seller and they were wrong, so I'm sticking with OEM parts that cost just a little more.

The blade is just a piece of rubber, you easily pop-off the wiper blade body and insert it, but I downloaded and saved YouTube instructions for doing it because it is a little tricky.

You don't have to take it all apart like the picture with numbers, but after you pop-off wiper blade body (upper part of 4), you have to save the thin metal brace (lower part of 4) and slide it into a slot in the new blade insert (5, actual picture on left). The brace and insert have non-symmetrical notches, so getting it all lined-up correctly, slid-in correctly, and seated requires care and attention.  That's why I downloaded and saved a YouTube instruction video to make sure I get it right each time.

[Some Old Guy]

2 hours ago, Philander Seabury said:

So do you miss the Mustang? I guess snot if you never drive.

My neighbor sent me a pic.

[donkpow]

4 hours ago, JerrySTL said:

I've found that the Rain-X fluid leaves a film.

Me too. It's best to go all in on Rain X if you want, wipers, treatment, fluid, the whole ball of wax. Nearly all the products have silicone in them. The notable exception is the Extreme Clean product. It is an abrasive polish and detergent recommended to remove Rain X products. I use it and it does a good job of polishing your windshield to an almost like new condition.

[Ralphie ★]

Well the experiment started off well. There was plenty of room to load up the reservoir wit’ the orange stuff. So now time will tell. 

[Airehead]

Rain x stuff in the spray. Seems to work. On the Volvo the replacement blades were rain x. They really worked well and were quite. That noise drives me nuts. 

[Dottleshead ★]

I need to replace my windshield wiper motor. So it's pretty quiet now.

[BuffJim]

My brother rode in my car last month. He complained about the noise and told me to get new ones. I did, and it has been blissful. 

[Bikeguy]

6 hours ago, Philander Seabury said:

make a horrendous shuddering noise

Replace the wiper blades.   The noise will stop.

5 hours ago, Clark said:

I did have to replace all four tires on my truck last year due to cracking of the area where the tread meets the sidewall.  At 15,000 miles and 11 years

Most recommendations I've seen explain to replace old tires after 6 years,  10 at the most.  11 years...  you were lucky one of those cracks didn't blowout the tire, probably at the worst time and place...like on an expressway at 70+ mph.