Rear wiper not getting fluid

[wildbill23c]

The rear wiper on my Bronco 2 works, as does the washer...however not sure who thought up the ridiculous wiper arm design but the wiper is 100% useless it doesn't really make any contact with the back window. Wish there was a way to switch to a newer style arm with a normal spring type wiper blade like what's on the front rather than a flat blade with a nut and bolt...same useless wiper blades they use on HMMWV's in the military, they're useless LOL.

For the longest time the rear wiper never worked. I was doing something around the rear hatch area, and had to remove the trim piece on the top just inside the hatch opening. I found a wire up there with an eyelet on it, not connected to anything. I had always assumed the rear hatch had been replaced or something and was never wired in, or a bad switch, wiring, etc. No, it was just a ground wire was never hooked up. The wire was there but never attached to anything it seemed, as I never could find a place that it would have been attached to, no hole from a screw or anything anywhere close. I put a self tapping screw and washer through it and it works but like mentioned above its useless thanks to a horribly designed wiper arm/blade assembly. Wonder if I could grab a arm/blade assembly off an Explorer?

 

[JerryC]

Bill,
That's odd, my wiper works pretty good maybe runs a little slow but makes good contact. Chatters a little with the 5 year old blade when dry.
Does yours have the funky compound movement arm like mine? I remember when I first got my BII it was on there wrong.

 

[vonD1025]

Yeah that’s odd mine makes perfect contact and the wiper blades are old like 8-10 years at least.

 

[adsm08]

The compound arm thing was on all the 1st gens, so everything up through 1988.

Mine makes good contact too, but I don't use it because something is wrong with the motor and it makes this absolutely awful grinding noise.

 

[wildbill23c]

Bill,
That's odd, my wiper works pretty good maybe runs a little slow but makes good contact. Chatters a little with the 5 year old blade when dry.
Does yours have the funky compound movement arm like mine? I remember when I first got my BII it was on there wrong.

I attached a picture of the wiper arm on mine. That blade isn't available anywhere, I finally found the one that's on there now on Ebay. Would make more sense to switch to a wiper arm that you can actually get blades for. Here where we get a lot of snow that rear wiper is quite nice to have if it works LOL

 

[wildbill23c]

Rock Auto still sells the rear washer pump if anyone was wondering if you could still get them. They're out there on the Rock Auto site. Could be a pump or a wiring issue...could also be the switch too...the switch for mine is really finicky. It runs the wiper fine but gotta hit the button just right to get the washer pump to turn on. Guess I should see about getting a replacement switch. But until I can get the rear wiper arm to work like it should, its not really much use.

I'm wondering too if there's any way to maybe replace the spring that's in the wiper arm...I did spray it with some spray lube a while back, it helped maybe a little bit, but still doesn't put enough pressure on the blade to get enough contact on the glass to really clear anything off it.

 

[JerryC]

I attached a picture of the wiper arm on mine. That blade isn't available anywhere, I finally found the one that's on there now on Ebay. Would make more sense to switch to a wiper arm that you can actually get blades for. Here where we get a lot of snow that rear wiper is quite nice to have if it works LOL

Yours looks wrong. It's not close to what I have.

here's mine:

 

[wildbill23c]

Hmm, maybe that's the problem someone put the wrong arm on mine, but then again where the heck would I get the right one, or what is the right one. All I know is I want/need something else besides that stupid bolt on wiper blade nonsense because it don't work worth crap. Guess I need to go take a look at some Bronco 2's in the pick a part yards or Explorers maybe. Although the mounting location is probably different on the Explorer so that may not work. Seems like many of the Bronco 2's in my area don't have a rear wiper at all. I will have to check the pick a part yards more frequently, but with fuel prices going up again it might not be for quite a while.

 

[adsm08]

That arm wasn't ever used on an Explorer. 1st Gen B2 and some similar vintage Aerostar I believe are the vehicles that had it.

 

[wildbill23c]

That arm wasn't ever used on an Explorer. 1st Gen B2 and some similar vintage Aerostar I believe are the vehicles that had it.

Any way of fixing it so the arm actually puts enough pressure on the blade to actually clean off the glass?

 

[adsm08]

Any way of fixing it so the arm actually puts enough pressure on the blade to actually clean off the glass?

Since it appears to be the wrong part probably not.

 

[wildbill23c]

Since it appears to be the wrong part probably not.

Ok, thanks, so just have to search for the right one to fix this issue, thanks as always. I kind of wondered if it was the wrong arm all along, just never really found anything to confirm till now. Very few Bronco 2's around here in Idaho that actually have the rear wiper option so its hard to know really what's right or not.

 

[adsm08]

Ok, thanks, so just have to search for the right one to fix this issue, thanks as always. I kind of wondered if it was the wrong arm all along, just never really found anything to confirm till now. Very few Bronco 2's around here in Idaho that actually have the rear wiper option so its hard to know really what's right or not.

The one Jerry posted is the only one I have ever seen on the back of a 1st gen B2. That's the one that is on mine, and like I said, the only issue mine has is the awful grinding noise the motor makes.

 

[wildbill23c]

The one Jerry posted is the only one I have ever seen on the back of a 1st gen B2. That's the one that is on mine, and like I said, the only issue mine has is the awful grinding noise the motor makes.

Excellent, I'll chase down the right arm assembly. I wonder where/why the previous owner of my B2 replaced that arm with whatever contraption that's on it now that's useless LOL. Now if I could figure out how to fix the rear defrost in it, it would be even better. I don't think it works at all, the switch works and the light turns on but the heating grid never does anything, so thinking the grid is too damaged to work, and/or wiring going to the rear window is bad. I tried reattaching the wires that attach to the glass but didn't have any luck getting it working. Wonder if a person could find a replacement grid and just scrape the old one off and apply the new one and run new wiring.

 

[JerryC]

My grid is really messed up, I tried the Permatex repair kit but it's just too far gone. It has more than a dozen breaks in it, previous owner carried wood in the back and tore up the grid.
I looked around for a replacement grid but what I found was more money than I wanted to spend.