How to Adjust Windshield Wiper Arm Tension and Park Position

You definitely want to take the time to look after your windshield wipers. It is important to have windshield wiper blades that work properly to keep yourself safe out on the road. If you do your best to take care of things right, then you won’t have to worry about visibility during a rainstorm. This is why it is so imperative to do regular maintenance on your wiper blades to keep them in good working order.

It is also important to know how to adjust your windshield wiper arm tension. You are going to want to figure out how to change the park position as well. If you can do this when needed, then you will be in a good position to keep your wiper blades running optimally. It actually is not that hard to adjust things when you need to either.

I am going to show you how to adjust the windshield wiper arm tension and park position in this guide. After reading through the steps, you should have a clear idea of what you need to do. This is not an overly complicated process and you won’t have to get any help to get this done. It’s very straightforward and you should only need some basic tools to do everything.

Adjusting wiper arm tension and park position.

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Reasons to Adjust and Align Wiper Arms

Your wiper arms may need to be adjusted and aligned from time to time. It is not unusual for wiper blades to get put in an improper position over time. They might become twisted or they may pull away from the windshield. When this happens, it will prevent the wiper blades from working properly.

You should be able to align the blades to fix these problems. Some people make the mistake of thinking that their wiper blades have gone bad when they are really just dealing with a misaligned wiper arm. It is actually fairly easy to align things properly, so learning about this is going to be worth your while.

You will also be able to prevent problems such as chattering when you align your wiper arms properly. Chattering can be very annoying and it will cause you headaches while you are on the road. Fixing the alignment will keep the wiper blades from chattering against the windshield and you will have a better overall experience. Now that you know why you want to align your wiper arms, it is time to dig into what needs to be done.

Necessary Tools

Before getting started, you will want to gather a few tools that will be necessary for these tasks. All of the necessary tools are common and you should have them around your house somewhere. Even if you don’t, you will likely have a neighbor or a family member who has access to these tools. Once you gather the tools listed below, you will be ready to begin.

Socket set
Ratchet set
Pliers
Flathead screwdriver

Adjusting the Park Position

The first thing that you need to do when preparing to adjust the park position is turn your ignition to accessory mode. You also need to make sure that you have your wiper switch off. Once this is done, you can turn your ignition off and take the keys out. Your wiper motor should now be in the parked position.

It is possible that your wiper arms may not be perfectly aligned, but don’t worry about this for now. Go ahead and focus on the base of the wiper arms. To gain access, it might be necessary to open the hood of your car. You might need to take the cowling off as well so that you can get to the base.

With this done, you need to find the retaining nut. It should be located at the bottom of your wiper arm. If it has a protective plastic cap covering it, then this will need to be removed. You can pull it off using your flathead screwdriver and it should not give you any problems.

Grab your ratchet set and your socket set so that you can remove the nut. You should move the wiper arm back and forth with care. Continue pulling the base of the arm off. You may want to use your screwdriver to try to pry it off, but you want to take care not to harm the splines during this process.

Once that is done, you will need to align the wiper arm onto your splined wiper arm. Put it in the proper parked position. Go ahead and press the arm into the stud.

Your car might have a type of wiper arm stop that the arm is supposed to rest against. If this is the case, then you will want to make sure that the arm is pressed against the stop when you are pressing it into the stud. As long as you know this, it should not be a problem.

Now you need to replace the retaining nut. Once this is replaced, be sure to tighten it really good. Do the same thing for your other wiper arm if you need to.

Put your key in the ignition so that you can test things out. Go ahead and switch your wiper blades on to see if the wipers will return to the proper park position. If they do, then you have successfully completed your task. You can turn your ignition back off and be proud of completing this job without any problems.

Adjusting Wiper Blade Alignment

Adjusting the wiper blade alignment is even simpler and has fewer steps. You just need to grab your pliers and bend your wiper arms back into the right position. It is actually good to use two sets of pliers for this job. You can hold the wiper arm in place with one set and twist with another.

You want the wiper arm to be at a right angle. It should not take long to twist the wiper arm into this position. Your pliers can be used to bend the arm toward the windshield if necessary. This is good to know if your wiper blades are not making contact with your windshield properly.

Sometimes, the blades will be really out of alignment when you are doing this. In this situation, you want to take a look at your wiper blades to examine the articulated fingers. If these fingers are not pressing the rubber part of the wiper blades against the windshield, then you’re simply going to need to buy new wiper blades. Sometimes, an alignment is not going to be able to fix your problems.

You should take this opportunity to inspect your wiper blades thoroughly. If the wiper blades are stiff, worn down, or cracked, then you should likely buy a new set. Wiper blades are fairly inexpensive and you need to replace them once every year, at the very least. Do your best to make a judgment call on the condition of your wiper blades if aligning the blades is not working for you.

TYPES OF WINDSHIELD WIPERS

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In Conclusion

Knowing how to align your wiper blades and how to set the park position is crucial. This is great information to know and just about anyone will be able to do this. It isn’t complicated once you get going, but you just have to know the right steps to follow. So long as you pay attention to the information that is laid out above, you will not have any problems.

Aligning your wiper blades and knowing how to fix the park position will help you out. This can potentially solve problems such as chattering wiper blades. It will keep your wiper blades working as effectively as they can so that you can feel confident on the road. It makes it worthwhile to try all of this out for yourself so that you can perform the necessary regular maintenance.

Just remember that your wiper blades are going to have to be replaced sometimes. Fixing the alignment is sometimes necessary, but misaligned wiper blades may not always be the sole issue. Sometimes, wiper blades will not make contact with the windshield properly due to issues with the rubber. This is a sign that you simply need to replace the blade.

It’s a good idea to inspect your wiper blades every so often to make sure that things are in good working order. You want things to be in alignment and you also want to know if wiper blades need to be replaced. This helps you to keep yourself safe on the road. You won’t be put in a situation where you have inadequate wiper blades during a storm.

If you have been experiencing problems with your wiper arms, then you should get out there and try to fix the alignment today. It might be just what you need to get your wipers working great once more. Don’t forget to inspect the wiper blades at the same time. You’ll be able to deal with any problems and will be better prepared moving forward.

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By Car Roar