Can anyone help me out? The car in question is a beater 98 Altima and the wipers squeak terribly. I replaced them with Bosch blades, no improvement. I removed the arms and lubed the joints. I checked and without wipers there is no creak from the motor/linkage. I installed the drivers' side wiper and tested it, no noise. Then I reinstalled the passenger side wiper arm and "squeak, creak, squeak". It drives me a little crazy, what's the solution here?
Try cleaning the windshield well and applying Rain-X or any other waxy substance (even plain old wax will work). If the car has high contact pressure at the wiper blades to the glass it may be prone to squeaking if the glass isn't slippery enough.
Dirty windshield? Cleaning the windshield and a new coat of rain-x has always fixed this for me, usually an issue for me on rental cars.
Edit: beat me to it, sorry for the double post
Agree w/ dirty windshield. If your finger drags at all running across it after washing it needs a thorough cleaning. Also noticed on some later model glass when using glass cleaner only there could be what appears as water spots or a glaze that won't come out while it's drying.
I've used clay bar and/ or polishing compound w/ a buffer for dirtier glass that won't lift w/ glass cleaner. Follow w/ Rain-X or wax.
Also, the linkage and pivots could still be suspect due to the pressure applied by the wipers and arms. Cleaning and lubricating the pivots aren't a bad idea.
Sometimes the angle of blades on the windshield causes the squeaks (especially if it only makes noise in one direction), just a bit of a tweak of the arm can quiet things down.
Adam
Clean the wiper blades with a mild soap and/or isopropyl alcohol helps. I have found that stuff sticks the rubber blade also. Keeping it clean also helps with streaking along with squeaking. Do not use rubber conditioner on wiper blades though.
Brian
UltraDork
12/19/17 11:03 a.m.
I concur with cleaning the windshield, dirty causes premature wiper wear (regardless of brand). also check the joints on the linkage, my older altima needed new linkages because the pivot bushing wore out