Wiper broken/knocked off in car wash

[2FlyMache]

Yeah our driver’s side has been impacted since April. Those flimsy x lines were even pulling off with a hand washing

I removed mine, looks better in my opinion

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[WNKent]

Thought I'd mention that almost my whole rear wiper (wiper blade, wiper blade holder, and spring, but not the joint cover) was ripped off in a car wash a few days ago. After the wash was done, I found all the pieces on the ground, except for the wiper blade itself, which I never found. (Did it go down the drain?) After a little head scratching, and confirmation via some photos in this thread, I was able to figure out how to reassemble it all back on the car. Now I just have to wait for a new blade (TRICO Exact Fit 15 15-G) to arrive to have it fully operational again.

The head scratching was to figure out he orientation of the spring. It will pretty much only go one way, you have to play around to figure that out. The attachment hooks extend from each end of the spring and it's the longer extension with the bent wire (with bend downward) that goes towards the base of the wiper assembly and hooks on a pin. I just hooked both end of the spring first, then pulled the whole blade holder to fit its hinge point into the base. I hope this makes sense.

The only permanent damage appears to be a little bit of plastic chipped on the under-inside of the blade holder near the base attachment point where the spring appeared to make contact during detachment. I broke a little more off myself during reattachment, but it doesn't look like it will affect anything.

I thought it was a little funny that folks here mention that the most common thing to get ripped off in the car wash on the rear wiper is the joint cover, but in my case that's the only thing that didn't get ripped off.

Was your wiper assembly taped down, before going through the wash?

 

[hack-e]

Was your wiper assembly taped down, before going through the wash?

Nope. Have never had to do that on any car I've owned.

 

[WNKent]

Nope. Have never had to do that on any car I've owned.

I've only had one car that had a back wiper (Cherokee) and the car wash that I use always tapes it down automatically. I guess they do that for a reason and wonder if yours would have been protected with tape.

 

[woody]

Unfortunate washer/car wash incident.
Perhaps it was not snapped on completely. (I check mine periodically)
Glad you were able to put (Humpty Dumpty)it back together again.

I use the car wash on a regular basis and fortunately w/o incident on my MME. Never any paint damage of any kind over many years of use, many cars.
I did have my front black bow tie on my Bolt come off at the car wash after about 3+ years.
Had the dealer's mechanic check it out when they replaced the battery. They epoxied it on for me. No problem since. In typical old school GM parts game, you have to replace the entire front panel. Cannot buy/replace the bow tie.

Here in the arid/semi arid west we are more aware of water shortages. For unknown reasons people have moved to the mountains where water is even more scarce. Many of the communities did not allow car washes at all for a long time. We now have car washes which use <12 gals of water/vehicle. They have brushes and recycle most of the water they use (the 12 gals. is only used in the final rinse). By comparison other car washes and high pressure brushless car washes use between 65-80 gals. of fresh water/car; home washing 40-100gals./wash; your non navy shower uses 20-30 gals.

We wash a bit more in winter, but summer car washes out here are rare occurrences. California car dusters work great. There are those (ceramic coating guys, etc.) who claim car dusters destroy your car, but that is simply untrue.
PPF is worth the cost. The jury is still out on ceramic coatings, but are probably better than nothing. (my [first time]ceramic coating is only a year old. Have no evidence that it is worth it)

Have fun

 

[krafty81]

Cannot hand wash my car anymore due to water restrictions here. Bummer.

 

[Aggie PT]

How do you guys remove the side emblems and make it look okay? I haven't received mine yet, so didn't know if there were holes or adhesive left behind? Thanks.

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