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Rear Wiper blade replacement

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by efusco, Sep 20, 2006.

  1. efusco

    efusco Moderator Emeritus
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    I almost never use the rear wiper, but somehow the rubber blade has a tear at one end and I'm afraid I'm going to get a scratch on the glass if/when I do use it.

    I purchased a complete replacement blade at Wal-mart yesterday (the entire assembly, not just the rubber blade) and tried to put it on today only to find that there's no way it would fit (even though the little computer said it would).

    I tried just pulling the rubber blade out of the new assembly to replace the one in the old assembly...but, alas, the notches/grooves are a different width and thickness and it's not interchangable.

    Ultimately I'd prefer to keep the old assembly since it's textured plastic that matches the car better than a cheap shiny metal one would. But this isn't a life & death thing for me, I just need a safe working rear wiper.

    If anyone knows a specific brand that does fit and will work I'd appreciate the info...otherwise I guess I'll just cough up whatever ridiculous amount the dealer's parts shop charges for such things.
     
  2. Charles Suitt

    Charles Suitt Senior Member

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    :) Evan...

    I tried just replacing the blade with a generic one without success.... even filed down the end of the arm width a little trying to make the blade fit. When I saw it wouldn't really work right I gave it up and paid the Dealer Price ($15.39 + $1.27 Texas Sales Tax) for the replacement blade - Part 85242-47010. That did fit the old assembly.

    Thanks for your continuing informative posts.
     
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  3. efusco

    efusco Moderator Emeritus
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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Charles Suitt @ Sep 20 2006, 03:34 PM) [snapback]322437[/snapback]</div>
    Thanks Charles, not the news I wanted, but not a huge deal I guess. May try Pep Boys this afternoon just in case, but I'm not too optimistic.
     
  4. TucsonPrius

    TucsonPrius Member

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    I just purchase the refill at the dealer. But mine was $3.33 last year and $3.35 this year. Part number 85214-10100.

    Thanks,
    Shawn
     
  5. efusco

    efusco Moderator Emeritus
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    Cool, thanks Shawn. That's a price I can swallow a bit more easily.
     
  6. oldensign

    oldensign Junior Member

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    If you can find just the insert (at $3 up), do yourself a large favor and use that. The rubber of the blade was actually torn a bit in my 2005 Prius.

    My wife bought the entire rear wiper blade at the dealer ($15) for mine (her 2006 is identical). However, the plastic arm gets so brittle from exposure to the elements that it is extremely difficult to get the wiper off without destroying the arm. A small piece of plastic on the arm acts as a retaining spring for the blade, and it snaps easily. There went another $46 for a new arm. Now we're up to $61, not including sales tax. To avoid scratching the rear window, I put a condom (actually, a vinyl glove) over the broken end of the wiper arm.

    I had to hacksaw the remains of the wiper arm to remove it from the drive shaft. Prying it off using the glass as a bearing surface seemed a really awful idea, so I just cut a large number of slots in the wiper arm until I could finally pull it straight away from the hatch.

    All things considered, it was a royal pain, but could easily have been worse. To change the rear wiper in the 2006, I'll try to find just the blade itself. It is not a standard size, of course - seems to be 15-1/2 inches.

    Has somebody found a source for just the rear hatch rubber blade itself?

    I put Rain-X Latitude blades on the front of both Prii, and the improvement over Toyota blades was amazing.
     
  7. hellolisu

    hellolisu New Member

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    I just paid for my rear window wiper on Toyota Bargain Parts.com
    Part number 85214-10100 $2.74
     
  8. alanh

    alanh Active Member

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    85214-10100 is just the refill. 85242-47010 is the whole wiper.
     
  9. kohnen

    kohnen Grumpy, Cranky Senior Member

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    I bought a 14" refill that used plastic (as opposed to metal) for the part that is held by the housing.

    Pulled the old refill out, compared lengths and cut the new one to match the length of the old one with a sharp knife (which is why a plastic refill works better) and slid it in.
     
  10. Paul R. Haller

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    Boy, my dealer charged me 22$ for a replacement arm and wiper. He said no insert available. Typical dealer horse hocky!
    Paul R. Haller
     
  11. smarano

    smarano Junior Member

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    Funny, after reading experiences of others here, I went to
    local Toyota dealer and paid $16 for replacement assembly.
    He said there was no blade-only part. But not going to
    complain. He replaced it for me, and it was embarassingly easy.
    While walking out to the car, I related to him the messages of
    others here who said they had to saw off original assembly.
    He just looked at me while while lifting the main arm away from the rear windshield,
    rotating the blade assembly so that it was
    perpendicular to the arm, and then pulling straight up. Came off with
    no resistance whatsoever. All in all, about 10 seconds to replace.
     
  12. FishHawk

    FishHawk New Member

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    I got an insert from the dealer and put it on. I didn't realize that you have to unbolt the arm and take it off to do the replacement correctly. FishHawk
     
  13. efusco

    efusco Moderator Emeritus
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    I didn't have to unbolt it. Just raised it up.
     
  14. alanh

    alanh Active Member

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    There's really three parts involved:
    1. The rubber blade refill (85214‑47010)
    2. The wiper blade which holds the refill (85242‑47010, which includes the refill too)
    3. The wiper arm (85292‑35010)
    If you break the plastic clip on the end of the arm, you'll have to replace the arm which is probably stuck to the motor shaft. That's probably what oldensign had to cut to get off.

    To replace the refill, remove the cover over the hinge at the base of the arm (it just snaps off) so you can lift the arm up. Turn the blade until it's at right-angles to the arm and wiggle it a bit; the blade should lift off the end of the arm. Unlike the front blades, you lift away from the end of the arm.

    Push the existing rubber refill back from one end, bowing it out in the middle until you can get it free from the end clip. You can then slide it out. Reinstall the new refill the same way -- slide it through three of the clips, and bow it in the center until you can get it into the fourth. Note that the new insert does not come with the metal reinforcement rails, you have to take those out of the old insert.

    Some catalogs show a 16" replacement blade (for example, Autozone.com says a Anco Contour will fit), but they're wrong. The rear blade has a non-standard attachment, so only a genuine Toyota blade will fit. As noted above, if you can cut a refill down to 15½" it may fit.
     
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  15. comtech5

    comtech5 New Member

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    Trico offers a line of replacements called "Exact Fit". The Trico part number for the rear wiper of the '04 - '09 Prius is 14A. $12.99 at Aid Auto Stores. The connection point is identical and works fine, but the blade length is a full two inches shorter! Not good.
     
  16. tom1l21

    tom1l21 Member

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    Made the mistake of buying this, I returned it and will purchase the blade from toyotabarainparts.com for $4
     
  17. jdenenberg

    jdenenberg EE Professor

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    When I replace the refills for my front wipers, I take the old one in the best condition, cut it to length and use it to refresh the rear wiper ($0.0). JeffD
     
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  18. tom1l21

    tom1l21 Member

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    Nice...if I were to shave off the endcaps of the wiper assembly, could I keep the cut down blade to 20" to wipe away a larger area? Not sure if this will compromise the compression of the blade. Seems like they should have made the wiper 2" longer in the rear.
     
  19. andyprius

    andyprius Senior Member

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    Now, That is just too clever, why didn't we think of that ?
     
  20. tedroberts

    tedroberts Junior Member

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    I took my rear wiper off years ago. I never used it and it blocks about a quarter of my rear view. I found a black plastic cap to put over the splined shaft.