Prius 2008 wiper arm removal tool?

I need to remove the wiper arms of my 2008 Prius to clean out under the cowling. Any recommendations for a wiper arm removal tool that will fit the narrow space around the base of the wiper arms?

The wiper arms are firmly stuck -- I really need a removal tool.

I bought an OTC Stinger battery terminal puller to remove the wiper arms, but the feet of the puller are too large to insert in the wiper arm recess. So that I don't buy another tool that won't fit, I'd welcome any suggestions for a brand of wiper arm removal tool that will do the job (any online links for a good tool would be much appreciated).

Thanks!

 

I already tried that.

The wiper arms are on very firmly and are really stuck. I took it to a mechanic who had a devil of a time removing the wiper arms, and he had his own specialty tool.

I hope that by having a mechanic take the arms off once it would help, but this was several years ago and they're firmly attached once again.

What I would like – hopefully – are some recommendations for specific wiper arm removal tools that will fit a Prius 2008.

Thanks.

 

Thanks for the suggestions, much appreciated. However, I have wacked the wiper arms (when the wiper is folded up into the vertical position off the glass) until I thought I might break them. They just refuse to loosen without a puller-type tool.

Patrick Wong: I also tried this. I took the car to a NAPA store and also to an AutoZone store. The guys at both stores looked at the confined space of the recess and shook their heads, no ideas.

As luck would have it, the mechanic I took the Prius to several years ago has retired, so no info there. I also contacted eBay's Pro-AutoTools about a standard type of wiper arm removal tool (item #371511861514, which has a U-shaped base and a bolt that presses down on the top of the wiper arm bolt head) , but the owner there tells me this tool won't fit a 2008 Prius.

Back to the drawing board....

 

Youse guys are getting OT.... -- With a hopeful nudge, let us back to the topic, for surely there must be a wiper arm removing tool that fits a Prius 08. --- But maybe not.

As for the rationality question (that "maybe the debris isn't worth it"), I don't want to be responsible for veering us off course, but I'll answer that, and may regret it!

I live out in the country where there's a rodent problem like you wouldn't believe. $1,200 spent twice on a Subaru that had to have all of its heater ducts replaced thanks to rodent "debris." My Pathfinder had a wiring harness chewed through by a rat (he was at it when I opened the hood). With the Prius, I had fine mesh hardware cloth screwed over the "rodent access holes" beneath the cowling (thanks to directions that I found on PriusChat, if I remember right), and had hoped this would keep the rodent nest building, droppings, and urine smell out of the ducts.

But it was not to be. I need to be able to remove the cowling periodically because I've learned that, despite the screening, mice and rats continue to build nests on top of the metal tray (below the plastic cowling), and then this stuff gets sucked into the heater ducts and clogs/ruins the cabin filter....

It's an ongoing problem as long as I own the Prius (and the next car may not be much better), or until I move away from these beautiful rodent-infested surroundings. (And, yes, I do trap, poison, and shoot the mice and rats. Frequently. Have also had a series of cats; the rats are too big for them.)

I know there'll be a temptation to post now about Prius rodent control. My apologies for this OT digression, just trying to answer an obvious question. -- But, sincerely, I would just like to know of a wiper blade removal tool that will fit a Prius.