sdeveau Posted May 1, 2009 Report Share Posted May 1, 2009 Has anyone had problems with their wiper blades leaving some serious streaking on the window, to the point that you might as well just drive with the rain for all the visibility you have? The cheap wiper blades that came with the vehicle started to come apart and flap all over after just 6 months, so we purchased brand new wipers from Michelin. I'm still getting serious streaking. It seems as though the arm isn't putting enough pressure on the windsheild. Either that or the windsheild is warped. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wyoram Posted May 1, 2009 Report Share Posted May 1, 2009 Has anyone had problems with their wiper blades leaving some serious streaking on the window, to the point that you might as well just drive with the rain for all the visibility you have?The cheap wiper blades that came with the vehicle started to come apart and flap all over after just 6 months, so we purchased brand new wipers from Michelin. I'm still getting serious streaking. It seems as though the arm isn't putting enough pressure on the windsheild. Either that or the windsheild is warped. A trick I have used with older wiper blades and should work with new wiper blades too. Put hand lotion on the wiper blades. Don't use the wiper blades for a few days and the streaking will be gone. I don't know why, but it does work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdeveau Posted May 1, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 1, 2009 Interesting tip. The odd thing about these streaks is it's more of a miss-wipe. Like the blade isn't touching the window, and only in the centre of the blade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wyoram Posted May 2, 2009 Report Share Posted May 2, 2009 Interesting tip. The odd thing about these streaks is it's more of a miss-wipe. Like the blade isn't touching the window, and only in the centre of the blade. http://www.michelinwiperblade.com/ Are these the kind you got? Sure is odd if those are the ones you have and they still streak. From the pic you can see the wiper blade is bent to be able to conform to the window better. I have this type on two of my vehicles and seem to work good. I got them more for looks than anything else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tonymnyphot Posted May 2, 2009 Report Share Posted May 2, 2009 http://www.michelinwiperblade.com/ Are these the kind you got? Sure is odd if those are the ones you have and they still streak. From the pic you can see the wiper blade is bent to be able to conform to the window better. I have this type on two of my vehicles and seem to work good. I got them more for looks than anything else. Those are the same design as Reflex blades we get at Canadian Tire. I have used them for years on all of my vehicles, no complaints at all. Put a set on the Journey within 2 months of getting it because the crappy factory blades were useless. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larryl Posted May 3, 2009 Report Share Posted May 3, 2009 I bought these at Walmart in Myrtle Beach 2 weeks ago & they are big improvement over the "factory" blades Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JourneyMan71 Posted May 3, 2009 Report Share Posted May 3, 2009 Has anyone had problems with their wiper blades leaving some serious streaking on the window, to the point that you might as well just drive with the rain for all the visibility you have?The cheap wiper blades that came with the vehicle started to come apart and flap all over after just 6 months, so we purchased brand new wipers from Michelin. I'm still getting serious streaking. It seems as though the arm isn't putting enough pressure on the windsheild. Either that or the windsheild is warped. If you have 12 months or less and 12,000 or less the dealer will replace them. If not the triple edge wiper blades from walmart are good ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olaf L. Posted May 4, 2009 Report Share Posted May 4, 2009 I bought the Reflex Wetec from CT and they suck more than the factory wipers they replaced. They miss a huge spot right in my line of sight at highway speed (in town driving is not so bad). And they make an awful slapping sound every time they change direction, even when its pouring rain outside. Biggest waste of $40 ever. Will be going back to plain jane teflon wipers asap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tonymnyphot Posted May 5, 2009 Report Share Posted May 5, 2009 I bought the Reflex Wetec from CT and they suck more than the factory wipers they replaced. They miss a huge spot right in my line of sight at highway speed (in town driving is not so bad). And they make an awful slapping sound every time they change direction, even when its pouring rain outside. Biggest waste of $40 ever. Will be going back to plain jane teflon wipers asap. Agreed the Wetec variation is lousy. Used them once on my Corolla, they worked fine for the first week then they streaked the same as yours. Went back to the standard Reflex blades, no trouble at all, they work fine on our Journey up to around 130 km/h. With the old '99 Caravan I tried Mopar "frameless" blades, (28" long) those were absolutely crap too. They slapped on the window every time they changed direction, plus the retaining clip broke holding it to the wiper arm. $50 for that junk! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdeveau Posted May 6, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 6, 2009 Ok so, survey says the Michelin blades are probably not the problem. I had the vehicle in for other "issues" and had them take a look at it. The technician said there was lots of tension, but tightented the arm a little more. He suggested ordering a new wiper blade as the one we had looked "worn". I don't think he knows what he's talking about, at that point the blades were only a week old and definately didn't look warn. While the extra bit of tension did reduce the amount of streaking a little, it didn't get rid of it. Vehicle went back in today for other "issues" and they will take a look at it again. On a different note, we had purchased those Armour-All wiper blades that were recalled. They worked amazingly well, aside from them coming off the arm all the time. We didn't know about the recall until we brought them back in because we were frustrated that they kept coming off everytime we cleaned snow off the windsheild. Apparently, they had been flying off of peoples' cars while they were driving down the highway! A little scary since the previous weekend we had driven 1,200kms in a crazy downpour! We were the lucky ones I guess.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wyoram Posted May 14, 2009 Report Share Posted May 14, 2009 A short term fix also would be to put some rain-X on your windshield. With that stuff on you don't need to use your wipers very much in the rain. When I used the it the only time I really needed to use the wipers was during a light rain and moving slow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdeveau Posted May 15, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 15, 2009 Yeah, I had that stuff on my last vehicle, it's amazing. The dealership replaced my wiper blade. The problem still exsists, although it is not as bad. I'll have to take a trip to the lot to look at the other Journeys though because the driver's side wiper arm is twisted at the base and I'm not sure if it's supposed to be like that. The passenger side isn't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeff618 Posted January 21, 2010 Report Share Posted January 21, 2010 Here's my replacement combo - Trico Tech Beam Blades on the front and Trico Exact Fit Rear Integral on the rear. I prefer replacing the entire rear wiper blade (over just replacing the rubber refill blade) because the abuse of winter snow and ice really compromises the strength of the rear blade - better safe than sorry. I've been a Trico NeoForm guy for a while, but I tried the new Techs because they have a new mounting system that allows the wiper arm to sit slightly lower than in the past. The Techs are beefy as hell and look great with the new, lower side mount. By the way - the Exact Fit Rear came with complete removal and installation instructions - very easy. I also went with Aquapel Glass Treatment over Rain-X because I'm super-lazy - the Aquapel lasts 6 months per application. Got the whole set-up online. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RAV Posted January 21, 2010 Report Share Posted January 21, 2010 ........... I also went with Aquapel Glass Treatment over Rain-X because I'm super-lazy - the Aquapel lasts 6 months per application. Got the whole set-up online. I use the RainX liquid. I pre-charge my gallon jugs of washer fluid.Works well. Speed is the determining factor with RainX - though there are other low/no speed benefits. Nice not to need wipers on the highway when the rain really is pouring down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crunkfrunk Posted January 22, 2010 Report Share Posted January 22, 2010 With RainX glass treatment which takes 10 minutes to do on all the glass of the car and something like a Bosch Icon, or RainX Latitude you will have streak free glass in the rain or snow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.