How To Align Windshield Wiper Arms (Andy’s Garage: Episode - 256)

In this video, Andy Phillips shows how to align your windshield wiper arms. This adjustment will help you get your wiper arms pack into the correct starting position so they are wiping across the proper area on your windshield.
DISCLAIMER:
The individual featured on the Phillips Vision KZbin Channel identified as Andrew Phillips, also known as Andy Phillips is not a professional mechanic, contractor or certified repairman. He does not have any formal training in the automotive field, or any other trade. He is strictly a Do It Yourself handyman.
Phillips Vision, or the individuals featured on this channel, assume no liability for anything you choose to do to your vehicles, appliances, games or any other items featured in the videos before, or after watching one of the videos or utilizing the content from this channel.
All Do it Yourself (DIY) repairs or modifications you perform are at your own risk. In some cases, even if you perform everything properly, you can destroy or damage one or more things you are working on resulting is costly repairs.
In addition, if for some reason, the instructions on this channel are incorrect, resulting it something becoming damaged, Phillips Vision and those featured on this channel WILL NOT reimburse or pay in any way the costs that may be incurred due to following wrong instructions.
PLEASE DO NOT PERFORM ANYTHING SHOWN ON THIS CHANNEL (PHILLIPS VISION) UNLESS YOU FEEL COMFORTABLE AND CONFIDENT TO DO SO.

[@shadowstalker130666]

Man, i wish all vehicle repair vids were this clear and straight forward.

[@ericawise5700]

Not only did I fix my wipers thanks to this video, but I feel happier having something explained to me so well and being able to learn something new. Thanks!

[@PhillipsVision]

You’re welcome, glad it helped

[@TheSonicendeavor]

Here’s the problem, here’s the likely cause, here’s how to fix it (with all the necessary detail). Well done.

[@gillysmob]

fluffing about cost me 2.0mins of my life!

[@kennylocks7209]

Q

[@kcjacks5180]

Thanks Andy. Failed safety inspection due to arm slamming into base of windshield. They wanted $75 to aline it. I watched your video laughed and fixed it myself.

[@PhillipsVision]

Awesome 👍

[@lisalefleur2977]

That was so easy to watch and I literally aligned my wipers myself. Thanks

[@Connor_Dempsey]

I bought a new/used car I think the dealership detailer knocked the wiper out of alignment because I didn't hear it during the test drive. A few days later I heard thumping when running the wipers. After watching this video, I marked inside the vehicle where the wiper was, I lifted the hood to access the bolt, I popped off the plastic cap, then used a socket wrench to take the nut off and then the wiper easily came off and went back into its new position. Thanks so much for this video. It is the only one I found on KZbin. Well done. :)

[@PhillipsVision]

Glad it helped👍

[@taylo7]

I was not prepared for how cool that garage is.

[@JenkinsBoatWorks]

Way to go Andy. My wife’s Jeep wrangler had this problem. Fixed both wipers in about 10 minutes, tops. Thank you very much

[@PhillipsVision]

Awesome 👍

[@TheWelshDragon86]

My 2010 VW Scirocco passenger blade been driving me crazy as it’s been hitting the bottom, now know how to adjust. Straight forward and simple guide. Thanks.

[@oldgamer49]

Thank you. I knew what I was doing, but just needed to make sure I was not missing any steps :). No time to mess about when you are working outside at -25. Great video.

[@PhillipsVision]

Awesome, thanks for the comment

[@13Twon13]

Man you are a great teacher ! Thank you for your help. Nothing to it was a quick fix due to your video and the way you taught me to do this job I subscribe to your channel you should definitely put out more content.

[@PhillipsVision]

Thanks for the comment and your support 👍

[@matthewmcginley948]

Excellent video sir!! I had my windshield replaced at my house this week by one of those mobile services and the next day I took my car out in the rain and I immediately knew the windshield wiper arms were not properly aligned. I was going to go through the pains of setting up a second appointment but now I can do it myself. 👍🏼

[@kennethsayler7658]

Nicely explained and demonstrated, without a lot of off-topic chatter.

[@southbound5968]

Thank you, Andy.

[@coreywalker2776]

Subscribed after one viewing. Fantastic instructional. Thank you.

[@PhillipsVision]

Thanks, I appreciate your support

[@bryantfree2373]

Thank you, mine is banging the trim when going at a fast rate. Helps a lot

[@dc5046]

Thank you. My wipers knock against each other when they come down, I will use your instructions. And I never realized the effect of ice on the windshield on the motor for wipers. Thank you for that info.

[@shaundapeck9181]

Thank you so very much. My windshield wiper was knocked out of alignment in a thunderstorm and now I can fix it.

[@theresachester3845]

Thank you so much for this detailed and succinct video. It helped me every step of the way in fixing the alignment on my wipers!

[@PhillipsVision]

Awesome, glad it helped

[@valenting4926]

I had no idea I can do it myself. Thanks!!!

[@PhillipsVision]

You’re welcome

[@daniellewilliams8861]

Thank you for this video! Very clear and helpful.

[@PhillipsVision]

👍

[@thisguy8368]

I recently got my windshield replaced and when I used my wipers today the alignment was so off it was hitting the edge of the frame. This video was very helpful in fixing it, thank you!

[@sachinperera1900]

Thank you! Your video saved me some cash and time.

[@dananorflett7050]

Just used this technique on my 2022 Mazda cx-5, wipers turned on while driving through a car wash 🙈 but this saved me a trip to the dealership. Very informative and helpful thank you!

[@joshstabler3438]

The info. about the alignment marks on the glass was helpful. I’ve been a car enthusiast my entire life, and taking off and installing wiper arms with those darned splines has always been something I dreaded. I can never get them lined up, and “one or two splines” of adjustment only moves it by a micro amount. But, I never noticed the marks in the glass! That’s helpful info.- thanks!

[@Joopsmann]

You may need a wiper arm puller tool. They don't always come off as easily as the one in the video did. They are ~$15 on South American River. Probably have them at Dock Cargo or any auto parts store too.

[@chucknorrismeta3171]

thanks so much. I will try on my Prius now

[@willielambert6923]

Hey Andy I wanna thank you and I appreciate this video.I have a 2022 mustang this past weekend in Maryland it rained all weekend and.. The passager side wiper arm.was all the over to the driver's side crashing into the other wiper arm. But your tip help me straighten it out. By losing the passager wiper arm and lining it up. And retighten the arm.It worked again thanks. I appreciate you 👍

[@itsme124]

You rock! I appreciate the close up photos in the video. It really helps me know what I'm looking for! Now, I'm just hoping tightening this is the issue for why one of them is not moving instead of the motor on the windshield arm.

[@PhillipsVision]

👍

[@Flowerchild778]

That's what someone told my husband, (so it must be the wiper motor🙄) I'm so glad I ran across this particular video. I was only looking to shorten a wiper blade lol

[@johndaugherty7779]

Extremely well done. Thank you.

[@PhillipsVision]

Thx

[@amaruanubis805]

Thank you

[@salinasiti6284]

Thanks Andy ❤

[@pinkpawsempire5917]

Thankyou! Very helpful! Your video tutorial is very easy to understand.

[@name-k7t]

Thank you for the help!!

[@TheMrjpb]

Just fixed mine, thank you! And found out my mechanic left a spark plug in the water runoff channel…

[@AimGobalWorldBibleSchool]

Thanks man... Good Job!

[@margaretscanlan8082]

Your explanation was very clear, I feel confident to now have a go and adjust mine on my car.

[@JamesStokesFilms]

If I can offer any feed back, really good technical knowledge, really well articulated. However, a little slow getting through it. If that could be ammended, I think you'd have the perfect set up but I am impatient lol. But thank you, I now know how to fix my problem. Appreciate it!

[@Flowerchild778]

Or maybe you could change your playback speed. I have to do this for lots of video.

[@williamstanbro4594]

Thanks so much!!

[@susettehorspool2646]

Thank you. It's exactly what I needed. Now I don't have to order a new windshield wiper motor like the auto shop recommended. (I figured it was something simple. I just tried to adjust it wrong-without loosening the nut, which then loosened itself and the wiper went wacko!)

[@ashishnagia6005]

You have explained it very well, I was facing the similar issue after the engineer re-installed the wipers, but he did not align them properly. This video helped me fixing it myself without taking it to the workshop :) Thanks!!

[@PhillipsVision]

Glad it helped

[@srsw1233]

You know what, i feel like repair shop dont care. They did same to me and even worse. This is very useful, i am going to try now 👍

[@matthewstarliper4074]

Thanks for the great video! I watched it and then did the same thing to my car and your guidance worked out completely perfectly!

[@michaeljimenez410]

Thank you so much. I recently purchased an old Honda for commuting and today on the highway the wipers were about to fly off from how far they extended. Completely out of place. I will fix this once I go home thank you for the clear instructions!

[@_King_Julian_]

thanks no one else had this. saved me a headache

[@mustymonster9877]

You were a lot of help!

[@taznommom6360]

Thank you for this!! Now I can do it easily by myself!

[@PhillipsVision]

You’re welcome

[@87talvarez]

Thanks I was able to realign my wiper. My driver side wiper was hitting my vehicle as well. Awesome 👍🏼

[@DomoKuchikan]

Very good explanation! However the grooves on my wiper arm were worn out and i didn't notice it, so i overtightened it and the part with the threads snapped off. Now i hope you have a video on changing that linkage arm 🤣

[@PhillipsVision]

I don’t, but will definitely keep that in mind for future content

[@sa1nt_john.v1]

Thank you.

[@jovicrazed]

How do you know where to line it up on windshields that don't have markers on them?

[@zorroazul20]

Nice work thanks sir

[@EliteNK]

Thank you! This fixed my 2003 Jaguar!

[@PhillipsVision]

Awesome, glad it helped👍

[@leifcoutinho]

Thank you helped me a lot

[@canoyjoshlowenstein4593]

Great video man, very informative and everything.

[@DirkOz]

⚠️ Remember that wiper arms are spring-loaded, so can snap back from the service position and shatter your glass. Take precautions whenever adjusting the wiper arm or replacing wiper blades, protect your glass from damage by placing a thick soft towel, sponge or pillow.

[@juancasillas3751]

Thank you Sir. Great!!!

[@randomstuffplusone7223]

This happened to me after I got my car back from getting a new windshield

[@austinpatten5808]

That’s why I’m here. I feel like they messed up everything

[@rodriafirera85]

Thanks for the info dude, appreciated

[@ghadrisidahmed8911]

Great video man , good explanation 👍

[@PhillipsVision]

Thx

[@hestiasgardenhomestead7562]

Thank you, I thought I completely screwed it up, after changing out my coil on my van. Looks like it should be easy to fix

[@dorotaczarkowski3935]

Are there gonna be actual alignment marks

[@bobbylynch3392]

Thanks so much !!!! life saver !!!

[@mariabarajas1421]

Great content 👍

[@TheNorcoGuy85]

How tight do you tighten it, do I tighten it until it can't anymore, I'm afraid to tight and it won't move 😂. 2020 Compass

[@PhillipsVision]

Tighten until it gets tight then tighten an additional 1/8” - 1/4” turn to make secure

[@raypudlik3237]

I believe Wiper Blades have Torque Requirements... If you fail to properly tighten the nut, it could come lose and be hazardous!

[@lisaw2504]

I've never had any issue with this however I have massively rubbing too tight wipers against the windshield , can you tell me how to adjust that ??

[@WeStillWinnin]

Thank you for this video. I just recently got my windshield replaced and the guy left my windshield wipers all messed up. You helped me fix it.

[@normanacree1635]

Can the 'tightness' of the nut be responsible for the wiper scraping and causing that awful noise as the wiper sweeps across the windshield? Or does it need to be pretty tight and something else is causing the awful noise?

[@PhillipsVision]

It needs to be tights so the blade won’t slip, but do not over tighten. The issue you are having could be caused by the rubber blade being worn or dried out. There are metal clamps that hold the rubber blade, when the rubber gets too worn they will scrape the windshield. If that’s your problem, be careful so you don’t scratch the glass.

[@nelsonpun]

My driver side adjusted just like in the video no problems. Could not get my passenger side to move. It looks like there was some permanently attached washer holding it down under the nut . Is it normal that the passenger side cannot be adjusted? On a Chevy volt 2016

[@bernalovett5537]

What if the wiper won’t come off? And also there are no markers on the windshield on how to line it up 2000 Chevy impala

[@Flowerchild778]

This man reminds me of Alan Arkin lol

[@alicegarcia9873]

Hello, thank you for this sharing video. I wonder if anyone here knows if aligning my wiper still covered/under warranty? I just bought my hyundai santa cruz last april. I have an appt booked next week but don't know if they will charge me to do this alignment...since the receptionist just booked me for ( wiper )service ..

[@randallicious729]

on another video, they mentioned some sort of "goo" to stick in there before reassembling everything. is this just optional or does it improve the durability or duration in amy way?

[@PhillipsVision]

It may be a lubricant, but I don’t think it’s necessary. It may just make the application easier.

[@RuiSilvinha1997]

I've got a focus mk1 and the wiper blades do that 'squicking' noise even after replacing, could this process solve it?

[@PhillipsVision]

If they are not out of alignment it will not solve the problem. Could be the brand of the blades

[@mghorvath79]

How do I do this if my windshield doesn't have those markings? 😢

[@Clearanceman2]

What do you do if Safelite did your windshield and now your wipers are too high and then too low and then too high and crash into the a pillar and then crash into the cowl?

[@PhillipsVision]

The arms need to be adjusted at the starting position, and then make sure the nut is tight to keep the arms in place

[@Clearanceman2]

@@PhillipsVision OK, thanks but it seems there is 3 inches of slop in the whole mechanism now. I think they broke the wiper transmission.

[@user-ph9pe3ss7o]

No I can barely reach it to pick them up on my truck how am I supposed to see the middle

[@sdthaone7643]

What if my dash doesn't have no markings ??

[@PhillipsVision]

You’ll have to use the edge of the windshield molding as the marker for when the driver side blade is extended to the max.

[@chrischery2733]

It helps me but my car is different, I have an 08 grand marquis it has the same problem which is the windshields are not aligning but mine does have a bolt to screw

[@ygbodybuilder3023]

I just change the wipers on the Honda pilot 2013 and now it's hitting the window trim why is this happening

[@PhillipsVision]

The blades may be too long, or you may have knocked the arm out of alignment when replacing them

[@awestphal40]

Hopefully this works for me. They supposedly did this when I had my vehicle serviced a month ago. It worked for about a day then went back out of alignment. Hoping it's not my motor.

[@PhillipsVision]

They may have not tighten it properly

[@jdh3825]

What do I do if it goes too far in both directions

[@PhillipsVision]

Make sure the nut is tight, could be too loose and allowing it to go too far

[@jdh3825]

@@PhillipsVision thank you!

[@franciscom5413]

My wiper goes halfway up then slams on the way down 😞

[@PhillipsVision]

You need to align it by loosening the nut on the arm and adjusting it as shown in the video

[@davidduffy2046]

I see no aligning marks on my car.

[@PhillipsVision]

If that’s the case just position it approximately 1” up from the lower part of the windshield

[@sanman187-]

On my passenger side wiper (2008 Prius), the wiper doesn't contact the far right of the glass very well (poorly) leaving the glass poorly cleaned, if at all - mostly not. Suggestions?

[@PhillipsVision]

You can loosen it and rotate it more to the right

[@sanman187-]

@@PhillipsVision I'll try it. Thank you!

[@ollieh2587]

Is that's why it causes my wiper to go thumb thumb when it goes down? 😢

[@PhillipsVision]

It could. If they are out of alignment they will go beyond the windshield on the end or hit near the hood at the bottom

[@normanacree1635]

Windshields that are positioned low when turned off get frozen during winter storms and they are so low that the defrost can't heat them enough to free them. That sucks. Poor design.

[@PhillipsVision]

In those cases it’s good to raise the arms if winter weather is in the forecast. That will prevent them from freezing, and the blades getting damaged

[@johneppstv]

4:45 why i came

[@7nealfreedman]

Same here.

[@oat6155]

👍👍👍

[@stepha5926]

Those wiper markings are frigging brilliant. I just bought a 2008 Lexus IS250 and the previous owner (a woman) seems to have had the entire wiper blades and arms replaced with some cheap dogshit aftermarket ones, & the alignment is slightly out. The car absolutely still has the original genuine Lexus windshield, and I see markings absolutely nowhere. 😡 I want to buy a set of new genuine Lexus wiper arms/blades, but I won't know the correct position to align them to. You'd *think* a company like Lexus would have put some markings on the original windshield, given the Toyota you're working on is a decade older.

[@PhillipsVision]

You can align them without the marking; just position them so at their highest point they are approximately 1” from the edge off the windshield side molding.

[@stepha5926]

@@PhillipsVision yes I know, but it's still an "estimate"/ approximation. I like to *know* exactly where to position them. I'll have no other choice, but was just commenting on how the lack of markings is ridiculous.

[@kevinsundar1621]

Great video but too long

[@kunjiklub]

got my windshield replaced then noticed the driver side wiper was misaligned when it started to rain. Looked up several how to sites and finally found yours which helped to solve my problem. Thank you!

[@PhillipsVision]

You’re welcome

[@joshuaadesida]

Thank you

[@ghostoh1981]

My old and new wipers i just installed don't wipe away a certain spot. How do you fix gaps? The outer sides of the wipers wipe just fine. Just not the middle.

[@PhillipsVision]

Did you buy the ones specified for your vehicle? Did you also replace the brackets? If so, you can try bending them more straight in the middle; they may be slightly bowed.

[@ghostoh1981]

@@PhillipsVision yeah they're the right ones. I didn't buy the wiper arms, but that would be the next thing to do since i did notice i needed to press down a bit in the middle where you slide on and off on the blades. Thank you man.

[@dreamweb14]

Same problem facing, thanks bro

[@marct7905]

Nobody in the history of whatever could have explained it better. Thanks! A friends wiper is slapping on the bottom end on her honda. I immediately said your wipers need adjustment lol.

[@PhillipsVision]

👍

[@zanettawirtz9383]

I sooo appreciate the simplicity and that tou don't tell us every sungle thing yu know about wipers, arms, etc etc! I swear some You Tubers like to hear themselves talk! Makes me crazy and i lise interest! So thnx for curting to the chase!👍💪☺️

[@kandaman304]

Excellent video! You do a very good job explaining stuff. I ran into this problem recently after the wiper motor got changed. I'll use the tips you provided to fix my issue. Thanks

[@deborahsmith4054]

My wiper blade was acting up on the passenger side and I didn’t even know how to ask the question of what was wrong. You literally have saved my soul and gave me piece

[@NewYorkByNight]

Phillips your the man .Thanks with your video ...big help..,