I changed the wiper blades last week.
My daughter complained that the new left side wiper was not working well.
What was happening is that the wiper would pull off the windshield for about the top 1/3 of the sweep. Very strange.

I "parked" the wipers at the top of the sweep and then pulled the new blades off. Then noticed that laying the arm (with the blade removed) back down, it doesn't even touch the glass. Probably about 3/4" away. Right side is the same way.

Wouldn't you expect the arm to still touch the glass?

Nothing appears to be bent and both arms are the same distance from the glass. In the normal "park" position (at the base of the windshield) both arms (with blades removed) will rest on the glass.

These were aftermarket wiper blades (Valvoline brand) and I suspect that has more to do with the problem than anything else. Will likely end up purchasing a new set from FCP, IPD etc., but I just thought this was unusual.

Any thoughts?

Yes, Klaus has the answer. I used to pull out this picture: http://www.brickboard.com/GALLERY/volvopic.htm?id=2601

That remedy did the trick for me after struggling with that blade for way too long. Be mindful when removing replacing the arm from the post. The fine spline on the post and soft metal of the arm make stripping out the metal quite easy. Just try to do it as few times as possible and really wrench down on the retaining nut. I never bothered with a locking nut, but that's a fine idea. To minimize the force applied to that joint, from now on make sure all the snow/ice is cleared from windshield before turning on the wipers.

--Will
--
V70 / Mini / Mini

If you have Dremel tool you can grind down the wiper arm stop points a bit so that it bends down more.

It's not the blade! It is the arm. This is a known problem on the 850's and has been around since 1993. The temporary 'fix' is to bend the lower part of the arm, next to the mount to get the blade to touch.

I would do 3 things: Get the new style wiper blades with the tensioner inside the rubber. Get new nuts that hold down the arm, the locking type with the plastic insert - local hardware store. And look around for a better fix than just bending the arm back into place.

http://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=34250&sid=bc584c6deab4cafb952cb60ed3cb8aed

Klaus
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Did you do your Random Act of Kindness today?

Duh! I didn't even think of checking MVS.
Brickboard is always my first stop.
Thanks Klaus.

This 850 is turning into a fun project. Been pretty cheap so far. Did a trans flush today. Old fluid looked like chocolate milk.

But oh those oil cooler line leaks - those need attention pronto.