Fixed Windshield Washer Issue

S

Scott

New Member
I have a 2018 Clarity and I finally had enough with the windshield washer system on my car. No matter how much I washed the window it would not get clean. So I got under the hood and saw there was a connection point for the front and back side of the washer fluid for the wiper blade and swapped them. I did this to both sides so now when the wiper goes up it leaves a trail of the oh so precious windshield washer fluid. It now allow some time for it to be on the windshield so it can actually do some cleaning. Thought I would share :)

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Wow, I’m going to try this today. The washers are the worst thing on the Clarity, IMHO. Here’s hoping!
 
Similarly, we can "solve" the second biggest problem by gluing a volume knob onto the infotainment screen, at the bottom left corner.

(IMHO, folks' frustration with the wiper fluid stems in large part from not seeing the spray)
 
ClarityDoc said:
Similarly, we can "solve" the second biggest problem by gluing a volume knob onto the infotainment screen, at the bottom left corner.

(IMHO, folks' frustration with the wiper fluid stems in large part from not seeing the spray)
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Uh NO, it's from not actually cleaning the window. Worst cleaning of any car I've ever owned.
Definitely going to try this.
 
ClarityDoc said:
(IMHO, folks' frustration with the wiper fluid stems in large part from not seeing the spray)
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Sorry, Doc, but my frustration was with a system that didn't distribute fluid over the entire windshield and therefore would not clean about 40% of the windshield. That's my experience.
 
Again, our Claritys seem to be quite ruggedly individualistic and exhibit varied behavior. Mine distributes the fluid very evenly across the full width of the blade and has cleaned off normal road grime just fine for the last two years. I buffed RainX on the windshield and add it to the w w fluid. I don’t even have to use the wipers much over 40 mph.
However, I have not tried off road mud or the Kamikaze bug swarms of Florida.
The hydrophobicity of the RainX and the full coverage of the fluid does the trick for me.
I haven’t looked closely at the wiper arm to see how many nozzles or apertures there are, but perhaps some of yours may be blocked.
 
Agreed, my wipers barely do anything, unless it is raining/snowing in which case they work fine. Trying to clear road salt from the windshield is a huge pain!

Curious to see if this helps the issue
 
Scott said:
I have a 2018 Clarity and I finally had enough with the windshield washer system on my car. No matter how much I washed the window it would not get clean. So I got under the hood and saw there was a connection point for the front and back side of the washer fluid for the wiper blade and swapped them. I did this to both sides so now when the wiper goes up it leaves a trail of the oh so precious windshield washer fluid. It now allow some time for it to be on the windshield so it can actually do some cleaning. Thought I would share :)

View attachment 7483
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I don't own one yet, so I have a question. Are there front and back side nozzles to the wiper blade? Why two hoses? Does one supply fluid? What does the other do?
 
SeeItAllWithTheClarity said:
Agreed, my wipers barely do anything, unless it is raining/snowing in which case they work fine. Trying to clear road salt from the windshield is a huge pain!

Curious to see if this helps the issue
Click to expand...
This is exactly the problem! Running down the Interstate with trucks throwing up salt spray. It quickly dries on the windshield and is not possible to remove cleanly with the Clarity washer system. And yes, it is about seeing spray, so to speak. Not the seeing part, but having enough distributed on the windshield to remove stuff stuck on.
 
No doubt that some don't work, or work poorly, however for many new Clarity drivers, I think they use a momentary spritz like the old systems, if nothing else out of habit. A relatively fast spritz does not work here. It definitely takes a seemingly very long press for this wiper fluid system to work. Got my curiosity though, I might try the mod.
 
sniwallof said:
No doubt that some don't work, or work poorly, however for many new Clarity drivers, I think they use a momentary spritz like the old systems, if nothing else out of habit. A relatively fast spritz does not work here. It definitely takes a seemingly very long press for this wiper fluid system to work. Got my curiosity though, I might try the mod.
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I think @sniwallof may have explained a lot of the problem. when you let go of the stalk, the admittedly paltry amount of fluid immediately stops flowing even though the washer continues on for a few cycles which at that point is mostly dry. You have to hold the stalk to get a continuous flow until you get the cleaning you’re hoping for.
 
Switching the tubes and going with the dry rub technique may result in more frequent wiper blade replacement.

Does the MM tell is when that is due?
 
KentuckyKen said:
I think @sniwallof may have explained a lot of the problem. when you let go of the stalk, the admittedly paltry amount of fluid immediately stops flowing even though the washer continues on for a few cycles which at that point is mostly dry. You have to hold the stalk to get a continuous flow until you get the cleaning you’re hoping for.
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I have also noticed this need to tug on the wiper fluid rod for many seconds. Even then, it's clear that the fluid is not reaching all parts of the blade because the dry parts smear quite noticeably. I have tried taking my Clarity to the dealer three times for this one problem. The first time, they didn't acknowledge the problem. The second time, they found a clog in the wiper fluid filter. The third time, they adjusted the nozzle (I'm not quite sure how this is done). After coming back from the dealer the second and third times, the fluid flow was initially decent but began to degrade within a few months, and I have the problem once again.

With the number of complaints about this problem, I don't think it's a "holding the phone wrong" type of problem. There's a design or manufacturing issue.
 
Perhaps Honda didn't want to pay Bosch/Mercedes for their design which works much better.
You definitely need to keep the stalk held down for more fluid to come out and get a proper cleaning.

 
The front wipers and spritzers are very feeble but not nearly as inadequate as the non existent rear wiper. As a short person in snowy climes, every time I have to clear snow off the windshields, the snow from the roof (which I can't reach) slides down and totally covers the rear window.
 
Scott said:
I have a 2018 Clarity and I finally had enough with the windshield washer system on my car. No matter how much I washed the window it would not get clean. So I got under the hood and saw there was a connection point for the front and back side of the washer fluid for the wiper blade and swapped them. I did this to both sides so now when the wiper goes up it leaves a trail of the oh so precious windshield washer fluid. It now allow some time for it to be on the windshield so it can actually do some cleaning. Thought I would share :)

View attachment 7483
Click to expand...

So the wipers leave spray on the windshield as they move back to the parked location? Doesn't seem like a good idea.
 
I tried this mod today. First of all be very careful removing the hoses. One of mine tore when I was pulling it off. After that I used a pair of needle nose pliers to help wiggle them off. Luckily the hoses have enough extra length so I didn't have to replace it. Anyway, I didn't notice a difference spraying in the parking lot. Maybe at speed it is improved but I don't think this mod is a good idea. Wiping the windshield with it dry and dirty can scratch the windshield. Having to replace a windshield with vehicles that have Sensing is very expensive. I switched the hoses back to their original position. I agree the Clarity wipers are horrible. Honda should have added additional nozzles higher up the blade to provide more washer fluid to the top of the windshield.

I already had to have the driver side wiper motor replaced because it got jammed during a snow storm. After that the blade kept going past where it should stop and smack the side of the windshield "A" pillar. This is the first wiper design I have seen that the wipers aren't joined by a linkage. Rather they are independent of each other with separate motors. It amazes me how something as simple as wipers could be this poorly designed. The Clarity does have a very tall windshield and cleaning it fully isn't the easiest task. I still think Honda could have done much better than this design.
 
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