Have a 2004 Tribute LX V6 AWD. The rear wiper on this car has never really worked well and just smears the water around without clearing it. Tried several new blades from various manufacturers with no luck. Dealership just blew it off whenever I took it in, now out of warranty.

Is there some easy fix I am missing or should I just invest in allot of RainX?

 

King, the only thing i would think might be a culprit in your wiper would be the spring that holds the wiper to the window has lost tension somehow...alowing it to not have strong contact to the window. Ive never had that problem but that might be something to check and see how strong it is ? I HAVE to have my rear wiper when it rains, otherwise you cant see anything out of ours

 

When first turned on, my rear does nothing either. However, after leaving it on the intermittent setting for awhile, it started clearing the rear window better and better. I thought that maybe there was some sort of residue built up on the rear window that wiper friction eventually wore away. In my experience, using Windex on the exterior of car windows leaves a residue that makes wipers useless until the residue is worn away.