Are you using the rear wiper on your car? I never use mine and I'm wondering if I could remove it to save weight.

 

I used mine yesterday for the first time. I would not have been able to see to back out of my driveway if I hadn't had it. How much does it weigh, though, anyway? Even with the mechanism to operate it, it seems like it wouldn't be much more than a few pounds.

 

i'm willing to find a rag/paper towel/kleenax/toilet paper/newspaper/whatever and wipe down the rear window should I need it where I can't see out of it at all

 

taking it off is not worth it in anyway, you wont see ANY benefit from it.....whats the phrase?? for every 100lbs is .1 sec off the time.....wiper weighs what...1-2 pounds...not worth it

 

Mine's out and it looks much better. Expecting muchhhhhh! better track time with weight loss..................LOL

 

its all about the clean look. the Z looks damn sexy w/o the wiper. the weight saving is just a bonus.

 

Here is mine without the wiper, or wiper motor. I plugged and painted the plug with paint to match;

 

I think the Z looks great without it. But I use mine all the time... so it's still there.

 

If you put rainx on your rear window and drive more than 30mph, you will never need the rear wiper. Taking it off for wieght reduction though, the motor weighs like 2 pounds so it doesnt help out much in that area. Some people think it looks better without it, me included. Thats the only reason to take it off. And yes this topic has been talked about many times, and theres probably been 3 other posts about the rear wiper in the past week. Try searching.

 

Not even a week after I got my Z, I removed the rear wiper. I could not stand it i thought it took a lot of looks when you looked at the car from the rear. All I ever do after a car wash is apply some Rain x, never had a problem and the car looks IMO much cleaner without that ugly thing poking out the rear window + u loose a few lbs.

 

I live in Florida, 'n it is actually raining as I type this message. I use this wiper a hell lot. I wish I could take it off, but too bad I need it to back out of my driveway or from the school parking lot.....stupid rules and damn security that will ticket me if I back in park. Such a stupid rule...booo.

 

wow!! GET THE HELL OUT OF THERE..
That really makes no sence at all.. Is that in case of a quick get away??? Ha,Ha

 

Where can you get a plug for the hole if you take off the wiper?

 

Mines gone. You can get the plug @ Lowes or Home Depot. It's a sink hole plug, forgot the size. Under a buck.

 

And it's a pretty easy removal process? Well, I'll search. I'm sure this has been covered. Thanks! Fletch

 

Lowe's it's a 7/8" Hallman plug found in the spare screws and parts drawers they have right up front if your store is set up like mine. They are a black plastic and take paint well. The 1" Hallman doesn't work it is 1/32" too big.
The 7/8" Hallman goes in a bit loose but you want to use some clear silicone adhesive sealer to make sure no water gets past the plug. $1.39 for a pkg of two.

It's a 15min operation to take the wiper and motor out. And another 15min to paint and install the plug minus drying time.

I recommend getting a battery post puller and putting a little electrical tape on it to protect the wiper arm when pulling it off. Mine was really on there. I cranked on the battery post puller ****. It was getting really tough then "pop" it came right off. I thought I broke something but it was just on that hard. Some people just twist off the arm and the shaft comes out of the motor. I do not think you can use the motor again after this. I might want to reuse or give to the next owner so I wanted to spare the parts. Also, it you twist off the wiper arm you have to be really careful cause some guys have scratched their paint that way.

I have had my wiper off for about 2 weeks now and do not think I will ever have to put it back on or have the need to.



OK, I have time here's the process:


1. Take the wiper motor plastic cover off of the wiper arm and use a battery puller to take the arm off:



2. Open the hatch and take off the lower rear most interior plastic piece:

3. You'll find the wiper motor with a white plug on it disconnect that first.
Then you'll have to take out the three 10mm screws holding the motor in place.

4. Lower the hatch install your plug with silicone around it. Lift the hatch and look at it from underneath to make sure it sealed properly. If not, you can add a bead around the inside just to make sure.

5. Reinstall interior hatch plastic and close hatch.

Your done.

 

I'm not sure how much it weighs, but the motor has to be pretty strong, and those motors are heavy, the rest of the assembly is not much I'm sure.

I'm just wondering how much weight Nissan could have saved by taking it out. With no weight from the motor the entire rear hatch can be lighter...and now you are talking about some serious weight savings.

Does Nissan need it on the next gen Z? I wonder...

 

Just weighed them on my digital scale:

1.8 lbs for wiper motor
.8 lbs for wiper arm

Total weight loss 2.6lbs.

Really, if you are thinking of doing only this as a weigh loss performance mod. Not a big gain. It does make the whole car look better but, it is not a big weight reduction.
If you need .01 to beat some guy it might just be enough. However, that is a super, super, close race. If you do it along with taking out the spare tire& tools(~25), getting lighter wheels (~40lbs). Pulling the passenger seat (~30lbs)etc... then it might make sense.

That's close to 100lbs and you might make .1 in a quarter mile run. The wheels would help even more than weight because they are rotating mass so you might see another .1-2 just for that weight reduction cause of how the weight is being shed.

If you put a roll bar in there you are back to your original weight. However, with the rotational mass down you might still pick up a .1 or .2 on the track. See how this all works?

In my case so far I have taken off the motor which was 2.6lbs and added a rear G35 spoiler (8lbs)and front lip protector (5lbs) and took out the spare and tools (~25lbs-2.6lbs =27lbs) so I had and overall weight reduction of 10lbs and improved air flow. At least I hope so .... Next I want the wheels. That is probably the best thing I can do for my car is to get 16lbs wheels on there instead of the 26lbs wheels I presently have. Then maybe a lightweight pulley to reduct parasitic (sp?) losses a little. That's another story.

$ per HP or speed gained. Not always the cheapest but it all adds up to better performance.

Hope this helps some .....

 

in a car that weighs one and a half tons, a wiper isn't going to make any difference. Anyway in Britain, it rains - a lot.

 

Great points, thanks. I guess its more important for the next Z, if they can design the car without the rear wiper Nissan can maybe save 10lbs. If the rear hatch can be lighter because it does not have to support the weight of the rear wiper.

2.5 - 10 lbs is not much but I think most engineers would love to have that much less weight. Like you said, you remove 2 here, 10 there, it all adds up.