ejm3

This morning on my way to work it was quite cold (~2 degrees F) and my car had some snow left on it from yesterday's snowstorm.

I warmed the car up and had the rear defroster on.

When I went to use the rear wiper to clear some snow it got stuck in the down position and won't work. I tried manually clearing any snow and now the rear window is clear but the blade still won't move. I turned it on and off several times and nothing. I turned the car off and on again and still nothing.

Is it possible the motor is fried?

This is a 2010 RX with ~68k miles.

Droid13

It might have simply popped a fuse.

ejm3

I looked at it last night.

While the rear wind was clear I looked way up under the spoiler and there was a lot of ice built up under there around the base of the wiper.

I used my fingers and cleared most of it away. Then it worked again.

Droid13

Kind of surprising to get ice jammed in there. For the past 15 yrs I have never not had some kind of vehicle in the driveway that didn't have a rear window wiper, and the hidden one on my RX is the best. I little bit more difficult to clean, but never seen it jam before, whereas all the rest will easily jam in the winter. Especially bad is freezing rain which will weld the wiper to the window. Very difficult to free up without damaging the blade.

kitlz

We did get sleet/freezing rain in addition to snow the other day so I wouldn't be surprised if the wind pushed some of it under the spoiler. It was pretty nasty. There's limited space up there too. I use the defroster and manually clear the rear window. The wiper doesn't help much anyway. Now getting into the RXh was a whole different problem. It was completely iced over. Remote start to the rescue.

ejm3, I'm glad you were able get the rear wiper working again. Just in time for the next storm tomorrow, and Sunday, and Monday, and Tuesday

ejm3

Yes we got about a foot of snow combined with sleet and freezing rain.
This never happened to me before and my car stays outside.

Honestly I have no idea how big chunks of ice got up under under the spoiler anyway.
Overall the rear wiper works pretty well and I love how its hidden under the spoiler when not in use. Very nice design.

I am NOT looking forward to more snow Sunday, Monday, Tuesday...