I have wondered for a while if it would be feasible to add a rear windscreen wiper/washer to my UK Impreza like the JDM cars.

I searched the web, and to the best of my knowledge no one has done it so far. Many people "in the know" have stated that it was far too expensive, with figures of £1000 - £1500 being banded about!

Everyone seems to settle for a "liberal coating of Rain-X".
Not me.

Well, today, I did it, and it was a doddle! The following is what you need to know and the parts required.

1) Wiper motor and arm. (with relay)
2) Rear washer bottle & motor (unless you wish to utilise the front bottle)
3) JDM rear windscreen with hole.
4) Some common sense and *****!

Prices -:

If you call a windscreen specialist and ask them for a price to supply a JDM rear screen for a 93-01 Impreza they will laugh at you. The reason? £800 is the reason! Ridiculous but true. (try it if you don't believe me) This is probably why people advise against it but there are other routes at a crossroads!

Grade A Subaru supplied a rear screen, on next day delivery for the small fee of £100 + VAT.

The screen was immaculate and all it required was the Jap tint film removed to clean it up. Also, don't worry about it being delivered, as it is packaged really well and fully insured against damage.

Grade A also supplied a wiper motor, arm, relay, washer bottle and all associated wiring and plugs for £50 + VAT. Result.

Now, in order to fit it, you first have to look under your rear shelf and find a circular hole in the metal (about 2.5" diameter). This is where the motor goes through, so you require to cut a hole in the parcel shelf. This can be done with a sharp blade/stanley knife as it is only hardboard with cloth cover.

Next, get on the phone to one of the windscreen companies (Autoglass or RAC Windscreens are recommended) and tell them you want a removal-refit. This should cost about £60.

The fitter will take your old screen out and replace it with your new one with hole. Whilst doing so, he will bolt the motor in place to ensure the glass is positioned correctly. The motor is bolted to the underside of the rear shelf with 2 x 10mm bolts. Once in place the seal is fitted and arm connected.
Cosmetics finished.

The motor then requires to be wired up, which I will cover later, and add photos too.

The washer can either be taken off the front bottle (this involves adding a secondary pump and routing washer pipe through the car, either the floor or headcloth to the rear) or, fitting a rear bottle, made specifically for the car. This fits underneath the rear o/s tail light, and may require a couple of holes to be drilled for mounting. This simply requires a power wire and switch wire.

Finally we need a switch to operate the wiper and the washer.

Since the Jap cars have the wiper stalks on the left, we cannot use one of these, so you must obtain a switch with 3 positions...

0 - off
1 - wiper (continuous)
2 - wiper + washer

For this, you will have to do a search of your local scrappy, for a car with such a switch. Some Toyota Corolla's have what we need.

Try and find a switch that can be located on one of the Impreza blanks, either next to the "bright" switch or beside the fogs to the right of the cowling.

Full photos as well as wiring diagrams will be added as soon as I can be ar$ed to post them and take some pics!

Never say never!

Questions re this are more than welcome!

I will post full instructions on my website very soon.

 

Oh yeah, total costs? Let me see...

Rear screen - £117.50
Wiper motor - £58.75
RAC Windscreens - £52.88
My time - nil

TOTAL - £229.13

Just a bit less than £1500, don't you agree???

 

Great mod.. but can you do it on 2002 US wrx?? always wanted that rear wiper but never found anyone that had tried it..? any ideas would be greatly appreciated..

 

Nicely done Talizman, just shows what's possible

 

bedweaselwrx,

not sure if any 2002 models have the rear wiper, be they JDM or otherwise, perhaps someone knows if any bugeye models have a rear wiper?

In short, the answer is yes, depending how much work/expense you wish to put into it.

 

yeah I suppose it just goes back to the old.. "if you have enough money anything is possilbe" logic.. was just wondering if anyone has done this converstion on an 02 WRX. see what it costs, and what not.. or even better a kit you can buy.. but i doubt that exists..

 

What about wiper stalks off a P1 for that totally OE look?

 

IanW, due to the fact that the P1 is effectively a V6 Type R, modded by Prodrive, the indictators are on the right and wipers on the left same as any other Jap market car.

Would be nice if it were otherwise tho'

 

Wiper arm from a MY98/99 UK wagon???

Wiper arm from a MY00 UK wagon will have variable intermitant wipe as well, so I'm sure it wouldn't take much to do that as well!!!

 

Good point Andy Tang! I'll check it out...

As for using the intermittent wiper stalk, the motor must have a seperate intermittent module for this function.

Mine doesn't so I'll just need a continuous one....

[Edited by talizman - 7/26/2003 8:23:19 AM]

 

Right, here are the pics.....

For the switch, as I previously mentioned, I needed a rocker switch with 2 points for wiper/washer.

I considered getting a wagon stalk with wiper control, but was put off by the difference in multiplugs and also my rear wash wipe doesn't have intermittent whereas the MY00 Wagon stalks do.

I got the switch from......

wait for it.....

a 1982 Ford Escort!!!!!

It is the same size as the blanking plates next to the fogs and has 2 positions on the switch for the wiper/washer. It is illuminated with the dash lights and the bulb changes from green to red when you turn the wiper on.



And here are the pics of the wiper fitted, what a difference it makes! I'd encourage anyone who is thinking about it to do it.







Anyone needing advice on how to do this, check my website or email me. (address in website)

[Edited by talizman - 10/26/2003 11:39:10 AM]

 

Are you sure that the intermitant wipe is for the rear? (Sorry I've never driven a wagon before, so I don't know)

Even if there was an intermitant selection on the stalk, it's doesn't need to be wired in! Just use the wagon stalk for wipe and wash/wipe!

[Edited by Andy Tang - 7/31/2003 10:53:27 AM]

 

If the multi plugs were a straight swap I would use the wagon stalk, but I doubt they will be, and I don't fancy chopping every wire going to the stalks and putting spades on them.

 

So you haven't looked!!

Maybe a friendly wagon owner near you can let you have a look!

 

I did seek advice, admittedly it was 'opinion' advice and not actually a wagon owner....

However, I've fitted the rocker switch now and it works a treat so I'm happy for now.

 

I thought all jap car wipers are on the left....mine are and its a uk.

 

Nope.

JDM spec Japanese cars have wipers on the left and indicators on the right.

UK spec Japanese cars have the stalks adapted for the UK market - wipers on right, indicators on left.

Is it a Cat that you own?

If so, I think you'll find that your wipers are on the right! lol

 

Yeah Catalunya UK born and bred Wipers on the left same as my mates uk MY97 LOL same as any Jap car I have driven.

 

my indicators on my jap car are on the oppisite side

 

I thought that ALL UK spec cars had the wipers on the right and the indicators on the left.

Most JDM cars have the indicators on the left.

 

Mine has the indicators on the wrong side and it doesn't half Pi55 me off. Every time I drive a uk car now there's a lot of wiping windows when going to turn and indicating when you cant see out

 

i'm pretty sure that all imprezza's upto the forrester dash(98?) have the indicators on the same side (right) and the left 98 on. my uk waggon (97) and RA (95) have the same, and others driven 98 on are on the 'normal' side

 

Just to confirm thatP1 wipers are on the right and there is no intermittent for the rear

 

Thats correct!.

I have a 98 TypeR with wiper stalk (Including intermittent front and rear wipe control) on the LEFT of the steering.

I trial fitted my mates P1 wiper stalk ON THE RIGHT IN THE P1 (same functions as above) and indicators stalk on my car, but the plugs and wiring colours were different. so I left it as is. My intention was to keep all the JDM functions, but with the indicators in the UK position.

Incidently, I had heared a rumour that Subaru used UK Wagon Wiring looms when converting the 2door shells to P1's. It makes sense : rear wipers, My00 Intermittent control, UK ABS and dash layout.

 

Mines on the left and theres a push button and you can pull the lever now one of them doesn't do anything but they both have a spray symbol on them !!!!

 

great idea Talizman!
just shows what a little application and a heap of ***** can acheive.
certainly cheap enough to warrent an attempt

 

Mmmmm excellent mod, I wouldnt mind having a chop at this.

Cheap enough if u can source another JDM rear screen from grade A, yes I assume a P1 rear screen would also be ok?

 

Correct, a P1 rear screen would be perfect, although there won't be many about, whereas there are heaps of JDM WRX and STi's

 

Wicked, ive always wanted one after seeing them on a Type r.

Hmm maybe we could organise some kind of group buy if we can find a decent switch option?

 

Just for reference, I have a MY02 WRX (250PS model) with a rear wash wipe and the wiper stalk is on the left and the indicators are on the right []

HTH