How to delete rear wiper and motor for Honda Insight
 

I decided to do this quick mod for aero reasons, I had been running without a rear wiper for a while and decided to finish the job, and for a little weight reduction. I didn't know how heavy it was going to be but hey, its unnecessary weight so even if it is just a pound I figured it would be worth it.

Thanks to NoD~ for teaching me how to do this mod.


1. First things first is to remove the wiper arm.

To do this simply pop up the plastic cover at the base and unscrew the nut that is holding the arm down. After the bolt is loosened and off just pull straight up and the wiper arm will come off. It was on really tight for me and i needed to use a flathead to lift it off just a little but it came off :)

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2. Remove the bolt that is under the wiper arm.

Not sure what size bolt this is. I used an adjustable spanner wrench and it was quite easy to remove.

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3. Remove inside back panel to reveal the wiper motor

There are two little plastic pins that you need to get off, be sure not to break them as they are hard to come by. After the pins are removed it is a little tough to get this body piece off but just pull towards the front of the car and wiggle it and it will come eventually.

If you do break the clips they are available here: 8mm 40 Pcs / Pack Nylon Bumper Fender Flare Mud Flaps Guard Fastener Rivet Clips

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4. Remove the motor

Now that the wiper motor is visible there will be three 10mm bolts that you need to remove so you can remove the wiper motor. After the bolts are removed simply unplug the motor and tuck the plug attached to the car away.

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5. Plug the hole

When plugging the hole i reused the rubber gasket that came on the car and placed a 5/16th x 1-1/2" washer on either side with a 1/4-20 x 2-1/2" screw going threw the middle and tightened it down pretty good to make sure it was going to be water tight. Putting silicone around the screw head is also advised to make sure it is all water tight. I got black spray paint with the intent of making it look more OEM but when it was on i didn't think it looks bad enough to spray it.

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6. Replace the body panel and be done.

Just reverse what you did taking the panel off and you are done!

This will only take about 10-25 minutes depending on your skill level and will be pretty straight forward.

There will be some drag reduction but what that is i don't know. The drag reduction will most likely be minimal but it could also give a mpg or two. I would love it if somebody could do some real testing on this to see if there are any noticeable mpg gains from it.

Total cost: $2.12
Weight reduction: 2 lb 11 oz
CD Reduction: Unknown

Bravo on the write-up! One thing I'd say to do is put a little silicone around your screw head. Moisture can definitely get in there that way.

I really like how the little bit of weight reduction made the hatch feel opening and closing myself. Notice it as well?

Also, my 2 clips broke when I took them off. I replaced them with these: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008427CZ2/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I'd like to color match eventually, but at least it's on tighter. Without them, there isn't too much difference. Never fell off. Maybe it rattled, but I never noticed.

They are good for a lot of replacements throughout the car.

Thanks for the compliment and also for all the info that you gave me on how to do this. You deserve credit for the write up as well!

Yeah, it certainly makes it a lot nicer to open and close the hatch. over 2.5 lb at the end of the hatch really makes a difference.

Also, do you have any input on how i can make the writeup better? I will be doing a writeup for antenna delete and for replacing one of the motor mounts, maybe a few others.

I'd be real interested in seeing true a-b-a testing for this mod since so many guys do it (if it's even possible to measure). I'm all about aero mods, but this one has has always had me skeptical.

I doubt that the aero benefit and the weight saving combined is even measureable in real world driving conditions, since the arm is mounted vertically and the motor/arm assembly is relatively light. Seems like the savings would be measured in hundredths of a mpg, I don't even know how it would be possible to realistically measure it.

Somebody prove me wrong, cause I'm interested.

Then again, if you sold the wiper motor/arm assembly, you'd have enough gas money to drive that Insight across the country for free!

I'm pretty much with cowmeat here. Mine is still on, as are my side mirrors, in part because my wife drives the car too.

However, I like your writeup.

I agree, nice write-up. I always like seeing pics explaining the steps

I did have the wiper arm off of Turtle, but that's because I had a rear monitor hooked up through my DVD player (using power from the rear defroster) i.l.o. a rear view mirror, and the rear glass has a sun shade permanently attached to it. On Ron Burgundy, I got used to my giant panoramic rear view mirror when I had the tiny aero side mirrors on it, and I left it on there even when I put the Mickey Mouse ears back on it, so I like having the rear wiper. I actually have an even bigger than standard wiper now.

I am also a skeptic on how much fuel this would save. I would love seeing one of the more seasoned ecomodder testers do some testing on it to see if it is measurable.

It seems like it would cause a little bit of turbulence with the air going over the back. But again, i don't know how much that would be and it may have no measurable improvement at all.

To me, it is simply an unnecessary part that could be causing some drag so why not get rid of it? I plan on selling the whole assembly if anybody needs/wants it since it is still in perfect working order.

I removed the wiper on my Prius soon after I bought it, but plugged the hole with a nylon hole plug and silicon.

Not a data point, but an interesting observation: Toyota removed the rear wiper on the 2016 Prius Two Eco, the only trim they did so.

With a curb weight of 1,887 pounds and according to our rule of thumb, that should improve your fuel economy by 0.13%. With a combined EPA rating of 65 MPG, that works out to an additional 0.086 MPG!

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