Cleaning the wiper blades.

[Roger Eastman]

When I first got my C-Max Hybrid, I looked at the wipers and thought to myself, "Now how am I going to clean those wiper blades ?" I know, the book says to put them in the "Service Position", but that is easier said than done.

 

I found that with the hood open, the wiper arms can be swung out (like most vehicles) and are then accessible for cleaning (almost! ). The  hood on my C-Max  isn't open quite far enough when it is held by the stock hold-open rod to make this an easy task. But if the rod is not used, the hood will open another few inches. I had one of those spring-loaded adjustable cafe curtain rods lying around the garage that adjusted to hold the hood open in the wide-open position, and the wipers clear everything fine to swing out for easy cleaning. And the lower windshield area, normally blocked by the wipers, is accessible at the same time.

[MikeB]

Service position is actually quite easy, once you've figured it out. Turn the car off, and within about 3 seconds hold the wiper stalk down, as if for a single wipe. The wipers will come up from their hidey hole and stop.  Now you can lift them away from the window and clean them. No need to open the hood at all.

[Roger Eastman]

What I didn't like about going to the service position is running the possibly dirty wipers over dry glass to get to the service position.