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Difficulty: Easy
Cost: ~$75
Time Needed: 15 minutes
Tools Needed:
- Phillips screwdriver
- Flathead screwdriver
Anyone who lives in the Pacific Northwest knows the wipers on the Impreza leave a little to be desired. Namely, they've got no intermittent function, which is a real bear when it's raining just hard enough to want the wipers, but not hard enough to warrant full-speed. Newer WRXs are fitted with an intermittent wiper switch, meaning they have a dial to select slower wiper speeds to be used in light drizzle. The timing is also accompanied by the three selections of the stalk itself, low, fast, and very fast.
Occasionally at Subie Gal Racing headquarters, we do practical modifications (really! It's totally happened!), and this is one of them. We're going to swap the wiper stalk from a 2002 WRX into a 2001 2.5RS. You can find this part at SubaruGenuineParts. Believe it or not, this is a plug-and-play modification. No wiring. No special skills. Just a couple of screwdrivers.
| Step 1: Teardown |
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Note the position of the stock wiper stalk. We're going to access that portion of the steering column and remove it. |
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Grab your Phillips screwdriver and get under the steering column. In each of the three recessions under there is a screw. |
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Remove all three screws to free the steerig column cover. |
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Loosen the steering wheel position latch, drop the steering wheel to its lowest position, and gently tug on the lower half of the colum cover. It will snap away from the upper piece. Wiggle the lower column cover out of there, being careful to not break any of the mounting tabs. |
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Push the upper column cover to the left and out of the way. There is no need to remove it completely. Note the two very small screws on the top and bottom of the wiper stalk. Remove these. |
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Now the only thing holding the wiper stalk in place is the electrical connector. Use your flathead screwdriver to push in, then slide out the connector clip. This will free the connector. Once disconnected, the wiper stalk can be removed easily. |
| Step 2: Installation |
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Here are the two stalks side-by-side. As you can see, they're virtually identical. |
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Install the new wiper stalk in the reverse order of disassemby. Connect the electrical connector, reinstall the two screws to mount it, and reinstall the lower column cover. |
| Step 3: Admire your handiwork |
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All done! Go out for a drive in the rain and test it out. |
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