Preventing snow/ice in wiper pocket

[fscoles]

In snow country (Syracuse/Oswego NY) our '08 Uplander's wiper "pocket" filled regularly with snow, ice & other stuff (tree droppings, etc.). The wiper arm storage pocket (between the hood and windshield) is 3 inches high and quite deep, ending at the long rubber seal. To keep from having to regularly clean out this pocket, I tried various items to plug this slot. A long environmental spill "sausage" or rags didn't work because they absorb water. Common hardware store plastic-foam insulation pipe wraps, 6' long are working well. The main section is 3" OD with 1/2" wall thickness; the section that fits inside it (to seal the areas by the wiper arms) is 2"OD X .75" ID; both six ft sections were less than 6 dollars. It takes about ten seconds to install or remove it. Apparently, GM designers didn't think about us in snow country who park outdoors...style took precedence over function.

[MagicRat]

Thank you for the tip. My GM cars all have the same annoying styling feature.

['97ventureowner]

Hi neighbor (Syracuse) been one heck of a winter so far with over 5 feet + of snow that has fallen so far hasn't it?? This problem has been around nearly 20 years when cars became more aerodynamic. I remember seeing wiper issues really manifest themselves in the early '90s as the garage I was working in did a lot of repairs on vehicles where the owners didn't fully clear the snow out of this pocket and many times it froze and they tried to turn their wipers on. : It does seem that the designers don't take into consideration those of us who live in these areas and are faced with this problem...or are they ? (It is a chance to sell more parts and service to repair the wipers.) Another thing I have used on prior vehicles I have owned, including the 2 Ventures before my Uplander was a piece of plastic, like a garbage bag. On the edges I glued magnets which stick to the vehicle and hold it into place. I place part of the plastic over the windshield and cover the "pocket area" and end up on the hood.(They used to sell something like this back in the '80s to keep ice and snow off the windshield. I took that idea and modified it to cover the pocket area on the van.)
Another thing you have to watch out for on these vans is if you don't get all the snow off the roof and are heading downhill or stop fast, the snow on the roof slides off onto the windshield. And if you have your wipers on when this happens, oh boy! I saw somewhere online where this is referred to as a "carvelanche"

[jrmy1krn]

Everytime I see a GM vehicle driving down the road with the wipers stopped pointing staight up, I die a lil more inside. Why dont they fix this issue? They build the cars in the north they should be able to move some snow off the windshield, without breakage. I guess those corporate assholes think we all have heated garages, or live in california.