Wiper Motor Removal

[Ron]

Anyone know what has to be removed to get to a bad wiper motor?

[Rich]

Workshop Manual Sec M:09:01-02 covers motor removal and installation. There's a diagram there, too.

Among other things it calls for removing some of the flexible and rigid ductwork, clamps and, of course, connections to wiper linkage and the motor/drive assembly itself. It says the linkage stays in place.

Not that I've done it.

[Ron]

Thanks Rich! But the thing is, those directions start where half of the car has been removed...:)

[82DMC12]

I've never done it but I remember from the days of dmcnews that it might be one of the worst jobs ever. I get worried when I see how slow my wipers work and the sound that the motor makes (much louder than a modern car). Makes me think it's on borrowed time.

Anyone know if the motor is cross referenced to something else? I imagine it is. I wouldn't want to put another heavy 40 year old motor in.

[David T]

I've never done it but I remember from the days of dmcnews that it might be one of the worst jobs ever. I get worried when I see how slow my wipers work and the sound that the motor makes (much louder than a modern car). Makes me think it's on borrowed time.

Anyone know if the motor is cross referenced to something else? I imagine it is. I wouldn't want to put another heavy 40 year old motor in.

Worst job is removing the heater box. Not sure about it but you may have to remove it just to get to the wiper motor. Are you sure you need to get to the wiper motor? They don't have a high failure rate. The wiper switch, on the other hand, has been known to fail. Did you check the module above the steering column? Maybe it has become unplugged.

[Ron]

Worst job is removing the heater box. Not sure about it but you may have to remove it just to get to the wiper motor. Are you sure you need to get to the wiper motor? They don't have a high failure rate. The wiper switch, on the other hand, has been known to fail. Did you check the module above the steering column? Maybe it has become unplugged.I'm only 99% sure it's the motor. The washer sprays, but the motor does not run in any mode. The Green wire feeds both the wipers and washer. It has power at the module. Looking at the schematic(s), it seems plugging the delay module's two plugs together would work, but no luck. So I replaced the module with a new one, still no luck. So I'm trying to figure out the best way to get to the motor so I can feed it directly...

[dn010]

It could also be something is seized like the linkage or, what happened to me is the nuts that hold the wiper arms down were tightened so much to make up for worn out splines in the arms, that the motor couldn't run. Once I loosened them, it worked fine, just needed new arms at that point.

[Ron]

I'm assuming yours was blowing the fuse, not being able to move when powered up??
This one does not.

[dn010]

Mine never blew the fuse, not sure if the motor has thermal protection but it just wouldn't do anything until I loosened the arms. It's a wild scenario but it's easy to check before digging out the motor.

[Ron]

Thanks.
I just checked...I can move either arm and make the other one and the linkage move ~1/8" either way.

I didn't consider thermal protection (built in to the motor assembly). I'm going to see what the amp draw is when I turn it on and if it drops after a few seconds if/when it trips...

[Bitsyncmaster]

Thanks.
I just checked...I can move either arm and make the other one and the linkage move ~1/8" either way.

I didn't consider thermal protection (built in to the motor assembly). I'm going to see what the amp draw is when I turn it on and if it drops after a few seconds if/when it trips...

Not sure if it has thermal protection but I've fount window motors in many other cars that those thermal protection "switches" fail a lot.

[David T]

In most cars the wiper motor has some kind of internal or external automatic re settable protection, NOT a fuse. The logic is, if you need the wipers, it is an essential load and even if there is a problem you need it to work even if it is just a little bit.