After a
long time with progressively less wiper performance I finally reached
the day when the wipers really didn't work anymore. It was finally
time to break down and replace the motor. This was a little scary
because a friend who had it done told me it cost him $500.00! That
was not high on my list of things to do with that kind of money.
So I
went to the dealer and priced the motor. It was about $300 for a
brand new one, and about $70 for a rebuilt one. I decided to go
for the rebuilt one only to learn they didn't have them - they were on
"national back order". Sounded ominous so I left the dealer and
after work went around the corner to Advance Auto and asked. They
had them for $80 and I could have it in the morning. Since I was
expecting to need it in a few days (rain predicted) I paid and planned
to go back the next day to get the motor.
Once
home, I took out the repair manual and took a look at what was involved.
The good news is that it does not involve special tools, (philips head
screw driver, a couple small metric sockets and a couple rachets.
Take a look at the drawings above.
Basically you remove the wiper arms (easy with releases), screws that
hold the cowl cover in place, three screws that hold the wiper assembly
in place, the wire connector, then the assembly from the cowl.
Then
three bolts to remove the motor from the assembly and one nut to remove
the motor shaft from the linkage and you're done, except to save all the
pieces including the rubber cover for the motor.
I took
my motor apart and found the brushes were down to nothing and the motor
was full of crap. Not too surprising, I expect it is another
problem that has it roots in the
mudbath (one of the very few) that also
claimed my alternator, starter, and a few other odd parts...
I
collected all the hardware, removed the rubber cover, plastic cap on the
end of the motor shaft housing, put it in a baggie and the next day
picked up the rebuilt motor I had ordered at Advance Auto. Much to
my dismay the five wires on the new motor did not have a connector on
them. The "kit" came with five splice clamps that they expected
the purchaser to use to affix the connector from the old motor onto the
new motor. Not expecting this I had left the connector on the old
motor.
So the
counter clerk brought out some honking big shears and I cut the old wire
off as far back as the point where the emerged from the motor. If
I had know, I would have unsoldered them in anticipation of soldering
them onto the new motor. As it was, I was going to be needed to
have the motor installed by the end of the day so I had to take the low
road for now.
Reassembly is the reverse of disassembly. Let's say that the $500
price tag for having the dealer do it is not worth it unless you REALLY
don't like using screw drivers and wrenches for 20 minutes.
Seriously, this is one easy job.
The only
hitch came when I was handling the wiper arms. The spring that
loads them is quite strong. The arms were folded up like you put
them to take them off the windshield. I accidentally flipped the
end back and it caught the tip of my right index finger in the hinge,
taking a significant chunk of meat out of the side of my finger.
So I let that bleed while I finished putting most of it back together.
Finally
it was getting so messy that I took a break and went to get a knuckle
bandage. Then I buttoned up the cowl cover after first checking
the connections, testing the motor on all settings, and verifying that
the parked position was properly set. Strangely the wiper arms
would not settle down all the way to the windshield. At first I
thought I was going to have to take it apart to find out why but then I
realized the clip that holds the wiper arm on the post has to be locked
in place for the wiper arm to fully rest on the glass. That was a
relief.
