Wiper motor swap / fault

[polsta]

Going to tackle the wiper motor, when its not fooking raining

Mine- it works on the fastest setting, the delayed and 1st setting it doesnt seem to have the strength or will to work, is that the motor knackered ? it is 25 years old

i have a spare motor that was fully working from a 5 year younger car, but its just the "barrel" motor bit, not the arms and everything, is it just that to swap round ?

generally just after some thoughts and advice and what to do and how

thanks

[mwggriffiths]

Going to tackle the wiper motor, when its not fooking raining

Mine- it works on the fastest setting, the delayed and 1st setting it doesnt seem to have the strength or will to work, is that the motor knackered ? it is 25 years old

i have a spare motor that was fully working from a 5 year younger car, but its just the "barrel" motor bit, not the arms and everything, is it just that to swap round ?

generally just after some thoughts and advice and what to do and how

thanks

I've got a similar issue with mine, but only on the intermittent setting where it judders across the screen. It also judders if you single wipe it and let go of the stalk at the top of the stroke.

A friend of mine said he had a similar issue with his Touring and managed to fixing it by cleaning up all the electrical contacts to the motor, so it might be worth trying that first?

[polsta]

thanks mate, il give that a go aswell

[mwggriffiths]

I need to do the same, I've been saying for months I'll do it when it stops raining

[polsta]

me too, theres a few jobs i need to do, you cant really get on a roll with the weather like this

anyone got any tips on getting the motor out or a guide ?

[BenHar]

http://www.e30zone.net/e30zonewiki/inde ... per_faults

Ben

[polsta]

nice one thanks,i had a look on the wiki but only found wipers in the electrical section

although..all it seems he did was take it apart and re-grease ,and didnt mention anything about cleaning electrical contracts ?

do you think it would also just benefit from putting the newer motor in aswell ? , its from a 1991 is, where as my car is a 1987

[mwggriffiths]

although..all it seems he did was take it apart and re-grease ,and didnt mention anything about cleaning electrical contracts ?

do you think it would also just benefit from putting the newer motor in aswell ? , its from a 1991 is, where as my car is a 1987

Having read the wiki maybe my mate was talking about those internal copper strips.... I'll have to ask tomorrow - cleaning all the other contacts can't hurt though!

[BenHar]

Since you have to take the motor out to clean it, you could clean your new motor first, the just swap them.

Ben

[polsta]

exactly, thats what i thought, and a nice grease up of the arms etc and clean any contacts i can

yes ask him what he did and used exactly, that would be a help

[ndg]

mwggriffiths friend here - not stalking you, promise!

It was the internal contacts I was talking about, as you guessed. The problem was fixed with a strip, re-grease and some attention to the contacts, making sure that they were clean and springs etc were working properly.

N.

[polsta]

ok thanks mate, i was going to egt down there this arvo but was on/off rain yet again and windy as f**k

what did you clean the contacts with ? and what do you mean by springs and how do you test/fix id needed ?

[ndg]

I just used halford's contact cleaner on them, but anything to remove crusty grease should work! I can't remember if the contacts were like little leaf springs - in which case they need to be set to press on the electrical tracks or if the were ball bearings with tiny coil springs behind them - in which case they should just need a damn good clean. You can probably tell from my profile that I had this car ~6years ago, so it's a touch hazy!

[mwggriffiths]

That was actually almost as easy as the internet guide made out - now there's a first!

Some things I did differently though:

I undid all 3 Philips head screws (two on the passenger side, one on the drivers) holding the wiring loom backing plate on, and dropped it as far out of the way as possible without unplugging anything. I then completely removed (3 or 4 screws that require a 7mm socket) the panel behind it that you need off to access the 3rd wiper motor bracket bolt - it makes removing and reinstalling the wiper motor a lot easier!

Mark the bracket not only with the wiper arm position, but also the nuts that bolt the bracket to the body - the bracket holes are slotted for extra adjustment.



I ended up using sand paper on the contacts inside the motor because contact cleaner wouldn't shift some of it!

Good luck - its well worth it

[polsta]

cheers mate, soon as its a nice afternoon and no poxy rain, im going to get it done, all week thats not been able to happen

[G-Bear]

Here's a guide that I used polsta, its a fairly accurate guide, I think I did a few bits different but to be honest can't remember it all now.

http://www.esatclear.ie/~bpurcell/318is ... html#wmisf

My intermittent and one wipe didn't work that well. Once I had got the motor out and apart I ended up taking the metal disc that the contact touched and sanding it to get the muck off. Then greased it up. Worked perfect after, they're still a bit weak but better than before.. I suppose its to be expected of a 22 year old wiper motor.

Off topic but if I'm right, you commented on my thread of my rotten reared red IS a few weeks back. Like you suggested; I got the carpets out today to check for more.. There's a few bits that need attention... I'll get some pics up in the week.

Anyway hope that links of some help.

[Brianmoooore]

The grills in the scuttle are removed by sliding them downwards and lifting them out at the top NOT by prising them out at the bottom, as suggested in that link, which will scratch the paint through to bare metal.
There is supposed to be grease on the circular plate and contacts, but not 20 year old hardened grease.
Not a good idea to use sandpaper on the disc, or any other electrical contact. Small pieces of grit embed themselves in the metal surface, and cause subsequent arcing and wear.
There's absolutely no reason why a 22 year old motor shouldn't perform exactly like a new one, but most RHD motors will be suffering from wear of the output shaft bearing, which will cause a loss of torque. It wasn't BMWs best idea to fit the RH drive motor facing upwards under a slatted grill.

[randomspeedfreak]

i did this last week and it worked a treat. i did infact have to take a small file to parts of the disc aswell due to corrosion

everything working perfectly now not a difficult job really.

although on the m52 you hve to remove the inlet to get space into the bulkhead

[polsta]

what im going to do- is refurb the is one i have as its 5 years newer, and then just swap them over

so what exactly is the best thing to do ? just open the top and re grease it and clean the contacts ? or is there more that can be done

[mwggriffiths]

what im going to do- is refurb the is one i have as its 5 years newer, and then just swap them over

so what exactly is the best thing to do ? just open the top and re grease it and clean the contacts ? or is there more that can be done

That's all I did, and it worked first time afterwards and has continued to work ever since.... then again its only been a few days

[G-Bear]

As above and clean any muck off the disc.. but as Brainmoooor says.. Not to sand it like I did..