Changed headlight wiper motors today

[alcashj94]

Did this job today using some second hand motors and thought I would show how I got access to them, some of you may not be aware that you can do this without removing the front end in one go. If you do take it right off it is a two person job to get it back on but by removing the top push clips and then just releasing the front bolt and wheel arch locking piece on one side at a time the panel will flex enough to get the headlight out.





The headlight does need to have the four holding bolts undone so you can ease the unit forward and twist it up to allow the wiper motor to come out, I did not undo the wiring to the headlight unit but it would probably be just as quick to do so and take the light right out to change the motor. Here is a shot level with the light so you can see the two bolts that hold the wiper motor.



Took a easy hour each side and I did spend a while cleaning the water pipes through as well.

Once it was all back together I striped down the old units to see why they had stopped working. Once you pop the clips and remove the cover the top plate with the crank and gears can be lifted out to expose the motor which can then be unclipped and removed. Both my motors were suffering from dirty commutator's, would not run with 12 volts applied directly to the terminals. A good soaking with electrical contact cleaner and they are back to life after a bit of sparking! One unit was still well greased and now works having been put back together so I have a spare, the second was much worse with corrosion on the shaft and gear but it did clean up. Unfortunately it will not run as there seems to be a break in the circuit where it is sealed in resin at the base so I think something has blown in there.

Also changed my passenger door mirror for a second hand unit and now got all the toys working again, not had time to take the mirror apart to see what has failed yet. It was the folding action that had failed and that must have caused some sort of short or feedback as every time the central locking was opened the glass went to max up position which was a right pain having to reset every time you got in the car. Just plugged in the replacement and all back to normal.
A successful day for a change!

[LeeT5]

Great thread thou I'm having great difficulty turning my 29" monitor upside down to see the pictures!

Top tip when using an iPhone to take pictures. Lock it's orientation!

[alcashj94]

Don't understand what is happening with the pics!

Right way up on my home and work PC's.

The shots were taken on a Blackberry and have been edited/resized and saved with a different file name on my hard drive before uploading.

Had this on a previous thread but not all of my posts, some people see them right way up, others wrong way, all posted with the same method.

[jdavis]

Good write up. Pics view fine on my phone.

[M-R-P]

Good effort there but it's not hard to refit the whole bumper one handed. Being in search of an easy option for everything, I can fully understand why you did it one side at a time tho so fair play

One day I'll post my "easy" way of changing the alarm siren

[LeeT5]

Very weird! Viewed them again this morning and they are the right way up! Oh well, good write up dude!

[M-R-P]

Very weird! Viewed them again this morning and they are the right way up! Oh well, good write up dude!

I think you just had your contact lenses on upside down mate

[stribo]

Good write up, looks a PITA to do though.

[Harvey]

Can I just add the wiper motors that go on the "R" are not quite the same the lead with the plug on is about 100mm longer ,but the plug is the same in both cases. You can fit the standard units but you won't be able to fix the plug in the same place.

[Harvey]

Good write up, looks a PITA to do though.

The only pain is the two bolts that can drop inside the bumper cover that are near the number plate ends under the trims.

When I removed mine front cover I did copper slip all the screws & bolts and the side locking slides which has a 2" self tapper type screw thread,Then next time with any luck it should come off easy.

[LeeT5]

Its also worth while, if anyone's thinking of doing this, to replace the wiper blade stops that live under each light. They are prone to breaking due to the plastic becoming hard and brittle. Only a 10mm bolt holds them on and they are cheap as chips at the dealer. I replaced mine when my front bumper came off last as one had cracked.

[JamesT5]

Great thread thou I'm having great difficulty turning my 29" monitor upside down to see the pictures!

Top tip when using an iPhone to take pictures. Lock it's orientation!

Or just rotate the picture in Windows Picture viewer, you don't need all these fancy phones!

[JamesT5]

Did this job today using some second hand motors and thought I would show how I got access to them, some of you may not be aware that you can do this without removing the front end in one go. If you do take it right off it is a two person job to get it back on but by removing the top push clips and then just releasing the front bolt and wheel arch locking piece on one side at a time the panel will flex enough to get the headlight out.





The headlight does need to have the four holding bolts undone so you can ease the unit forward and twist it up to allow the wiper motor to come out, I did not undo the wiring to the headlight unit but it would probably be just as quick to do so and take the light right out to change the motor. Here is a shot level with the light so you can see the two bolts that hold the wiper motor.



Took a easy hour each side and I did spend a while cleaning the water pipes through as well.

Once it was all back together I striped down the old units to see why they had stopped working. Once you pop the clips and remove the cover the top plate with the crank and gears can be lifted out to expose the motor which can then be unclipped and removed. Both my motors were suffering from dirty commutator's, would not run with 12 volts applied directly to the terminals. A good soaking with electrical contact cleaner and they are back to life after a bit of sparking! One unit was still well greased and now works having been put back together so I have a spare, the second was much worse with corrosion on the shaft and gear but it did clean up. Unfortunately it will not run as there seems to be a break in the circuit where it is sealed in resin at the base so I think something has blown in there.

Also changed my passenger door mirror for a second hand unit and now got all the toys working again, not had time to take the mirror apart to see what has failed yet. It was the folding action that had failed and that must have caused some sort of short or feedback as every time the central locking was opened the glass went to max up position which was a right pain having to reset every time you got in the car. Just plugged in the replacement and all back to normal.
A successful day for a change!

Nice write up and thanks for the info.

[htomi]

Nice write up and thanks for the info. Just ordered a used motor and will replace the passenger side one.

[Gold 'N' Brown]

Glad this has popped up as it gives me some encouragement. One of my motors has seized and makes a loud buzzing noise with ignition on, so I had to pull the fuse ages ago (which means headlight level adjustment is non functional too, but no biggie). Didn't fancy removing the bumper. But seeing this has spurred me on to possibly....maybe....perhaps doing something about it.