Wiper Motor Replacement

Jsstr8 · Posted: Wed Mar 25, 2015 8:35 am Post subject: Wiper Motor Replacement

Sorry I have looked in the forum and can't find a god tutorial on replacing a wiper motor on an early Vanagon (an '82 diesel Westy to be exact). Pretty sure the dash has to be pulled, unless someone has found a way to do it with dash on. Bentley is not much help on this either. Any help would be great.

Terry Kay · Banned Joined: June 22, 2003 Posts: 13331

Yank the dash--
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T.K.

PDXWesty · Posted: Wed Mar 25, 2015 9:23 am Post subject:

Step by step for dash removal here: http://benplace.com/dash.htm
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89 Westy 2.1 Auto

Jsstr8 · Posted: Wed Mar 25, 2015 9:33 am Post subject:

Thanks, I had seen the dash removal tutorial; that will be very helpful! I was just hoping to find a way around the dash removal.
Looks like I'll be pulling the dash though.

slcpasta · Posted: Wed Mar 25, 2015 9:37 am Post subject:

You can actually see the wiper motor behind the glovebox (just have to squeeze a few tabs to get the glovebox to drop down). I'm not sure if there's enough room to do a replacement this way (i.e. without pulling the dash), but it may be worth a shot.

If you end up doing the replacement and have any tips, post them up. My wipers decided to stop working last week and I'm about 90% sure I'll need to do a motor replacement.
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Destroyer of Carats

Howesight · Posted: Wed Mar 25, 2015 6:30 pm Post subject:

Having removed and re-installed my dash at least 20 times when designing and building my front air conditioning system, I can tell you that it is far easier to remove the dash than to try to remove and replace the wiper motor in place. This will also allow you to replace the grommets for the wiper system, re-grease the pivot points, release and seal the windshield sprayers and the hoses on those sprayers, etc etc. Even with the dash removed, you will be doing gymnastics!

I used Ben's tutorial on dash removal as my bible. A couple important additional hints I would give are:

- Assuming you are working alone, of the five Phillips screws right next to the windshield, use the centre screw as the very last screw to remove and the very first one to install. Then loosely install the 10mm bolts at the far left and far right of the dash (on the A pillar).

- the dash balances nicely if you hold it with your left hand through the ash tray hole and use your right hand to balance it.

- at this point, (don't wait until later), thread the wiring harness bits into their various locations, especially the map light, cigar lighter and HVAC panel light. Don't install every screw and bit first, only to have to take it all apart for a bit of the harness!
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'86 Syncro Westy SVX

DAV!D · Posted: Wed Mar 25, 2015 7:03 pm Post subject:

Jsstr8 · Posted: Wed Mar 25, 2015 9:08 pm Post subject:

dhaavers · Posted: Thu Mar 26, 2015 4:05 am Post subject:

Lube the shafts?

https://shufti.wordpress.com/?s=wiper
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86 White Wolfsburg Westy Weekender
"The WonderVan"
<EDITED TO PROTECT INNOCENT PIXELS>

Jsstr8 · Posted: Thu Mar 26, 2015 8:31 am Post subject:

Thanks, I will definitely try that before pulling the dash. Never know, might get lucky.

Jsstr8 · Posted: Sat Apr 25, 2015 3:10 pm Post subject:

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.

Got the dash removed. There were a few things that weren't covered in the Bentley. Pretty easy, but wanted to let everyone know in case anyone needs advice or reassurance.
My van is the diesel with the auxiliary diesel heater. The cold start cable's knob twists off. Then there is a slotted nut that is easily removed. The auxiliary heater control has a brown spade plug that plugs into the upper most post and another plastic cluster plug.
My heater hoses have diesenigrated and need replaced. I will also have to replace the control knob assembly before I know if anything else needs replaced.

Terry Kay · Banned Joined: June 22, 2003 Posts: 13331

Pretty easy pickin's to get to that motor--right?
How'd ya like to meet the guy that engineered that rats nest?
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T.K.

Terry Kay · Banned Joined: June 22, 2003 Posts: 13331

Pretty easy pickin's to get to that motor--right?
How'd ya like to meet the guy that engineered that rats nest?
_________________
T.K.

Jsstr8 · Posted: Sat Apr 25, 2015 4:18 pm Post subject:

I know , I couldnt believe that the brake reservoir and master cylinder were behind the instrument panel when I had to change the master cylinder last year. German engineering...

Jsstr8 · Posted: Sun Apr 26, 2015 6:12 pm Post subject:

Not sure if this is the correct procedure, but to remove the motor I took out out the two bolts holding the bracket closest to the motor. One is above the dash near the windshield and the other is below the the motor. This gave me enough room to be able to move the bracket enough to loosen the three mounting bolts and the nut that attaches the motor to the wiper assembly.
I also took the opportunity to grease the wiper assembly at all of the joints and at the point where the wipers rotate.

teej · Posted: Sat Dec 12, 2015 7:05 am Post subject: Re: Wiper Motor Replacement

thanks for explaining how you did it, looking at it I thought that might be the way and it was good to see it described. I did the same on mine yesterday.
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1986+ Wolfsburg Weekender Pop-Top 2.3 WBX Manual Trans

D78Q85V87 · Posted: Thu Jun 15, 2017 7:12 pm Post subject: Re: Wiper Motor Replacement

Hello Everyone,

I know this is an old thread but rather than starting a new one, I figured i'd just ask my question here since it's related.

I had my driver's side windshield wiper pivot strip on my and need to replace it. Before I dive in head first I Figured I should get some advice on how best to go about it. I am assuming that I will need to take the dash out, but where to from there??

Thanks

Sincerely,

Jacob

Wildthings · Samba Member Joined: March 13, 2005 Posts: 52748

crobox · Posted: Tue Jun 08, 2021 8:53 am Post subject: Re: Wiper Motor Replacement

I have to disagree strongly that you should remove the dash to remove/replace the wiper motor.
I followed the advice on here and removed the dash, which was a lot of work, and also caused the breakage of a few 30+ year-old plastic bits.
Yes, this did facilitate the removal of the wiper motor, BUT... after reassembling everything, I found I needed to remove the wiper motor again, and this time I did it without removing the dash, and it was no big deal.

To do it, simply remove the glove box, then remove the two accessible phillips-head screws which secure the bracket to the vehicle body (one through the glove-box opening below the motor, the other at the bottom of the windshield), then reach in and flex the bracket holding the motor towards you, reach around to the front with a small 10mm wrench (preferably a ratcheting wrench) and undo the nut on the crank arm and wiggle it off, then undo the three screws securing the motor. Unplug the electrical connector and the motor is out.

So much easier (and FASTER) than dealing with the dash.

Vanagon Smiles · Posted: Thu Sep 16, 2021 11:22 am Post subject: Re: Wiper Motor Replacement

I was told by Small Car Performance who installed my aftermarket AC in WA, that if you're only interested in replacing the wiper motor it can be removed by going through the glove box as well.

(I just saw this thread) is there anything else helpful I should know? Thanks, Ken


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