emilysgranny

Andy ; just pick the fans up , they just rest in there if I remember correctly and set them aside.

AndyK

I did remove the fan. BUT, the black plastic frame of the bottom part of the HVAC is what's keeping the arms from coming out. No matter how I tried, I couldnt work the wiper assembly out past the fan area, or the fuse box rim.

951Tom

Andy, Were you able to remove the lower hvac half and finish? Once you remove the bolts for the lower half, pry it up with something wide like a putty knife or wide screwdriver. Protect the car body while prying with a rag or something.

AndyK

Tom--I was told NOT to remove the lower HVAC half, because it is connected to a bunch of other stuff that will fall in and require more work to get it re-connected?? Does that make sense?

Also, I tried to remove the replacement motor from the arms it came with, but the 3 phillips screws holding the motor on wont budge. Is this the norm?

Thanks!

951Tom

You have to remove the lower hvac half to gain clearance. Nothing can fall down inside that you won't be able to retrieve. You'll be able to look right down where your feet go & you'll also see the little electric servos that control the vents. You'll also be able to see the a/c evaporator & replace it's felt gasket if you want. The only connection you un-do is the vacuum line for the fresh air flaps, this passes thru the lower assembly via two male vac hose connections. You'll see it once you lift up the lower half. Once you have the wiper assembly removed, then you'll be able to R&R the motor.

AndyK

Cool! That's comforting to know Tom! I'll give it a shot either tonight, or tomorrow. Once I get that lower part out of the way, the wiper motor and rack will come out easy!

SoCal Driver

When I parted out an 86 NA auto that had an engine fire I was able to remove the wiper arm assembly with just the fresh air box out.

Yes I did find the three philips screws a PITA to get out. Think I used an offset driver. I also like the half round plastic cover over the motor.

AndyK

Hopefully I'll be able to remove the parts motor from the rack, and swap it with my dead motor. Too bad the threads on the "nipples" are stripped/damaged on the parts rack...I could just swap one for the other without messing with the motor.

Any way to repair damaged thread? George was saying something about filing the damage to fix it or something?

Peckster

I bought a used switch and it didn't last long. New ones are worth the price, they aren't that much.

tjbreen

I did this swap before but I bought a whole wiper/rack so I wouldn't have to disconnect my motor from the rack. I went throught the new relay and column switches too looking for the problem.

To get the blower assy out I left the cover on and used my body weight to pull from either side. My 190lbs rocking it hard from one side then the next eventually broke the seal. I was home free until I nicked the base of the windshield with my Channel Locks while tightening the wiper arm collar nut back on. After about two weeks the nick had formed a crack from cowl to roofline. Used wiper rack - $60. New windshield - almost priceless.

I did autopsey the wiper motor and it was decayed so bad inside it was suprising it worked at all. It did run when 12v was routed through it which confused me because it wouldn't move reliably in the car.

My latest problem is my wipers fire (as if on intermittent setting) when my headlights are on with right turn signal. I was thinking bad relays but IceShark recommended a new column switch because all power to the headlights is routed through that switch. New part should be here next week. Keep an eye out for this problem next.