I'd like to take the wiper motor off the firewall, clean it up, maybe paint the casing along with the hardware.

So if I back out the 4 bolts holding it to the firewall, will it simply slip out without issue?

I'm asking because I'd rather not hear an unexpected "Sproing!" and have everything go fubar.

 

You should probably remove the cowl first. Then you will see that the wiper motor is attached to the wiper linkage. The linkage is attached to the wiper arms. I'm not 100% sure if you can get the wiper motor off with the cowl in place. The linkage has a plastic **** on it which is press fit into the wiper motor but you may be able to pop it off with the cowl in place.

Here's a picture of what you can't see

 

u can remove the MOUNTING bolts and take it off yes, but like said above make sure you dis-connect everything and take off the wiper cowl.

 

I just removed mine without removing the cowl. I then removed both black covers and painted the motor metallic and the black a metallic black. Then cleared everything. I will post pics of it later for you. I may have to remove the cowl to install it though.

 

Thanks for the details, guys. Knight, that looks like a brand new wiper motor you've got there on the carpet, yes? Geeze... that goes for $274 at Courtesy Nissan! Yikes!

The only problem I see with painting the wiper motor casing is that it's got 8 years of rough, dusty-white corrosion on it. I wish I had some kind of hand-held power tool that would work well enough to clean stuff like this so that it could be painted.

Do you guys have any tips on how to remove the cowl?

 

 

Meh. You just hate me because I'm beautiful.

Get your suspension fixed before you pimp your wiper motor, Nate.

 

LCA's, Motor Mounts, Struts, wiper-motor. Got it!

gr

 

Here we go... I need something like this for my drill. I bet this would work real well cleaning up the wiper motor housing in prep for prime and paint.

 

Be real carefull with that thing if you plan on cleaning any parts while still attached to the car. Wire wheels/brushes on drills have a tendency to run away in an instant. No need to ask how I know.

 

The wiper motor I have is a spare. When the deer tried to jump over my car a few years ago and died in the attempt, I had to buy a front clip from another damaged car. The insurance company actually bought the clip but allowed me to strip the pieces off the clip which they didn't need to use to repair the car. So I have a wiper motor, a master brake cylinder, brake booster and an abs actuator all with less than 30k miles on them.

BTY a dremmel with a bunch of smaller accessories would probably work better than the wire wheel.

I've actually been thinking about getting the wiper motor and the brake booster cleaned up and repainted then take out my old stuff and put in these new ones...

 

How do you remove the cowl? You're referring to the large, plastic cover between the bay and the windshield, right?

 

you have to remove the wiper arms. Mark them so they go back on in the right position. The cowl is just held on with a bunch of white plastic clips. If you pull up carefully you'll find where they are.

 

There are 4 bolts holding the wiper motor to the firewall. The top two are readily accessible, and the bottom right with a little bit of effort. But the bottom left bolt is right behind the AC pipe, and I just can't figure out how to get at it.

Any advice on that bolt?

I haven't figured out if there's any movement play available in the AC pipe yet, because to remove the bracket holding the pipe to the strut tower, you have to first remove the wire-housing cover to its immediate right... one thing leads to another, you know?

 

Would like to see how those came out.

 

As a matter of fact, removing the cowl does nothing. There is no access to the motor with the cowl removed.

 

Use a swivel with a long extension

 

There we go. That's the advice I need.

Thanks, Roy!

 

Make sure you don't damage the internals when you put the magnet back on. The inside of the motor is very sensitive.

 

I turned my wipers on with way too much snow and herd a bad noise and no wipers...when i turn them on i can hear the motor, but they don't move. What should i do>?

 

Obviously something broke. You are going to have to remove the wiper blade arms and then remove the cowl so you can see the motor arm and the linkage that moves the wiper blades. When you see what is broken, then you can get the exact parts you need and fix it.