Windshield Wiper Motor Replacement

A few weeks ago I noticed my drivers side wiper was not returning to the full down position when the wipers were off. I also noticed the wipers was extending out of my field of vision when on. Fast forward to yesterday and the problem has gotten worse to the point that the wiper is allowed to extend off the windshield and slaps the driver's side window.

I took a look at the base of the wiper arm and it looks like a mounting mechanism has broken off and is allowing the wiper motor to rotate on itself. Does anyone have experience taking the plastic piece between the windshield and the hood off? I checked under the hood and there is no access to the wiper motors under there. I believe I will need to take off the wiper arms as well which doesn't look to be the easiest task from my research.

The Factory Service Manual says the air inlet panel at the base of the windshield will have to come off. It's held on by 5 "retainers," four of which are at the front of the panel and the center one is at the rear of the panel. From the illustration, I can't tell if these are bolts or a plastic plug you need panel removal tools to pull (maybe you can do it without the tools, but they only cost a few bucks off eBay).

To replace the wiper motor assembly you will also need the J 39232 Wiper Transmission Separator and the J 39529 Wiper Transmission Installer.

This doesn't look like a super hard job if you have the tools. There are around seven relevant pages in the FSM I'd have to scan.

Thank you for the quick response Jack. I will have to dig out the FSM from the back of the car and take a look. I am in the middle of relocating from MI to NC and wanted to check to see if anybody had first hand experience before I spent too much time trying to figure it out.

Doing a quick search of the specialty tools you cited, this may be a job for a shop. Minimum of $40 of tools for a job that I can't imagine would take too long.

I still need to find out if I have diagnosed this problem correctly as being a mounting point failure. Doesn't sound like a common problem and I don't recall anything happening that would have torsionally loaded the motor to cause the mounts to break.

I doubt you'd ever use those tools again. My only thought is that I'd rather take care of special baby myself than let someone else have a crack at a "lame old Buick."

Jack the R wrote:

I doubt you'd ever use those tools again.  My only thought is that I'd rather take care of special baby myself than let someone else have a crack at a "lame old Buick."

Depends on who the someone else is. Around where I live there are some pretty good gearheads that like old GM cars including Buicks.

Update - Took the car to a local shop, they told me it is the transmission assembly instead of the motor mount. After looking through the FSM I understand what is going on a little better. Turns out you don't need any special tools to get the parts out, just a screwdriver and knowledge.

Shop ordered the part from a junkyard but it came in with the same plastic piece broken as what I have. It is the piece that holds the transmission assembly to the car. Discontinued part so hoping somebody on here will have a pars car sitting around the yard.

If you have all the pieces, probably thing to do is 3-d print one.

albertj wrote:

If you have all the pieces, probably thing to do is 3-d print one.

How is that easy? Maybe I'm behind the times - can phones do 3D scans now?

Jack the R wrote:

albertj wrote:

If you have all the pieces, probably thing to do is 3-d print one.

How is that easy?  Maybe I'm behind the times - can phones do 3D scans now?

You have a good point that it's not "easy" but...

https://all3dp.com/2/5-best-3d-scanner-apps-for-your-smartphone/

https://www.aniwaa.com/best-3d-scanning-apps-smartphones/

https://3dscanexpert.com/3-free-3d-scanning-apps/

It is astounding how fast this industry is moving. It only takes about 4-6 weeks, no kidding, to be "behind the times."

A good place to get hobbyist and maker supplies for 3D printing is the Micro Center store in Bronx NY at the shopping center near crossbronx expressway... there are other places too...

Albertj