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legacy's beware front wiper motor


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Well my 05 lgt the front wiper died randomly a few days ago.

the washer still worked indicating the fuse was fine.

 

I was playing with it I touched the aluminum case via screwdriver to chassis sheet metal and it began to work. i checked at the connector and the ground was fine.

 

Conclusion the internal ground to the connector some how failed, i have seen this before on 1990's gm cars and trucks.

 

What i did was installed a short ground wire about 5 inches long between the ground of the wiper assembly (since its on rubber isolated mounts) to the bolt that actually goes through the rubber mount.

 

I highly recommend that everyone adds this extra ground wire.

if you have ever had your wipers die on you before it tends to happen at the worst moment possible. the mod will take you all of 5 minuets to do.

 

again this may be isolated event post here if anyone else has had a similar issue

Now that's thinking out of the boxer!:lol:

fyi all 05 + legacy's have built in code reader

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So you basicly added another external ground wire from the case to the chassis ?

 

Pictures or it didn't happen ...LOL

305,600miles 5/2012 ej257 short block, 8/2011 installed VF52 turbo, @20.8psi, 280whp, 300ftlbs. (SOLD).  CHECK your oil, these cars use it.

 

Engine Build - Click Here

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Misused of beware...

 

Be careful, this is frank_ster your talking about. He's close to god like status...LOL

 

 

Hey, Frank, I wonder your car could finally be revolting because of that buick engine in there...

305,600miles 5/2012 ej257 short block, 8/2011 installed VF52 turbo, @20.8psi, 280whp, 300ftlbs. (SOLD).  CHECK your oil, these cars use it.

 

Engine Build - Click Here

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lol possibly. buicks tend to fall apart after 100k. my dad has one

 

that would be the chassis, not teh engine !!

 

there was a video from a guy called david's farm years ago he drove a bulldozer over a buick and then still started the engine and drove it afterwards.

 

but i believe this totally not buick related as i touched no part of that harness.

Now that's thinking out of the boxer!:lol:

fyi all 05 + legacy's have built in code reader

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Be careful, this is frank_ster your talking about. He's close to god like status...LOL

 

 

Hey, Frank, I wonder your car could finally be revolting because of that buick engine in there...

 

Read this, pooped my pants and ran to check my car to make sure it wasn't on fire because of this motor!! :lol:

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  • 3 weeks later...

You sir are a genius! Spent hours troubleshooting fuses, column wiring, the switch assy...no reason found for the sudden failure of the wipers to come on. Washer worked perfectly.

 

Found your post via a Google search. I poked a screwdriver through the grating to touch the motor housing and crossed it against another screwdriver grounded to frame. Boom! Wipers engaged!

 

Very simple fix per your post.

1.Removed the plastic grill covers on either side of grill covering the wiper motor. Each cap has three plastic lock rivets that remove easily by prying the center post up from he base using a tiny flathead screwdriver.

2.The grill itself comes up once you carefully pop each of the plastic retainers holding down the rubber gasket through the grill to the fire wall lip it attaches to. I used a small needle nose pliers and squeezed each retainer from the bottom while tugging gently on the gasket.

3. There are 3 or 4 more retainers holding he grill along the upper side of the grill closer to the windshield. These released easily without breaking by tugging gently on the grill.

4. I then removed each wiper arm by removing the plastic cap at the point where the arm connects and then removing the attaching nut for each wiper arm. I used a crayon to mark the orientation of the arm to the pivot...but it was easy enough to eyeball on reinstall.

5. I didn't completely remove the grill as there was enough play to lift the grill away from the wiper motor.

6. I made a small ground wire using 3 inches of 16g wire with an eyelet crimped on either end.

7. I removed one of the bolts mounting the linkage to the firewall (just below/right of the wiper motor) to use as my grounding point. I used a wire brush to clean off the threaded hole and the large flat washer and the bolt and then connected one end of my ground wire to the bolt and reattached the bolt.

8. I removed one of the Phillips headed screws at the wiper motor housing, again cleaned off the hole and bolt with a wire brush, and connected the remaining end of my ground wire to the screw and reattached.

9. Before reinstalling everything I tested the wiper functions and let them run for a while without load to see if the motor or ground wire were getting hot. No problems. Also took the opportunity to lube the linkage as best I could.

10. Reinstalled grill, covers, and wiper arms in reverse order.

 

In retrospect I would have used a better form or heavier gauge of grounding strap but I was pressed for time and unable to run out to the hardware store at the time. I would suggest giving this item more thought as above...but for the meantime I am good to go! Thanks again to Frank_ster for this post and for his ingenuity!

 

Joe

Edited by ebiff
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This was a common problem on '80s Chryslers as well. A short bit of wire with an eyelet on both sides, one to ground, one to the motor. Easy Peasy.

I like to cook my pets and my family.

 

Use commas. Don't be a psycho.

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This was a common problem on '80s Chryslers as well. A short bit of wire with an eyelet on both sides, one to ground, one to the motor. Easy Peasy.

Thank you. I worked as a tech for airline ground support equipment for 20 years and now as a medical equipment engineer...I see bad grounds all of the time. It just never struck me the internal strap would fail as opposed to a motor which I encountered so often. Thank you for letting know about Chryslers. I will pass it on in other forums.

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It's a strange one, but yes the wiper motor gets its ground through the connector. Must be some sort of internal part that failed. As for ground wire gauge size it wouldn't have to be any bigger than the harness that powers the wiper motor, and that is probably about 14-16 awg

Now that's thinking out of the boxer!:lol:

fyi all 05 + legacy's have built in code reader

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  • 10 months later...
  • 2 weeks later...

I just had my second wiper motor die. The first was original part, second was autozone rebuild. I ordered another autozone motor since it was under warrenty.

I will add in the ground to the new one for sure and try it on the old just for kicks to see if it starts working again. Why is the ground failure causing this to happen??

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Also, when the motor was working it was pretty wimpy on power/speed. Didnt change with the new motor. Would the bad ground cause this too?

 

yes it could

Now that's thinking out of the boxer!:lol:

fyi all 05 + legacy's have built in code reader

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lol possibly. buicks tend to fall apart after 100k. my dad has one

 

Also, when the motor was working it was pretty wimpy on power/speed. Didnt change with the new motor. Would the bad ground cause this too?

I'm gonna look into this 'cuz I feel the wipers are lacking a bit of enthusiasm.

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Thanks Frank and Donny. I'll try the ground tonight on the "dead" motor and report what happens. It was making some scary noises a few minutes before it stopped working so it might be toast. If so, I hope a new motor and the added ground will solve the problem. Other cars just seem to have much stronger wipers compared to my car. Not sure if its a legacy/outback thing, or just my car. I also had issues with the motor not working at all on cold mornings (< 15 F) and by the time i got to work they would work again. Could be the ground was not connecting in the cold for some reason...
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Mine would not work at low temps also over a year after adding the ground

So I replaced it with a jobber

 

I find the wipers on both of my 05 legacys to be very strong.

Now that's thinking out of the boxer!:lol:

fyi all 05 + legacy's have built in code reader

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So I ran a ground as suggested and right away the old motor started to make noise. With a couple taps of the housing with a screwdriver, it sprang back to life. I replaced with a new motor anyway since I wasn't sure what damage had been done. I ran a ground from one of the bolts on the wiper assembly to a ground on the front of the shock tower. Motor seems to run strong. I hope to never have to do that again. Thank you for all your help with this.
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the ground wire only needs to be 3" long. you can attach it to one of the rubber isolated mounting screws. on the wiper assembly its self.

Now that's thinking out of the boxer!:lol:

fyi all 05 + legacy's have built in code reader

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I haven't had any woes with the wiper motor on Subaru, but I have on others. The last one I fixed would just slow down and blow the fuse. It really only needed the bearings greased in the electric motor itself. The motors aren't hard to dismantle although it was a tug of war to get the rotor out of the bearings at each end of the housing. I guess the grease just disappears over time. Anyway, re-packed with regular EP grease and reassembled. Good as new. Cost = nil.
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