How do you fix your windshield wiper motor on your 94-95-98 Saturn SC1 or SL1?

Answer 1

I have had experence with a 98 saturn, but I was told it is the same with a 94. You cannot remove the motor only. 1. Take off wiper arm assy both sides. 2.remove plastic covering to expose wiper motor, between windshield and fire wall, open the hood its alot easier. 3. there should be two bolts holding the wiper motor/arm assy. They are beside each wiper actuator. Remove them. 4. Now the top portion of the dash (dash Pad) snaps off. There may be two screws in the center holding it on. Remove all and take off top portion of dash. This is just a cover. 5. Pull back the air duct around the area where the wiper motor is and you will see two bolts. (***edit*** It's possible that you need to cut a piece of isolating material that is covering these two bolts. It's a lot easier if you actually completely remove the air duct : 2 small screws on each side next to the winshield and at the bottom, the base it is only clipped. On my 1995 I could not access the 2 bolts without removing the air duct ***edit***) Take them off and the whole assy comes off. 6. The motor comes off the assy really easy. If you got this far, trust me, you will figure out the rest. good luck

Expanded answer :

On my 1995, It was not possible to take out the assembly right after taking off the 2 bolts underneath the air duct. I had to separate the motor from the mechanism assy to be able to take the 2 pieces one after the other. the motor is fixed to the mechanism by 3 bolts positioned in a triangle around the rotor and one on the rotor itself.

Once you have removed the motor, it's worth to verify that that the mecanism isn't seized (jammed), in my case, the mecanism was completely jammed and most likely this is why the motor died in the first place. You can put somme effort on it to remove the rust and lubricate it correctly otherwise you may have to change the motor again in a couple of months. The mechanism is worth twice as the motor so you it's up to you to change it as well or not. --Nien

Added.. These instructions apply perfectly to a 98 SL2. The only thing to note is that I was not able to get the air duct totally out without flexing it more than I wanted to ( it was COLD) but I removed the 2 screws, reached down and unclipped the 2 clips on the bottom and then I was able to lift it up then slide it to the right. Now there was plenty of room. Behind the duct there was a small piece of inulation covering those nuts, I pushed it aside, went in with a 10mm deep socket and short extension, and in 3 minutes I had the wiper motor out..after 2 hours of head scratching trying to get those bolts out from the engine side of the firewall :-) I had already removed the three screws holding the wiper motor to the mechanism so I can't say if it would come out intact but either way, that's not a problem, the secret is those 2 hidden nuts.

Follow up ..... I was NOT able to put the bracket assy with the motor AND the arm installed back into the car, there was no position I could find that allowed the whole thing to fit. I took only the arm off the motor ( 1 nut), ( leaving the motor secured with the 3 screws) and then it was simple to install the whole assy, tighten it into place, then put the arm and it's retaining nut back on. Just make sure you mark the shaft so you can put the arm back in the right place.

Many thanks to those posting, this was a great help.

Another Followup..........Another thanks to posters for making the uninstall easier. After removing the assembly in one piece which was not easy as the mechanism was stuck in the 1/4 position. I had to use a screw driver and force the arm to turn far enough to remove.After removal I noticed that the motor was slightly loose. Further examination revealed that the retainer bolts holding the assembly to the motor were backed out far enough so that they caught the radial arm and would allow no farther movement. Ater tightning the bolts I replaced the electric plug and turned it on just laid out on the cars motor. It worked! Afew loose bolts caused the whole thing.