Rear Wipe Motor Seized - needs to be accessed/pulled

[tripplec]

I have searched and all motor issues are for 2nd Gen and arm removal that came up. I don't know if this build uses a tapered shaft as I had seen mention. We got the motor going with manual assist and powering on but once stopped a while I cannot move on its own.

I was looking for pointers on this in advance of pulling it this weekend since its mounted in the glass.

Someone else must have worked on theirs by now. It seems to be a common occurrence in time on the Explorers.

 

[Scorpion8]

Mine did that one my '06, and I found a ton of corrosion inside the shaft sleeve. When it was warm, the tolerances opened up enough for the wiper to move by itself, but as it got cooler the arm would seize up. I disassembled the whole mount, brushed out the inside of that sleeve with a copper bore brush mounted in a hand drill, and then packed it with synthetic grease when re-assembling. Been working great for 4 years now.

 

[tripplec]

I did an 02 Sport my son had before this. This is his latest build and its happened again. I am always wary of dealing with glass mounted systems.
Thx for the reply.

I get the task of fixing it. LOL

 

[Digitalgp]

I changed mine on my ‘07 Limited. I went off a YouTube video I found. Pretty much 2 nuts on the outside one for the wiper arm the other for the motor. Inside there’s an access panel on the glass that needs to be popped off and iirc 3 bolts on the motor. May be a bit of a pain depending how much corrosion yours has. You just have to try to wiggle it out or tap it with a rubber mallet.

The motors are a bit pricey. I went with the a1 Cardone from rockauto as that was the cheapest I was able to find. Not a fan of Cardone parts and generally try to avoid. It is noticeably louder then the old motor but it does the job.

 

[michael loibl]

If I recall, there was a service Bulletin issued by Ford back in 2007 or so indicating that many new explorers were assembled without grease in the rear wiper motor causing early failure.

 

[tripplec]

Well this is a 2009 Explorer. I doubt it applies and doubt its an identical system in this generation as well. If it is then it maybe familiar having done a 2002 many years ago.

 

[Explorer_PL]

I disassembled the rear wiper mechanism on mine at least twice in its life. I am still on original motor. But you just need to take it apart, clean it with sand paper, grease it and put it back together. It's a little tricky with the gears but the shaft just builds up the rust and it cant move anymore. That's all there is to it.

 

[tripplec]

Yeah, I figured it should I know the motor works. Just seized up from our weather over the years. They aren't sealed or lubricated for our climate and/or others.

 

[tripplec]

Well removing the motor after the wiper arm and nuts was not an issue. All came off without a fight. i got the motor on my bench with the plate off (held by T20 screws). Internally it looks fine, still viable grease in it. Although the shaft itself is going to be the issue. I cannot see how it comes out. The various arm pivot points appear pressed on. One is on a spline shaft. I lubed the end shaft of the wiper arm and tried tapping it with nylon head mallet. But nothing is moving at this point to address the shaft.

 

[tripplec]

I figured it out.

Failure is not an option!!!

There is a plastic clip on top over the shaft which would keep it from receding in. Shaft was rusted and pitted as well. I ended up using my vise to press the shaft out the back against the casting where there aren't mounting tabs which would snap off it pressure was placed on them. The gears fell out which are part of the sync cycle. I did not take a picture and had to figure out how to set them for the full swing from the plastic cam gear.

All together now. Ran without load to find the park home position and then with the wiper. Pour water on the window for smooth cycle testing. All appears 100% 6-10 cycles.