Upgrade your windshield wipers for GOOD! 2001 XJ wiper motor swap

[EUREKA]

Did you not already have Cruiser54's Tip number 38 done?

[Airborne Janitor]

5 hours ago, EUREKA said:

Did you not already have Cruiser54's Tip number 38 done?

 

Not before I put in the XJ motor no.

[kriswinner]

@Airborne Janitor:  Love the idea of this update/upgrade!  Great work!

 

One question:

Now that you know this works (I understand this wasn't originally a guarantee), would it make sense to modify the MJ wiring (install the plug end from a "newer" XJ) instead of modifying the connector on the new wiper motor?  If the wiper motor ever goes bad in the future, this would make the future swaps plug-n-play.

 

[Armyvet25]

2 minutes ago, kriswinner said:

@Airborne Janitor:  Love the idea of this update/upgrade!  Great work!

 

One question:

Now that you know this works (I understand this wasn't originally a guarantee), would it make sense to modify the MJ wiring (install the plug end from a "newer" XJ) instead of modifying the connector on the new wiper motor?  If the wiper motor ever goes bad in the future, this would make the future swaps plug-n-play.

 

Personally, that's how I'd do it, but some may want to keep their truck as original as possible. And, how often should you really have to change a wiper motor??!

[kriswinner]

4 minutes ago, armyvet25 said:

Personally, that's how I'd do it, but some may want to keep their truck as original as possible. And, how often should you really have to change a wiper motor??!

 

Yeah...if you're burning through wiper motors, you probably have bigger problems.

[Armyvet25]

Just now, kriswinner said:

 

Yeah...if you're burning through wiper motors, you probably have bigger problems.

[PIKE]

I replaced my mine years ago with the newer version when I had floppy wipers. I purchased it from my local Jeep dealer and there was a separate wiring adaptor that i bought with the wiper motor at the same time. So it was all plug and play. They were both Mopar parts.

 

 

 

 

[acfortier]

I think @eaglescout526 shared the part number for the adapter harness somewhere...

[eaglescout526]

21 minutes ago, acfortier said:

I think @eaglescout526 shared the part number for the adapter harness somewhere...

Yes I did….I’m still being asked about it and there’s still the same number out there the last time I reported it. It’s just I lack funds and time at work to make a phone call to the dealers that have them. I’ve been doing my best to sneak a phone call or two in and get them. 

[Airborne Janitor]

3 hours ago, kriswinner said:

@Airborne Janitor:  Love the idea of this update/upgrade!  Great work!

 

One question:

Now that you know this works (I understand this wasn't originally a guarantee), would it make sense to modify the MJ wiring (install the plug end from a "newer" XJ) instead of modifying the connector on the new wiper motor?  If the wiper motor ever goes bad in the future, this would make the future swaps plug-n-play.

 

 

 

Yes this would be ideal, but given the lack of slack and space for the harness under the cowl it was easier to splice the pigtail on the motor on my workbench. I'm a man of convenience! 

[EUREKA]

Is the electric motor verified to be more powerful in later years? How much of the improvement was from the additional ground?

[Airborne Janitor]

2 hours ago, EUREKA said:

Is the electric motor verified to be more powerful in later years? How much of the improvement was from the additional ground?

 

It is, get in any 97+ stock XJ and try the wipers. The wipers move 2x as fast, you can watch the video. Better grounds always help but I doubt they would make your wipers function 2x as fast. The 01 XJ motor replaced a NOS motor I had been using.

[big66440]

Sorry to bring this back from the dead but just to be sure, all you did to wire the XJ motor to the MJ was follow the wires and splice them in accordingly?. Reason I ask is because I just received my new 2001 XJ wiper motor and some of the colors don't match the wire colors off of your XJ's wiper motor.

[Airborne Janitor]

44 minutes ago, big66440 said:

Sorry to bring this back from the dead but just to be sure, all you did to wire the XJ motor to the MJ was follow the wires and splice them in accordingly?. Reason I ask is because I just received my new 2001 XJ wiper motor and some of the colors don't match the wire colors off of your XJ's wiper motor.

 

Yes. You may have to take the rubber cover off to get a better look at the wiring, but just compare the 01 XJ motor to your MJ motor, get a note pad and right down what colors go where. It should seem mostly obvious, you may have some epoxy on the motor that blocks the wires.

[big66440]

Thank you

[schardein]

I did this swap yesterday.  Replaced the original wiper motor and linkage assembly in my 1991 XJ with the entire assembly from a 2001 XJ.  

I did some semi-scientific testing.  I made a video of the XJ with the engine running, wipers on high, spraying water on the windshield from a garden hose.  Then I viewed the video and counted the wiper sweeps in a one minute period- stock was 40 sweeps.

 

I made an inline adapter for the swap.  I used an extra motor end for the 91 motor, and an extra body harness end from a 2001.  Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of the harness.  But I do have some pics to share.  

One is the pinout for the body side connector for the 91 wiper connection.  Keep in mind this is the body side, reverse the image for the motor side (it's an easy mistake to make, ask me how I know).  

The next image is the body side connector pinout for the 2001 wiper connection.  The spliced on ends are for a 91ish-99 year wiper motor (different project).  

 

I was surprised to discover my 91 XJ had the round plug wiper connection.  I guess 91 was a changeover year.

 

After the swap I made another video under the same conditions.  Engine running, wipers on high, water spraying the windshield.  I got 52 sweeps in one minute.

Both tests were with an otherwise stock circuit, no extra added grounds.

 

Watching the videos, I also discovered my passenger side wiper was hitting the windshield molding at the bottom of its travel (1991 assembly).  I had to adjust the wiper arm to sit higher on the windshield to keep it off the molding during operation. And this was with relatively new bushings in the linkage- I replaced them a few years ago.  The 2001 linkage had the same issue.  In fact, there was a significant variation in how far down the pass side wiper went during operation.  I didn't replace the bushings in the 2001 assembly.  That may be a test project for the future.  

 

 

[a bum with money]

On 6/20/2023 at 4:32 PM, big66440 said:

Sorry to bring this back from the dead but just to be sure, all you did to wire the XJ motor to the MJ was follow the wires and splice them in accordingly?. Reason I ask is because I just received my new 2001 XJ wiper motor and some of the colors don't match the wire colors off of your XJ's wiper motor.

did that work for you? if it did what colors (2001 xj) did you match to your MJ? the 2001 motor that received from rockauto pn #85477 had black, green, yellow, red, white wires. I'm trying to match the two motors side by side and the colors aren't making any sense to me.

Bryce

[rokinn]

The part #'s are either 854470 for Cardone or 85447 for Ultra Power.

[big66440]

6 hours ago, a bum with money said:

did that work for you? if it did what colors (2001 xj) did you match to your MJ? the 2001 motor that received from rockauto pn #85477 had black, green, yellow, red, white wires. I'm trying to match the two motors side by side and the colors aren't making any sense to me.

Bryce

I have't had a chance to do the swap yet

[Major Weakness YouTube]

 

[zomeizter]

XJ wiper motor finally installed in the MJ, it was a PITA but well worth it...

 

 

[H3ADBANG4L1F3]

Awesome tutorial! Going to add this to the list

[gogmorgo]

Just did this today. Something to note. 

On 9/18/2023 at 11:54 AM, zomeizter said:

I got lazy on this and just made sure I got the high(yellow) and low (green) correct, based off this picture, then just matched up the other three wires based on their positions on old and new wiper motors because the picture isn’t fully clear and one of the threads on this mentioned just matching up wires based on where they went. Except then I plugged it in and nothing worked. 
This is the Valeo wiper motor that has been on the truck since I bought it:

 

And this is the Cardone 85-4470:

 

Had I been paying attention to what was going where I might have noticed that the keyed power and ground had been reversed, but I just charged ahead. Fortunately the wipers are on a self-resetting breaker so I didn’t even need to go hunting for a fuse when I turned the thing into a dead short. After pulling the motor back out it was a simple matter of swapping the power and ground around and now I’ve got full function, and wipers that will actually push themselves across a dry windshield. 

 

[zomeizter]

That is my bad @gogmorgo, I should have mentioned that the wiring color matching is not always the same with different wiper motor manufacturers, it took me a bit to figure mine out since I had different wire colors than what others had noted. Glad to hear you got it figured out and enjoying an improved wiper system. 

 

For future reference, this is how I wired in the XJ motor into my rig: (note that mine is a 1986 MJ so maybe the colors are different from 87 and up)

 

MJ connector/XJ wiper motor

White/Green

Red/Yellow

Blue/Red

Gray/White

Black/Black

[gogmorgo]

No worries. Usually I would have got the pinouts and gone through everything instead of just guessing. But I was running low on daylight and wanted it together so I took a shortcut, and this is what happens when you take shortcuts ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

I’m also not entirely convinced this is such a massive upgrade as all that. Just kinda feels like I replaced a worn out part with a newer one.  Maybe if you were pulling a newer motor out of a later vehicle vs an old one at a junkyard. But considering the motors look nearly identical less the connector… it would be interesting to compare an old style and new style directly. 
But I needed a new wiper motor anyhow. This one stank of electrical smoke and imminent failure when I pulled the condom off it to check the wires. I doubt it would’ve survived the winter. I also took the opportunity to replace the linkage bushings, so everything should be good down there for another 30 years or so I hope.