LEAD_NOT_FOLLOW Posted February 8, 2008 Share Posted February 8, 2008 The wife's XJ over the last few months has developed a bad case of "sloppy wipers". You never know how they are going to work; sometimes the wipers go completely off the windsheild, sometimes they only go about 6" back and forth. It has gotten worse over the past 3 months and I had been meaning to fix it. Yesterday on her way home from work they went from being "sloppy" to being "sloppy and loud". They had now begun to make a popping noise, as if they were binding and now did not really function at all. So she made her plea to me to do something about them (she's 7 months pregnant) and I decided I had better do something about it. I decided to tear into them today to see what the problem was and how to go about fixing them. It's something I see quite often on other XJ/MJ's that have their wipers not sitting flush. So I figured I'd document what it takes to fix the problem. This also can be used for replacing your wiper motor if it is faulty. The tools you'll need are the following: Straight Screwdriver Phillips Screwdriver 10mm Socket with extension T30 Torx Screwdriver Here is a photo of what they typically look like. We usually push them down after we get out. It's quite annoying. The first step is to remove the wiper arms. On the wiper arm itself there is a little tab (see green arrow) that you pry out with the straight screwdriver. Once the tab is out you can lift up on the wiper arms and they should come off. They may be a bit difficult to get off, so take your time and be careful if you try to pry on them. Once you get the wiper arms off you need to remove the plastic cowl. Their are 8 phillips screws that need to be removed. The drivers side has 3, the passengers side has 5. Once all 8 of these screws are removed you can gently lift off the cowl. Be careful with it as it is plastic and is very fragile. You will also need to undo the 2 hoses that go to your washer nozels. They simply just pull off. Here is a photo of what it looks like once you have the plastic cowl removed. Looking down into the exposed hole once you have the cowl removed shows the wiper motor and the linkage. The next step is to remove the 4 (2 on each side) T30 torx screws that hole the linkage to the metal of the cowl. Next you need to remove the 10mm bolt that holes the motor bracket on. You'll also want to undo the wiring harness that goes to the motor. Once you have done all the above steps the linkage assembly should be loose and you can gently work it out. I would recommend wearing a pair of gloves doing this step as the metal is sharp and you can easily cut your hands trying to get it out. Take your time and I swear it does come out; it just takes a bit of work maneuvering it correctly. Once I had it out I realized the reason for the "popping" that had been occurring. The bracket that holds the motor to the linkage had broken off and the arm was bent (GREAT!). So I thought about trying to fix it but it looked to be in to bad of shape. So I called a fellow GLXJ member (woodywagon) that had a parts XJ and made the trip over to his house to take the linkage off of it. Thanks again Rex! Here is a photo of the new (non-broke) linkage compared to the broken linkage. You can clearly see that the spot welds failed and the bracket is no longer attached. The wife's XJ is a 1993 and the new linkage I got was off a Renix era XJ. One thing I immediately noticed was the arm where the bracket for the motor attaches is more "beefy" on the Renix era linkage assembly than it was on the 1993 assembly. It also had 2 additional larger spot welds on it for the bracket. I now needed to swap the motor over to the new linkage assembly. For those of you who are replacing a bad motor this step also is for you. You need to remove 4 bolts; 3 that hold the motor to the bracket and than 1 that holds the linkage to the motor. All are 10mm. The "sloppy wiper" syndrome is due to bad bushings in the linkage assembly. If you go to your local auto-parts store and in the "shelf help" section you can find new linkage bushings. I got them at AutoZone for $4.99. The package says that they work with 1994-2001 Cherokee's; however I'm going to assume that they work for all model's. The package comes with several bushings, your only after 3 of them. You'll notice when you get them what 3 they are comparing them to the originals. Their are 3 bushings that you need to replace. I've attached 2 photo's to show what ones. They are basically just a ball and cup bushing. Take the old one's out (if they are worn they should somewhat easily pull out) and put the new ones in. The new one's may be a bit hard to get in, so use caution trying to get (force) them in as they are plastic. Than reassembly everything and than reinstall the linkage/motor and install back in your Jeep. Once you have it wired up and the linkage all tightened down I recommend running the motor and making sure everything cycles correctly. This all makes sure that your linkage is in the correct spot in the off position so you can reassembly your wiper arms correctly. Once everything is good put the cowl back together and reinstall your wiper arms in the position you want them. Your now finished and you should have a new revived wiper system. The process is fairly easy, just somewhat time consuming. Should be able to do the job start to finish in about 2 hours. And here is a photo of the new fixed wipers. They are now correctly parking at the bottom in the off position. It's also a good time to change your wiper blades as we did! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
watchamakalit Posted February 8, 2008 Share Posted February 8, 2008 Nice man. Sorry I didn't get back to you the other day. I didn't have it anyways. :cheers: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LEAD_NOT_FOLLOW Posted February 8, 2008 Author Share Posted February 8, 2008 Nice man. Sorry I didn't get back to you the other day. I didn't have it anyways. :cheers: No problem Dave. I was just going threw my resources and figured it was worth a shot... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carl'sMJ Posted February 10, 2008 Share Posted February 10, 2008 Thanks for posting that. I've been meaning to repair the same problem on mine. It has been getting consistently worse. The pics will help out alot. Thanks. :cheers: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
james750 Posted February 10, 2008 Share Posted February 10, 2008 That motor bracket is a pain in the a$$ to get out and a even bigger pain to get back in! :headpop: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOrnbrod Posted February 10, 2008 Share Posted February 10, 2008 That motor bracket is a pain in the a$$ to get out and a even bigger pain to get back in! :headpop:. So true. Just remember how it comes out and put it back in the same way. Also it's easier I found to press the new bushings on with a vice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TNT Posted February 11, 2008 Share Posted February 11, 2008 When my wiper motor spot welds broke free from the tube it mounts on I put 3 self tapping bolts in and it has been fine for 2 years. It took about 15 mins from start to finish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeeptruck86 Posted March 27, 2008 Share Posted March 27, 2008 Thanks for sharing this info! I'm gonna have a look at mine today. It's been driving me crazy and it's time to fix it. I just know the whole thing is gonna go to crap during a Carolina thunderstorm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeeptruck86 Posted March 29, 2008 Share Posted March 29, 2008 had a look at my wiper contraption today... Actually the linkage and bushings were all in great shape, looked almost new really. You know the plate where the motor bolts to the linkage? Well mine only had 1 of the 3 bolts in it. So sometimes the motor would move the wipers and sometimes it would only kinda move em... Two screws from Gnome Depot and we're good to go. And it took a tremendous amount of patience to get it all back in there. I had to take the wiper motor mount out of there for more wiggle room. Thanks for your help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chicofuentes0224 Posted May 9, 2008 Share Posted May 9, 2008 Is it possible to replace those bushings without taking the whole assembly out? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LEAD_NOT_FOLLOW Posted May 9, 2008 Author Share Posted May 9, 2008 Is it possible to replace those bushings without taking the whole assembly out? NO, unless your somehow very very gifted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
icurunnin Posted December 20, 2008 Share Posted December 20, 2008 Thanks for the write up I found it easy to snap the new bushings on with just a pair of channel locks. Now on to fix other small things wrong with my truck :ack: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tallon2064 Posted August 30, 2009 Share Posted August 30, 2009 Did mine today, made a world of difference. Part of the problem with mine was that the motor screws had come loose and one was missing, and the really weird part is it wasn't in the cowl opening. :dunno: :bowdown: :bowdown: Your write up made it super easy to do and what to watch out for. Thanks and keep on writing :bowdown: :bowdown: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1987Comanche Posted October 1, 2010 Share Posted October 1, 2010 So bushings that are shot would make the pass wiper slap the bottom of the windshield? They do park in random positions, ranging from horizontal to 20 degrees from horizontal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vaquaro Posted October 1, 2010 Share Posted October 1, 2010 So bushings that are shot would make the pass wiper slap the bottom of the windshield? They do park in random positions, ranging from horizontal to 20 degrees from horizontal. :clapping: by jove you've got it , also could be cracked or broken bracket as shown :smart: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmyohn Posted January 8, 2011 Share Posted January 8, 2011 I just removed the wiper motor from my MJ because I plan to swap in a new motor from the donor XJ I plan on finding this spring. Man what a PITA getting that motor out of that small space and pulling the wiper arms off 23 year old spline's suck. But your writeup did help me get it started. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rubikahn Posted September 19, 2021 Share Posted September 19, 2021 Old topic I know, but I just replaced the wiper arm bushings on my 89. What a difference! Two things I’ll share as far as my experience. Disconnect the plug off the wiper motor, and remove both brackets. There was way more room to maneuver the linkage when I was reinstalling it that way. Great write up though, thank you! No more slop, and the wipers return to their normal position. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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