84-88 Windshield Wiper Motor Rebuild. Sort of.

Rummaging around looking for pieces concerning the wsw motor post someone wanted to convert their 2 speed wipers to delay. Which isn't too difficult save for the mucking around in the steering column. Except for the sometimes expensive, sometimes hard or impossible to find, and sometimes both types of parts, expensive and hard to find, it's not super-difficult to do.

With that, I decided I'd try rebuilding yet another piece of garbage on the 85, just because I can. The factory windshield washer motor. Again, with mostly GM/Delco parts, I think I can get the motor working to fresh-out-of-the-factory status. I got a bunch of parts for it, and since I can't get the housing, motor magnets and motor outer sleeve, I got everything else save the fasteners. Depending on what I find, I MIGHT reuse something, but not sure yet.

And of course, I already have a complete NOS WSW motor in the box, but...rebuilding the factory original with new GM parts is always a fun thing to do as well. Plus, you learn a lot what goes on inside.

So here's the breakdown-

There's NOT a whole lot you can buy separate anymore than 3rd party parts because most of the time, the motor is replaced as a unit. The gear housing and armature housing with the magnets are not available separately, so any refurbishment you do will have to revolve around those being in good shape. Also, mounting grommets come with the new motors, but those weren't available separately either, that I can find.

But the mechanical guts are replaceable with new junk. As you can see in the TYPICAL diagram below, it's NOT a buttload of parts that make up one of these things. Now, again, to be clear, there is NO difference in the basic motor setup between delay and non-delay wiper motors. The only differences is parts #1 and #3. You must have two contactors (#3) to make this work with delay. They simply pop off the prongs and transfer to the new park switch, or you can simply swap out the entire park switches. Naturally, the cover (#1) will have a circuit board in it that is required for delay wipers. That's it. All the other parts are the same.




List of replaceable parts for G-body, not including fasteners:

OEM 20521247 WSW motor/pump assembly, date code Jan 23, 1985 (023 85 ink stamped label) installed on car. OEM number is NOT supported by GMSPO. It's the assembly line part number. The catalog number was 22039687 along with the supersession numbers. 19179659 is the latest number, but it's discontinued, too.

22049373 - WSW pump
22038791- WSW motor armature end cap w/brushes and lube pack
22039685- Gear kit, with rubber dust cap and washers
22038794- Armature kit
22039684- CD4 cover kit w/circuit board
22048614- Main shaft kit
22038796- Switch, Motor Park (with CD4 contactors)

I still need to find and take pics of the new CD4 cover and Main Shaft Kit since they're in another box out in the shop somewhere. I'll do that when I find them.
Nice thing is that every box has instructions included as how to install the parts. Some are pretty straightforward, but there are some nice little call outs in the destructions.


To do this right, it is BEST to have the instructions with the Delco parts. However, it's even BETTER if you have your car's Chassis Service Manual (CSM). There are things you won't see in the instructions. Interestingly, the instructions are pretty lame as well in some sections of the CSM. For example, on factory motors, the retaining thrust collar ring under the rubber boot holding the main shaft in place is a metal ring that you have to cut with a chisel. Instructions in the CSM read to remove the ring. But it doesn't tell you how. You see the picture, and only THEN you realize there's vise and chisel action having to be done here. What goes on in place of it is a small snap ring. Then the boot goes over all that jazz. Plus, it tells you the spec as the main shaft end play needs to be betwee 0.001" to 0.010". Quite a bit of leeway there, but there is spacer washers included in the gear kit to get it there. Kinda crazy.

I'm going to go over the rebuild as I go so things will get filled in as I do it, but there again, it's as I get time to work on it. Plan is to go over simpler things that many of us may end up doing such as replacing the washer pump with things to look out for even if you don't rebuild the pump. Also, aligning things to ensure the CD4 cover goes back on CORRECTLY so you don't break expensive and hard to find junk.

So let's see what we're working with. First, you need to take it off the car. This means you'll need a 1/2" or 13mm wrench/socket to remove the crank arm from the back of the motor. Also, a 10mm socket with 3" extension and a universal helps when trying to reach the bottom bolt on the motor mounts. There are 3. Ratchet or power ratchet should do fine. I got a little 3/8" drive Milwaukee battery ratchet that made quick work out of the mounting bolts. But first, you'll find that you'll need the 10mm socket or a 10mm wrench to loosen (no need to remove) the nuts on the crank arm ball to the wiper linkage. Just loosen them and slip the mount off the crank arm ball and lay it aside to gain access to the crank arm mount bolt. The motor now should be free to be moved out and up so you can get to the washer hoses and the power plugs (2). The power plug on the side of the cover has a clip on it that you need a small screwdriver to gently lift it over the lock tab. Be careful not to break stuff. You're working with old plastic here. There's also a lock tab on the motor brush end you can hold out slightly and push the plug away from the connector. Now, you can remove your motor from the car.

The motor SHOULD be in the off/parked position. This means when you turn the motor around and look at the off-centered main shaft, the shaft is positioned over to the left side (driver side). Remember this for assembly.

Now you have this below. Naturally, I plan on doing up the decals as well.



Removing the cover screws, you'll find there's actually 2 shorties and 1 long one. The long one goes through the "bottom" hole of the cover, and through the bottom hole of the park switch. DON'T mix them up.



The back side of the cover- note the position of the paddle. During reassembly it's important to follow the instructions. Also note the top half has non-hardening sealer on it to keep moisture out.



Guts viewed when cover is removed. Note the packed up grease in there. Also, the contactors are there. Again, this is the WIPERS PARKED position. Note the gear position, which has a pocket on the left for the pins to rest in when the motor is running.


After thinking about it, I know the easy thing to do is put on a new circuit board cover. But rather than try and find one, I think I'll roll with the OEM unit. It still works and if it conks out, it's a much easier change out.

First thing is to get rid of the washer pump from the cover. A metal spring retainer piece with a lock tab on it is all that holds it in. So, using a trusty flat-blade screwdriver, I just pressed down on the lock tab and worked it out away from the pump and it popped right out. You can just grab the end of the pump and pull it straight out. There are 2 prongs that need to be aligned when reassembling.


You can see the tab here that needs to be pressed down to release the retainer. BE CAREFUL. If you break the cover piece here, which many people have done, you will need to get a new cover. Good luck with that.


Now the pump slides right out. There's a sponge rubber seal that seals up the bottom of the pump to the plastic cover. Make sure this comes out.


The cover did clean up very well. You can see the plug holes up in there as well as the terminals on the pump. As for the yellow paint mark, I have NO idea what that's about. A QA mark?

On with the show...now we can ensure the foam seal ring is near the bottom of the pump. Note the new retainer clip. I don't know if aftermarket pumps come with such clip, so don't throw away any old parts until you assess what you got to put back in it. Oh, and before I forget, the CENTER mounted tube is from the washer tank, the tube that is closer to the side of the pump is the discharge side to the washer nozzles. Get them backwards and you'll be scratchin' your head as to why. Slide the pump in while lining up the terminals to fit in their sockets. DON'T FORCE ANYTHING. It should slide in rather smooth and bottom out. Ensure the foam seal is gently poked into the seal area on the cover. Use a popsicle stick or similar if you have to. Don't tear the seal.


Once the pump is fully seated and the seal ring is properly placed, install the new clip with the lock tab on the pump nozzle end. I just used the flat-blade and pressed until it locked in place. Done.


To get the motor end cap off, you need to bend the heavy duty tabs holding all that junk in. Bend them out just enough to clear the cap, then gently pry around the cap and pop it off. Brushes will fly. Just pick them up. There's 3 of them.

From the CSM:


Here's the motor end caps with brushes. New one is on top. The method they use to hold the brushes in place is that spring pressure makes the contact with the brushes so it needs no wires. This is why the brushes will fly out if not held in place. See that white-ish ring in the second pic? Easier to see the top one. There's a plastic ring that keeps the brushes at bay, and when it is inserted into the motor housing, the bottom of the commutator pushes down on the ring until the ring is displaced below the brushes. It's captured in place and remains there forever. I'm not going into details, but I was able to retrieve the ring and place it back on the OEM unit I took out which is on the bottom. Based on brush lengths, there's maybe 15 thou worn off the brushes. They're practicall still in new condition.


Now, back to the main shaft and gear. With the park switch out of the way, you can manipulate the shaft dowel pins to rotate into position and land in the opposite grooves. This basically unlocks the gear and the motor can spin it around.



But the reason we're doing that here is so you can just grab the end of the armature and pull straight out. It'll spin the gears a little as you pull it out, and that's ok. It's going to fight you because of the magnets (pretty strong) but carefully keep pressure and pull straight out being careful not to whack into the magnets and chip them up. And now you should see the armature in its full glory. If you decide to re-use yours, resist the urge to use sandpaper on the commutator. Just wipe with a soft cloth and maybe take a tooth pick or something similar to clean out the grooves in between. If you have lots of wear or if the metal is smeared over closing the gaps in the commutator, it's pretty much f**ked and you'll need a new one. I inspected this one and while it looks fine, I'm using the new one.

Time to get the gears out. Factory units have a ring retainer which is crimped on to the shaft. This is where I showed earlier that mystery deal where you chuck it in a vise and use a chisel to pop that ring. So I did. Two tentative whacks, then said fugg it, whacked it one good one more. POP! Thing broke in 2 pieces. Pic below shows sorta what it looked like before (imagine the fact it's broken here is a myth. Pretend it's solid. 🙂 )



And, the broken ring. Discard. There's a snap ring in the gear box and the shaft kits to replace this crimped on ring.


Spacer ring to take up the slack. Again, the gear should have 0.001" to 0.010" end play. Save this spacer ring, it MIGHT come in handy. Or not. The gear kit has some spacer rings to mix and match as well.
That outer ring with the tab on it is stuck on the end of the gear shaft. It's hollow, and has two "tangs" that stick out on each end. One that goes in the gear, the other, in this gear shaft retaining ring. There's a thin spacer ring under that thicker retaining ring. I had to use a small screwdriver to carefully pry off the shaft retaining ring.


Stuff removed from gear shaft. Tapping it off darn near took the gear shaft out of the gear too, so it's sticking out. Problem- the shaft wanted to hang up when being pulled out from the front gear case. I started to file down the very edges of the tangs as there was some metal ridged up in that area. See where the end of the micro file is pointing to. I figured I could file that down and remove it. It was taking a long time trying to chase high spots, so I figured it'd be quicker if I took the plastic end of the screwdriver and tapped the gear off the front and pulled the shaft out from the back. WIN!!


So here's what it should have looked like if it came out from the front. There's a spacer washer here. Again, it's in the kit.

New gear set, retainers, washers, plus new rubber cap ready to go. Errgh. You can see the snap ring as the big gear is sorta covering up most of it.


Now, go get that little gear off its shaft. Pop the retainer up with a flat blade. It's just a push on retainer. I goobed the plastic gear up a tad, but fugg it, I'm tossing it and using a new one anyway. I could reuse it as it didn't hurt anything really. Just be careful. There's a copper spacer/washer under this gear on the shaft. Gotta remember to put that in when the time comes.

WTF is this? Oh, yeah, it's a single piece retainer, but turns into 2 pieces when you install it. It goes in a machined hole above the motor shaft. The top half pin gets pressed into the bottom half and spreads out the bottom piece against the hole walls which are ribbed (for her pleasure). The ribs deform the plastic as the "nail" half spreads out the bottom section. I'm sure the factory had a million dollar machine to press it in the right position. The bottom tip resides in the gear casing, and its job is to keep the gear motor from trying to walk upward. A motor shaft retainer? I dunno. There's hardly any info on it in the drawings. Took me a bit to figure this piece out but it became apparent when I removed the original one. I would suggest if you do not HAVE to remove this, leave the original in place. I'm glad I noted the position of the original tip when I did take it out. It only extends into the gear case from the hole about 3/16"-1/4" or so.


Here it is just sitting in place as a mockup to give you an idea. With the gears installed, you won't see this.


Note too, there are two bushings/bearings in the gear case. If these are fubar'ed, you will need a new motor, because they are not serviced separately. Unless you know a machinist or ARE a machinist and can make and put new ones in. Not a high speed bushing, nor heavy duty side loading, but it's important to check its condition. Now it's time to clean this puppy up, grab up the pieces parts, and start making this wiper motor great again.

So now it's been hollowed out as much as possible, and cleaned and painted. I used alumi-blast on the upper body and the motor housing got CRC cold galvanizing coating. It cleaned up pretty well. Better than I thought. Perfect? No. Passable? I think so. Sad part is that the bottom 2/3 is basically hidden behind the wheel well where you can hardly see it. But that's ok. It looks 10 times better than it did.

So I searched, and tried to find new rubber grommets. To no avail. I did find some grommets used on earlier motors with mechanical pumps, and they're about 1/16" thicker than the later G-body ones. P/N 22049533. Figured I'd give them a shot. If they don't work, I still have semi-decent originals, but the new ones just look nicer. So I'd like to keep them. I swapped the eyelets out of the old ones and used them that way, so effectively I just changed the rubber portion. Strange that you need three, but they come in packs of 2. Order filled by the same guy who packs the hot dog buns I guess.


Guess which one is the new one?


Time to install the motor armature. Magnet is bad azz and will fight you most of the way in. The motor cap comes with a little pack of grease to lube the shaft tip. Then just snap the cap into place and make SURE you don't lose the brushes and they slide up on the commuator correctly. You can bend back the tabs now to keep the motor cap in place.


I wasn't sure how to put the armature retaining plastic pin in place. So I simply put it in place, then I took a small shim of about 1/8" of an inch thereabouts and put it between the pin and the screw. Which is about where it was before. I then tapped the locking nail down into the pin and then removed the shim. There's a small gap there so nothing binds, but it will keep that armature from walking. I think. There's no information about this thing, so I hope it turns out ok. Here's a pic as I was getting ready to put the motor cap on.


Nail tapped down. Probably could go a bit further, but was afraid I'd fugg something up. I think the original stuck out some, but don't recall how far. Should hold it as is.



Here's the little gear. Copper washer goes on the spindle first, then the gear, then the push nut gets pressed on to almost seated with just a tad of end play. I liberally used Lucas Red n Tacky #2 general sythetic grease due to resistance to melting and moisture. NOBODY hardly rebuilds these things, but I've seen red and blue grease on rebuilt units, so...


Install the big gear, and ensure the shim washer gets used on its shaft, put a little lube on either side of the washer for good measure. Reference again that the gear needs to be lined up to the parked position. Lube up the two bushings/bearings for the big azz gear shaft too.

Found the main shaft. Yay. Lube it up and slide it into place. Take the pins and position them toward the park switch. And put the switch in too.


Other than the cover/pump, the front is done.

383_StealthRam said:

There was iirc a recall or service bulletin on those WSW motors on Cadillacs, in late 80's and likely others that required replacement of the armature, and end cap with brushes.

I remember having to bend the metal tabs that held the cap in place and bending back again. I think the issue was very slow, or inoperable wipers after owner used wipers with ice or heavy snow on windshield.

Or something like that...lol I can't remember what I had for lunch yesterday but that old useless info sticks with me.

Click to expand...

Oops. Yeah, that reminds me, I forgot to take a pic of the motor cap end before I bent the tabs out. When you first pull the cap off- BOIINGGG! goes the 3 brushes. There's an ingenious little trick they use to hold the brushes in place during assembly. But it's not the "toothpick" trick that the alternator brushes use.

Flip it over, move to the back. Make sure to immobilize the main shaft or it will fall out. Ask me how I know.

Add that other gear shaft shim washer, then the hollow gear shaft end cap can be placed over that and the main shaft, little tab facing you. Locate the groove on the main shaft for the retaining snap ring. There's a mix of shim washers for getting that end play to 0.001" to 0.010". You'll need some tiny snap ring pliers. The clip is small. Install it with the thinnest washer, and measure end play. Remove and add more washer(s) if clearance is too much. I got 0.006" end play with the one thin washer so I sent it. Remember that rubber cap? Now's a good time to install that.


Rubber cap. The little tab on that gear shaft cap piece fits into the little slot on the back of the rubber cap. Otherwise it's a PITA to fit down on the motor snugly.


Oh, and it's never complete without a decal! (that nobody will ever see again)

I found 2 of the cover units. Apparently they were made after the production runs. Assembled in Mexico. Even comes with new mounting screws.

TIP: Ensure when placing the cover back on the unit, it is in PARK position, and the cover cam is in the proper location. Also, the cover needs to have the top half sealed to the wiper motor with non-hardening sealer.



These instructions show you how to place the cam before installation. Newer style cam.


For the newer style, you want the open area wide, like in Figure 1 in the above pic. Like this.


The early OEM style has more of an arrow head look to it, and much flimsier construction. This is why it's SO EASY to break that center pin on this type. The instructions for this one says to point the tip to the bottom screw hole. Like so: