Windscreen wiper motor replacement / scuttle panel removal

[jos]

I've just needed to replace my windscreen wiper motor and had a difficult time trying to work out how to do it without smashing the scuttle panel, but have successfully done it and thought I'd share it with you. Hope this helps

Mark the wiper blades position using tape on the windscreen (masking tape for example)

Pop the bonnet

Remove the caps at the bottom of each wiper blade & safely store

Remove the wiper blade arm nuts using a 13mm socket (or spanner if you so wish)

Soft close the bonnet & remove both wiper arms

Reopen the bonnet & remove the soft rubber strip at the rear of the engine bay which keep sthe scuttle panel down.

Now comes the hard part........

The wiper motor cover panel/scuttle panel is removed by gently lifting the driver side first by inserting a flat headed screwdriver from the passengers side towards the drivers side & gently lifting. It is secured into position by a plastic (moulded) strip along the majority of its length inserted into another plastic strip secured to the windscreen, which can be seen by gently lifting the soft rubber strip at the bottom of the windscreen. This securing strip stays in place on the windscreen, and only the scuttle panel needs to be removed. Once lifted the windscreen washer tubes need to be removed to allow the panel to be safely stored until later.

Once the scuttle panel is removed you can then access anything underneath it, such as the wiper motor.

The wiper motor & wiper mechanism is removed by removing the 3 star shaped (hex??) securing screws and gently manipulating the whole ensemble out from the bulkhead. Be careful as the washer tubes & other various electrical cables will get in the way and need to be gently pushed aside. The motor & mechanism do come out, they just need a bit of gentle persuasion. Prior to completely removing the motor & mechanism the cable connector needs to be removed.

Once off the car the motor & mechanism needs to be dismantled by firstly removing the 2 arms. These just get popped off using a flat tool with a long handle and a bit of brute force. The motor comes away from the mechanism by undoing the 3 10mm bolts using a spanner or socket.

Remove the old motor and replace with the new. Once the new one is on the mounting plate, the rotating arm needs to be pointing towards the passeger side (I think), otherwise the wipers will move downwards before returning to their normal position. It took me ages to figure this one out, but i got there in the end. Refit the 2 arms making sure the spinning arm is as close to horizontal as you can get it and reinstall (gently) back into the car, making sure the electrical connection is clicked back into position.

I would thoroughly reccommend testing the system before refitting the scuttle panel or wiper blades. The wiper spindles need to spin anti clockwise at first, or up the windscreen. Once refitted & conencted, turn the electrics on. If the motor thinks its not in the right position (horizontal) it will automatically reset itself. Once reset, closely observe the spin direction to ensure it is correct. If it spins downwards first, remove the motor & mechanism & flip rotate the spinning arm by 180 degrees. Refit & test.

Once satisfied that the motor causes the spindles to spin in the correct direction, refit the scuttle panel, and wiper arms. The arms will probably need the bonnet to be closed to refit them, but the nuts will need the bonnet open to do them up. Lastly refit the soft rubber strip to the back of the engine bay that keeps the scuttle panel down/secure, and job done.

Hope this helps

Cheers

Jos

www.josbrownlie.co.uk

@josbrownlie

[mbames]

The wiper motor cover panel/scuttle panel is removed by gently lifting the driver side first by inserting a flat headed screwdriver from the passengers side towards the drivers side & gently lifting. It is secured into position by a plastic (moulded) strip along the majority of its length inserted into another plastic strip secured to the windscreen, which can be seen by gently lifting the soft rubber strip at the bottom of the windscreen. This securing strip stays in place on the windscreen, and only the scuttle panel needs to be removed.

All good, but avoid the screwdriver as if it chips the bottom edge of the windscreen you might be needing a new windscreen in the next cold snap....

I found with a bit of wiggling I could lift up the scuttle without the aid of a screwdriver.

Edited 6 March, 2011 by mbames

[rwbaldwin]

All good, but avoid the screwdriver as if it chips the bottom edge of the windscreen you might be needing a new windscreen in the next cold snap....

I found with a bit of wiggling I could lift up the scuttle without the aid of a screwdriver.

+1

Get you fingers under the rubber seal on the windscreen and slide them along pulling the scuttle panel out of the groove.

Don't use tools unless you have to. Half a plastic peg (without the spring) can be used if it is really tough to remove.

If the car is outside, warm up the scuttle panel with a hair-dryer before you do anything - in this cold weather it is easy to crack the panel.

Edited 6 March, 2011 by rwbaldwin

[chrisevans]

Bit of a thread resurrection. Replaced my mechanism today thanks to Luca on here. The rubber strip at the bottom of the screen and on top of the scuttle panel is practically non existent. Anyone got any idea of the part number? Or can I put some weather proof tape on here ( ugly I know but it's a £300 car)

[rwbaldwin]

The strips are part of the scuttle panels

[Oet]

yup its part of the scuttle chris, you are going to need a new one

tape will work as a short term fix but will look pretty bad

[MilanA]

One question about this whole thing. Does a Golf IV/Bora or Seat Leon or Audi A3 8L windscreen wiper mechanism and motor fit into a O1 Octy? Because I'm gonna need to find a replacement soon (my wipers started to go really slow) And around here Golf parts are much easier to find.

 

Milan

[whitep]

Guys if yous are slow like mine were, I pulled it apart cleaned everything, lubricated and refitted. Nothing needed replacing and they are working a year on fine! repair, dont replace.

[yesiamtom]

MilanA, I am the same as whitep. Remove the whole linkage and on the upright parts which the wipers connect to you will see some circlips. If you remove those carefully (worth having some spares) and fully clean inside those spindles then relube with a nice thick lube you'll be amazed by the results. Mine are still going strong 8 months on. Prior to this the wipers actually stopped working on the way home and wouldn't budge even on the high setting.

Now if only I could figure out how to get the motor > linkage connection in the correct place so the wipers don't wipe over the edge of the screen :(

[whitep]

yesiamtom, what do you mean? Do you mean the wipers poke beyond the edge on the passenger side? Or do you mean they wipe too low onto the scuttle panel?

[rwbaldwin]

...Now if only I could figure out how to get the motor > linkage connection in the correct place so the wipers don't wipe over the edge of the screen :( ...

Assuming the motor assembly is mounted correctly, the only thing that determines the 'wipe area' is the position of the arm on the spindle.

[yesiamtom]

I think you already replied to me asking about this before rwbaldwin

 

whitep, it's not the parked position that is the problem. The problem is my wipers start touching the very bottom of the windscreen and finish touching the very edge. Someone on here a while ago mentioned it is most likely the wiper motor is sat on the linkage incorrectly but I couldn't figure it out last time I looked. Very frustrating as it's not easy getting that motor in and out! 

Edited 19 September, 2013 by yesiamtom

[rwbaldwin]

Have you changed the wiper blades from OE?

You would need to shorten the effective length of the crank arm to reduce the sweep range. If your crank arm is bolted to the motor drive shaft you can 'slot' the hole. Just a few mm will be multiplied by 8 or 10.

HTH

[yesiamtom]

Yeah, I just had a cheeky read of the UK golf forum and it seems to suggest what you are saying. Going to take a look on saturday or sunday hopefully. I usually get ****ed off so much by putting the motor assembly back into the scuttle panel that I give up after one attempt. 

 

If the original wipers had a 90 degree sweep mine are currently doing about 95 degrees. 

 

What do you mean by "slot" the hole?

[rwbaldwin]

File the mounting hole for the crank arm (the short 3" arm) at the motor drive shaft towards the other end. If you file away 1mm, the effective length of the crank arm will be 1mm shorter. This will be multiplied by 8 or 10 at the wiper tip.

[marc54rg]

I've just tried to remove my scuttle panel to clean the leaves & crap from underneath and ended up getting that p'd off with it I had to put it back together and leave it. Firstly the wiper arms were seized on the splines, got those off my getting some mole-grips under the arm and on top of the nut and clamping the moleys together. Anyway, as i've got my head under the bonnet, the edge of the scuttle panel closest to me lifts up easily, but I can seem to get it off the bottom of the screen and I don't want to force it off / break my scuttle panel itself. I can get both halves of my scuttle panel to move side-to-side but that's as much as I can get.

 

How exactly are they held to the bottom of the screen because I can't see any clips (in fairness, there's not a lot of room to look is there)

[yesiamtom]

The panel just clips onto a metal rail at the bottom of the windscreen if my memory serves me correctly. Best bet is to make sure the engine is nice and warm and perhaps get the hair drier out...once you take it out once its easy!

[marc54rg]

Done it thanks to a friend who was a bit more daring than me. Wish I'd been a bit more rough now, as he made it look easy. As the bonnet is on the prop, pull the passenger side scuttle panel up at the same angle as the bonnet is sat at. Then same with the drivers side. Cleaned all the leaves & crud out and replaced the pollen filter while I was there! Jobs a good'en.

[CoffinDodger]

Thanks for the tips all, needed them today.

My wiper assembly was cleaned and lubed 2 or so years ago by a mechanic and has run fine since. Just starting to slow up and stick again so I lubed it myself with help from this article and the Haynes manual. Seems to be working smoothly again.

One thing no one has mentioned here that happened after the first work I had done was that the garage did not clip down the scuttle properly on the outside edge nearest the mirror. The slot or groove it sits in was full of debris and it did not clip in fully. It was only the last inch or two which was proud. I never noticed. This allowed water ingress to the footwell from near the bonnet release lever and sent me all round the threads on water ingress. It had been months from the fix to the evidence of the leak, due to good summer weather, so initially I did not connect the two.

When you've got the scuttle panel off, make sure the slot it fits in along the botttom of the windscreen is free from grease and debris. If not, clean it out with a toothbrush or something before refitting the scuttle panel

[will_]

Mixed success here.  The scuttle panel came off much more easily than expected, and with a little WD40-flavoured encouragement, so did the wiper arms.  The linkage and motor came out in one piece once I'd moved one of the wiring looms out the way a little, and the arms popped off the ball joints easily.  All the dirt and grime ran off with a quick blast of brake cleaner.

 

The problem came when I realised that one of the spindles was not just stiff, it was stuck solid.  I could get it to rotate the tiniest bit by hitting it with a hammer, but could not move it at all by hand.  I resolved to remove the spindle and clean out the corrosion which was probably the cause.  The circlip holding it in was a real pain because it has no eyelets and rotates as soon as you put any pressure on it, but it eventually came off by lining up a pair of small screwdrivers - one on either end of it - and tapping them both together.  Goodness only knows where the circlip went, but that soon became irrelevant because shortly after I started hitting the (now theoretically free) spindle to remove it, the aluminium linkage snapped.  (I really did try more gentle techniques first, promise!)

 

I need the car today so I'm off to TPS to buy a new linkage now.

[will_]

Update: found a linkage with motor still attached at the scrappy for £20.  Bargain!  Stripped it, cleaned it, re-greased and re-assembled it, and now I have the fastest wipers in the world!  I also hoovered out enough leaves to solve most of the world's carbon dioxide problems, and wax-oiled everything underneath.

[ozzyboy]

ive just snapped my linkage doing the same

£25 delivered off ebay

now all fixed