Shortly after purchasing my (new to me) 1987 XJ-S V12, the windshield wiper motor quit. I took it apart, did all the things that were suggested by Palm et al, and it worked again for another 9 months or so. Then it died, permanently.

I wasn't about the pay for a NOS one, and pulling one out of a junked one seems to be asking for the same problem, so I came up with an unusual but workable solution. I replaced the defective motor with a new motor (not intended for this task), "fabricated"...that is, bent in a vice some aluminum brackets, tapped a few holes, did a little more of this-and that, and came up with a solution that has now lasted for about five years. No welding or any other exotic processes involved. Took about a day.

The good news is that it works. The bad news is that from inside the passenger compartment it sounds a bit like a coffee grinder.

Basically, the modification involves a short piece of roller chain, two sprockets, a DC motor and the willingness to accept that I would have only one wiper speed and that "parking" the wipers would not be automatic.

Hopefully the photos are self-explanatory.

Regrets...I didn't use a a different motor. When I crank this one up to 17 volts (on the bench) it really rocks, but even at 13-14 volts it does an adequate job...certainly better than what the stock motor did before replacement.

I also should have used a belt drive, it would have been much quieter.

Thanks,

John
1987 XJ-S V12




Just a different view.

 

Where there's a will there's a way. Necessity is the mother of invention. Good job.

Jack