Not sure how many other people out there have had their front wiper motor die on them, but if you have, this is how to go about replacing it.

I replaced my front wiper motor this morning and it only took 30min.

You don't need to remove the hood or the cowl or cut any bolts or anything.

It takes only a 13mm socket, a deep 10mm socket, a 10mm wrench, and a flathead screwdriver.

1.) Remove the drivers side cowl vent. This takes the flat head as there are 3 clips on the top which need to be popped.


2.) Undo the 13mm nut holding the linkage to the motor. This will probably require you to move the linkage out of the way to remove.


3.) Undo 3 10mm bolts. You can use the socket on the top 2, but it is easiest to remove the lower one with the wrench.



4.) Remove the motor via the left side of the bracket. This takes a bit of manuvering, but should only take about 5 minutes max.


5.) Unclip the wiring harness from the motor.

6.) Install using the reverse of the directions above.

When installing everything back, it is important to make sure the wipers and linkage are set in the "off" position, otherwise when the motor completes a cycle, they may not end up in this position.

There you go, that's how it is done. Not too much time, and no reason to spend any more $$ than the parts themselves cost.

 

This becomes my DIY library for future maintenance.

 

Thanks. I saw there wasn't anything on here about it other than stories of people being charged upwards of $600 for it, which is a bit much given what it entails (though that would be for the entire linkage assembly).

 

Great post, thanks!
After being quoted $600 for the dealer to replace it, i bought the motor and linkage for $80 on ebay and will diy as soon as it arrives.

 

I just finished replacing my motor and it was definitly NOT a 30 minute job and I'm quite handy with tools and cars. It took me over an hour just to get the motor out - 60+ minutes of cutting my hands up, scraping knuckles, dropping crap into my engine bay and some serious frustration. The only way I got the wiper motor out was to remove top of airbox, and some screws in the firewall/plastic panel between the airbox and wiper motor... then pull the panel hard toward the front of the car just enough to squeeze the motor out (but not hard enough to break things) There is no possible way the motor could have came out of the cowl on my 2002.

Another user PM'd me with the same experience I had.

Well, it's done and works... but it's no wonder the dealer wants $600 parts+labor to do the job.

 

I am in the middle of doing this, and I cannot believe how little fun this has been. I spent a LOT of time trying to get the cowl off of the car. It is not attached to the car at the moment, but I cannot remove the cowl.

I was gonig to change the whole assembly, but after reading this, I will remove the motor from the assembly, and change it only.

 

I didn't use any tools to remove my cowl piece. I just pulled it toward the front of the car, putting pressure where each clip is and it popped out. Look at the photo above to know where the clips are.

 

No, no. I mistakenly read the Bentley, and tried to remove the ENTIRE cowl. The piece that goes from fender to fender, in front of the windshield, behind the hood. Not the small cowl covers, but the metal painted bit.

 

Ok, it can be done without removing the cowling, but like blue02 said, not through the cowl vent. You will notice that in the last picture that the cowling is removed, as you can see the whole motor mounting bracket is visible. With the airbox removed, the job isn't much of a problem when you lower frame nut so you can pull the frame away; just hook up the wiring before inserting the motor under the frame. Total time: 1hr.

 

The dealer just replaced my wiper motor and linkage a couple weeks ago, thankfully under warranty. Nice write-up though, as I had searched previous to taking it in and couldn't find anything like this.

Here's hoping I won't need it now!

 

Sorry for bringing up an old post. Any other experiences with doing this job?
The only motors I find have new linkage, from the write up it would appear only the motor is replaced not the new linkage? Can anyone confirm this? Anyone have the specific part number or a preferred vendor?
Thanks in advance from a newbie to this forum.

 

Yep, been there, done that...dont have the t-shirt, though one should be made up for completing the job.

I did the replacement with the motor still attached to the linkage. Hardest part was getting the cowl loose since the Bentley manual neglects to locate most of the attachment points of the cowl. I tried to remove the cowl but discovered I couldnt unless I was willing to remove the hood. So I just moved the cowl upwards out of the way and did the replacement without totally removing the cowl. Tight fit all the way around but it is doable. If you take this route use some tape along the edges of the hood and cowl so you dont scratch anything. Ask me how I know.

 

I did this last weekend and it only took me about 40 minutes with this DIY and the service manual. I left the linkage attached and it wasn't hard to work around it. This is actually the first attempt I have made at fixing my own car, so thank you forums!

 

It was easy to undo the bolts, but I can't maneuver the motor out of the spot. I even tried to remove the Battery Cover. Also, I cannot figure out where to grasp and unplug that funky connector. MINI of Pleasanton wants $960.00 to replace the wiper motor!

 

I am currently unemployed so I just couldn't fathom shelling out the $500-$900 ....more than a brake job just to fix a Wiper Motor, so I went after it again today.

Turns out, you just have to remove the battery from a 2002 MINI Cooper in order to wriggle that !@#!& wiper motor out from the hiding place under the cowl.

Now I can order a rebuilt one and get my wipers working again before the raging torrents hit California.



I didn't even cut my hand up. (I also figured out how to unplug the cable...just lift the little tabs, and pull like hell with a pair of pliers.)

 

The wiper motor on my wife's '03 MCS just went out. The switch, relays, and fuse were fine. She had an estimate done at a local Mini repair shop: $179 for wiper motor assembly (with arms) and $470 for labor they stated would take 4.6 hours. Needless to say, I was bewildered.

Searched google and found this wonderful forum. Purchased a rebuilt wiper motor from Rockauto.com for $77 + shipping. There was no way in hell I was going to shell out $650 to have a wiper motor replaced.

The whole procedure took about 30 minutes following the instructions in this thread. The hardest part was getting the old wiper motor out. I found I had to remove the air filter (Mini Cooper S) and loosen the plastic shroud in front of the wiper motor. Once the plastic shroud is loosened (by removing the two screws holding it in place), I pulled the plastic shroud forward to provide just enough clearance to remove the old wiper motor.

Here are some pics.

Air filter removed:


The two screws on the shroud that I loosened:


Pulling the shroud forward to clear the wiper motor:


BE CAREFUL not to tear this vacuum line as you maneuver the wiper motor out. This is the vacuum line to the brake booster:


New wiper motor is now in along with everything else:


The Mini is back on the road ready for the rain!!

Disclaimer: I am not a certified mechanic. This information is provided for entertainment purposes only. Do not attempt these repairs on your own. For best results, you should pay good money to someone trained to do the repairs you require.

 

Since my wiper motor is currently at the same location you sent yours, chances are they are rebuilding it with some parts from your motor! Our MINIs may be sharing some DNA. The reason MINI charges so much for the Wiper Motor replacement is that their wiper motor part includes the linkage. And, to replace the linkage, you would have to remove the bonnet, as well as the front cowl piece to get to it. Hence, the 4 1/2 hours of labor. AS IF!

 

I officially HATE MY MINI now. I will never purchase a nightmare of a car again. Yea, I finally got my rebuilt Wiper Motor back today. Went through the awful pain of installing it. So after time, pain, $90.00 to get the motor rebuilt and shipped, I still have no windshield wipers. I can hear the relays click. I even swapped them all around. No wiper motor. It should not cost near $1000.00 for a dealer to fix something so important, simple, and STUPID as a &*^# wiper motor on a vehicle.

I have had this MINI, built as a LEMON in may of 2002. I have 131,000 miles on it. If I were not out of a job, I would have dumped it last year. Once a MINI is out of warranty you will spend countless time and money on it. Fun is not enough when you aren't independently wealthy to pay for such expensive things as simple maintenance on a car.

My next car will be a Toyota. So it won't be as fun, at least it won't bankrupt me.

 

DO NOT WASTE MONEY ON A NEW WIPER MOTOR........

THE COMMON FAULT IS A POOR WIPER MOTOR EARTH ARRANGEMENT ON ALL MINI'S !

IF WIPER MOTOR FUSE HAS NOT BLOWN THEN IT SHOULD BE OKAY.
IF IT GETS FRIED OR OVERLOADED THEN THE FUSE WILL BLOW !

RUN A NEW EARTH CABLE FROM ONE OF THE 3 MOTOR MOUNTING BOLTS TO ANY GOOD EARTH POINT , ENGINE EARTH , BATTERY EARTH ETC.

THE WIPER SHOULD THEN SPRING INTO LIFE !

 

Sorry to disappoint, but the motor was tested and it was indeed burned out. My MINI had 134,000 miles on it, so that wiper motor had a long good life. It has since been replaced by a non-MINI repair place.

 

My wife's wipers just stopped recently on her 2002 cooper (has been snowing here and very cold). After reading several threads I checked the fuses and relays without any luck.
Today I checked the motor's earth and ran a new cable from one of the motor's mounting bolts to the -ve terminal of the battery - worked a treat!
Definately worth a try, have read this on 5 or 6 forums but never thought I'd be that lucky but I was!
Hope this helps someone cos I'm well chuffed.

 

Very interesting about the ground fault--see, even a grizzled MINI mechanic can learn something new. The scam is multi-layered: you have to buy the linkage: the motor is not available separately from MINI. The huge installation prices are for replacing the linkage and motor, not just the motor. I think often, though, the motor is all you are getting installed

 

I recently bought a used 02 mini and was told by the person I purchased it from that wipers had mysteriously stopped working once but where fine since. Not long after purchasing it, the wipers stopped working again. Confirmed that fuse was ok. Following advice about poor ground connection, I bought a ground strap, attached to motor mounting bolt and negative terminal of battery and wala! back from the dead. I was psyched. Wasn't till I actually screwed on strap that it made a difference (before I installed, i tried touching bolts w/ strap as a test, but that didn't do anything)

 

The reason why the wipers stop working, especially in the middle of rain, is because the steel mounting on the Mini Cooper has experience corrosion and oxidation from the weather. I am an engineer, so I can understand what is going on. There is a possibility that the motor could be blown, but why not try and see first if everything still works. The reason why these other people have had success when replacing the motor and/or also the motor and track assembly is of course they are renewing the ground/negative contacts to the motor. Replacing the motor, you take the mounting bolts off and in the process of remounting, you scrape away some of the surface from the steel motor mounting and creating better ground contact. Replacing the whole assembly, you do the same and plus give the ground surfaces a whole new finish and better contact.

Here is the test: Find a foot and a half of electrical wiring and strip the ends. Remove the plastic black cowl. You can do so with the hood open and simple pressing up from the bottom of the cowl. I did so with my bare hands. With the keys in and the wipers switched to the on position, hold one end of the wire to a bold attached to you chassis and the other end, tap one of the three mounting bolts to the motor. I did so and got an instant reaction from the wiper blades. After I figured this out, I attached some terminals to the ends of the wires, removed the lower mounting bolt and fixed one end to this bolt. The other end, I fixed top a grounding bolt I found near the brake booster, against the side wall.

Hope this helps and saves you a ton of money! Good Luck!

 

ok mine is a 2005 and the wiper bolt elbow broke - bought an entire assembly - motor and all,
took 5- mins to get battery out but the electrical harness will not budge -
after 5 mins playing with that- I think I will drill an opening in the side of the battery box to access mounting nut -

I estimate 5 mins for this -
is there any reason i should not drill that opening?
It is sloppy but a clean entry since the electrical plugs will not pull off and therefore I can not remove battery box to access nut.

any suggestions welcome -
thanks