W124 ('89) Windshield and Washer Pump Reconditioning

[Guest (MBNZ)]

Cool. I'm glad I found a site for the MB's. But I was trying to look at another that I found the URL through Yahoo for. It's www.mbworld.org. But it wasn't to be found. Anyone know where it's at? Is it not any good any more? <br> <br> Anyway, to the point. <br> <br> Don't know if you were aware, but these little electric motors can be reconditioned if they're not too far gone. I realize they aren't expensive if purchased from the aftermarket, but for those on a budget, a recondition can be free, as mine were today. Both were locked up. Here's what I did: <br> <br> 1) Take motors out of washer tank. 2) Run sharp knife around bead on top of motor housing to help knock the top loose. 3) Insert very small screw driver between the top of the motor housing and the base. Twist to continue gently breaking the top away. I did this all the way around the motor. Eventually the top came completely off. 4) The brushes were fine, so I didn't have to do anything there. 5) Use pliers to pull the armature out. Be careful not to chew up the end of the shaft. 6) Use grinder to brush rust off the metal body of the armature. You can use sand paper or a file for this, but it takes forever. Take off only the minimum necessary to expose the metal. 7) Use ScotchBrite to clean up part of armature where brushes contact it. 8) Take rubber seal off the bottom of the motor. Gently clean. 9) Take metal ring (I can only speculate as to it's purpose) off the end of the shaft. Clean with 600 grit sandpaper. 10) Clean the end of the shaft with ScotchBrite. 11) Use 600 grit sandpaper to clean out round magnet inside of the plastic motor housing. You don't need to remove the magnet for any reason. 12) Use compressed air or something else like spray electrical cleaner to ensure the pump will spin in it's housing. It's at the bottom of the main body of the housing. If it won't spin, trash the thing and buy another motor. 13) Use compressed air or something similar to blow the dust out of the main plastic body that houses the magnet as well as the armature itself. 14) Reassemble the motor. 15) Test motors with leads hooked to battery. 16) If the motor works, gently pry the top loose about 1/16 of an inch or so, being sure not to break the brushes loose from the armature. Introduce an adhesive, such as epoxy, in the crack between the two housing halves and mash them together to seal the housing from water and dust. 17) Install the pump in the washer tank. <br> <br> These things are really pretty simple and I did both motors in about an hour and half. At $15.00 apiece from Performance products, that means I saved about $36.00 (includes shipping). $18.00 an hour makes this deal worth it to me. <br>