How to Replace Windshield Wiper Motor 2008-12 Ford Escape

What's up, guys? I'm Andy from 1AAuto. In this video I'm going to show you how to replace the wiper motor on this 2012 Ford Escape. If you need parts for your vehicle click the link in the description and head over to 1AAuto.com.

With the hood open, we're going to remove the wiper arm. I'm going to use a 14 mm socket and a ratchet. We can take that nut off. Good idea before I take that off, you can take a piece of tape, or even a crayon or something and mark the windshield where the wiper is so that way when you put the wiper back on, the arm back on, you're going to put it in the same location. If the wiper arm is very stuck onto the wiper transmission, you can use a remover tool or you can just try to grab the arm and just pull it up, just rotate it back and forth, just go back, up and down. Generally they will, it will break free. There we go, you just wiggle it and pull it off. We can do the same with the other side.

So there are seven of these little push retainers that I need to take out. To take these push-pins out, you just take a Phillips head screwdriver and very gently loosen up the center. Then you can pull the center out and then you can pull the base out. Do the same on the other ones. So now I'm going to grab underneath here. I'm just going to raise it up. It might be stuck a little bit. There is some insulation under there. You just go along, just like that. Right here I'm just going to use a trim tool to get underneath here. Be careful of the windshield--you don't want to pry up. There's a little clip right there and there will be one on the other side as well. Just pull that off.

All right from this side I'm just going to grab under the cowl panel and pull it straight-forward, just like that, and there's other clips underneath here. This one's a little bit loose. Just grab under here and pull that out. Those are the clips on the backside and right there. And there's the cowl. You want to disconnect this connector right here. Just push down on the lock and pull it out. You're going to take an 8 mm socket and ratchet, and there's three bolts. One here, one here and one over there. Take those out.

Now we can grab this and slide it out. Just like that. Before we take this arm off I want to mark the location because I want to index when I reinstall this that it's in the same position. So you can take a felt tipped pen, just take a look, so it's pretty close to where that bolt is right there. So I can make a line right there. Or you can also take a ruler. Line it up against this and make a line right here. So when we go to put it back together it lines up with those lines. So I could use a wrench if I have one that fits, or I can use a large adjustable one. Just make sure that prevents the arm from moving, and then I'll take a 13 mm socket and a ratchet and loosen it up.

Take this nut off. Now I'm going to use a pry bar. I'm just going to get underneath here and pry up. Just pop that off and I'll take a 10 mm socket and a ratchet, take these three bolts off. I'm going to pull this last bolt out and then I can separate the motor.

Before I reinstall the motor into the wiper transmission, I want to make sure that shaft is in the park position. Now if you got a new motor, this could have moved a little bit or hopefully it's in the park position from the factory, but you don't know. So I'm going to hook this up. Now with this plugged in I'm going to go over and turn the key on and cycle the wipers one cycle. We're all set. Now we can reinstall the wiper motor to the transmission. So we'll reinstall the wiper motor. Put on these bolts. Then I'll take a 10 mm socket and a ratchet and tighten them down. Then I'll take a 10 mm socket and a torque wrench, and I'm going to torque these to 115 inch-pounds.

Now I'm going to reposition this arm right here. It's going to go right across that. Line up with the other marks that we had on there. Take the ruler--that looks good right there. Now if your wiper motor was broken and this was in a different location when you took it off and you have to replace, then you're going to want to make sure, when the wiper motor is timed, that arm looks like this and this part of the arm follows this other arm like that. Then we'll take the nut and install it. Take my 13 mm socket and ratchet and then take the adjustable wrench. Make sure to hold the arm with the wrench, and then I'll tighten this up.

Once the nut is snug and just a little bit more--not too tight, we'll take the wiper transmission and motor assembly. Slide this in position. Get those bolts lined up. I'll get all those started first, and then I'll take an 8 mm socket and a ratchet and tighten these down. Take a torque wrench. You can tighten these down to 80 inch pounds. We're going to plug in the connector. Just make sure your fingers are clear in case any power goes to it and it starts to move.

At this point I'm going to do the same thing as timing the motor, but I want to make sure these are in the location. When I was tightening up that arm on the motor, the motor did move a little bit, so these could be off. So I am going to turn the key on and do one cycle. That way I know they're in park. Now we can take the cowl, slide it under here, and slide this side under here. It's lined up. If it's all lined up you can start to push in the clips at the top. Now take these trim pieces and this is just going to line up over here. Press in right here. It's the same on the other side.

Now I'm going to put these push-pins in. Just slide this in position. Sometimes it's a little bit hard, because there's all these fingers so I try to put it in at an angle and then twist it and push it down. Do the same with the other ones. Take the wiper arm. Line it up with the tape that we put on earlier. Just push it down. Take the nut and then I'm going to take a 14 mm socket and a torque wrench. I'm going to torque this to 26 foot-pounds and then I'm going to do the same with the other side. I'm going to hold the arm while I torque this.

Thanks for watching. Visit 1AAuto.com for quality auto parts shipped to your door, the place for DIY auto repair. And, if you enjoyed this video please click the subscribe button.

How to Replace Windshield Wiper Motor 2008-12 Ford Escape

step 1 :Removing the Wiper Arm

step 2 :Removing the Cowl Panel

step 3 :Removing the Windshield Wiper Transmission

step 4 :Removing the Windshield Wiper Motor

step 5 :Installing the Windshield Wiper Motor

step 6 :Installing the Windshield Wiper Transmission

step 7 :Installing the Cowl Panel

step 8 :Installing the Wiper Arm

Tools needed

How to Replace Windshield Wiper Transmission Linkage 2005-13 Volkswagen Jetta

How to Replace Windshield Wiper Motor 2008-12 Ford Escape

step 1 :Removing the Wiper Arm 0:22

step 2 :Removing the Cowl Panel 1:16

step 3 :Removing the Windshield Wiper Transmission 2:36

step 4 :Removing the Windshield Wiper Motor 4:07

step 5 :Installing the Windshield Wiper Motor 4:39

step 6 :Installing the Windshield Wiper Transmission 5:48

step 7 :Installing the Cowl Panel 7:42

step 8 :Installing the Wiper Arm 8:25

Tools needed

How to Replace Windshield Wiper Transmission Linkage 2005-13 Volkswagen Jetta

step 1 :Removing the Wiper Arm

step 2 :Removing the Cowl Panel

step 3 :Removing the Windshield Wiper Transmission

step 4 :Removing the Windshield Wiper Motor

step 5 :Installing the Windshield Wiper Motor

step 6 :Installing the Windshield Wiper Transmission

step 7 :Installing the Cowl Panel

step 8 :Installing the Wiper Arm