Suburban Wiper Motor GM Recall

In about 2003, a recall came out for GMC Suburban wiper motors between the years of about 1994 thru 1997, for whatever reason I never received notification and now find myself wanting to change out either the module OR the entire motor. Info on the recall is here:

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Autozone shows replacement motors including the controller at $50-90 or so...
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The controller card is considerably cheaper at ~$30.

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Has anyone else here experienced this wiper motor failure? I'm hopeful the GM recall will still cover the matter but am trying to gather some useful info, just in case they don't.

Reply to
jcage
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It?s a failure on the connector on the board. if your handy with a soldering iron you can fix it yourself.

Cheers

Reply to
Martin Riddle

Martin Riddles post would seem to give you a cheap way out if GM doesnt choose to honor the recall...

Do you think the "same" (juridically) GM exists that issued the recall? I mean, are past recalls now dead since GMs legal process?

Reply to
hls

First check a GM dealer and find out. Checking a bunch of people on the Internet won't help one bit in that respect. IF they will cover the recall, then do it. If not, then post your questions--trust me that will be much less confusing!

Reply to
PeterD

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My 97 Yukon had the same problem: erratic wiper operation. Checking the VIN number the dealer told me it was not covered. Opened the hood, removed the cover, pulled the board and cleaned it up a bit with brake cleaner, resoldered the large connections and reinstalled everything. I did add a little grease to the gears.Wipers have worked great ever since. Total time less than a half hour. Regards, JR

Reply to
JR

Freaking dealers, particularly GM, have lied to me over the years too.

Amazing how they would piss off their home base, their foundation market, for a couple of cents.

Reply to
hls

Per snipped-for-privacy@lycos.com:

I have experienced two or three wiper failures on my '98 'burb.

It was the board in all cases.

I think I re-soldered it twice and had it eventually fail again both times. The replacement board I bought has, however, lasted.

IIRC, it was something about a design flaw where the board was not robust enough for the solder joints to stay together under use.

Reply to
(PeteCresswell)

Per hls:

Then there's the 4L60 transmission's valve body...

Possibly part of the reason why GM has risen tb such a world leader in the auto industry... -)

Reply to
(PeteCresswell)

By Law they have to cover the recall if his vehicle meets the requirements.

Cheers

Reply to
Martin Riddle

I'd think so too but I talked to them today and they aren't going to... Should be a cradle to grave thing where known issues are concerned. I want to cash in on the "cash for clunker" wiper motors is concerned.

Reply to
jcage

Exactly what they told me. They're a real pisser to deal with too. Many calls or emails back and forth just so they can tell you that they won't cover it and the real irritating part is that they refer to that as "their solution". Thanks for the tips... Does the "remove negative battery terminal" recommendation apply to removing the board? It *looks* like 3 torx screws and it's out (from the face of the wiper motor assembly). What do you have once the 3 torx screws are out - the controller card that needs to be unplugged???? thanks

Reply to
jcage

Circuit board failures in higher load applications is a board mfgr. industry wide problem. In my field off appliance repair bad joints at relay connections is getting more and more common when the relay is switching 10+ amp loads. In fact there have been several recalls lately for board issues by several mfgrs. . Problem stems from the reduction of lead in solder, that's why it wasn't a problem years ago as higher lead content was OK to use.

Reply to
Repairman

Define 'they'... General Motors doesn't exist anymore, so one has to understand what the new GM (Goverment Motors) has with regard to obligations that General Motors had.

Reply to
PeterD

I like that way of looking at it, but since General Motors went to their grave, I'd guess they are off the hook, so to speak!

Reply to
PeterD

Who buys a vehicle base on the warranty? If that were the deciding factor everybody would be buying Chryslers with its lifetime power train warranty. LOL

Personally, if I could get a discount on the price of the vehicle I would go without the warranty. I have not had a warranty claim on any of my vehicles in such a long time I can not even think of when it was I had a warranty claim.

Reply to
Mike Hunter

Exactly what they told me. They're a real pisser to deal with too. Many calls or emails back and forth just so they can tell you that they won't cover it and the real irritating part is that they refer to that as "their solution". Thanks for the tips... Does the "remove negative battery terminal" recommendation apply to removing the board? It *looks* like 3 torx screws and it's out (from the face of the wiper motor assembly). What do you have once the 3 torx screws are out - the controller card that needs to be unplugged???? thanks

I honestly can't remember if there was a screw holding the board or if it sat on supports.It was 5-6 years and 100,000 miles ago. When you have the original board in your hand and if you are familiar with wave bath soldering you can see how the solder joints would fail. The board is very thin and the solder wave soldered the smaller connections just fine, but the larger connections just didn't get hot enough. The flexing of the board eventually broke the cold solder joints. With a good meter you can actually measure the resistance across a cold solder joint. Regards, JR

Reply to
JR

Exactly what they told me. They're a real pisser to deal with too. Many calls or emails back and forth just so they can tell you that they won't cover it and the real irritating part is that they refer to that as "their solution". Thanks for the tips... Does the "remove negative battery terminal" recommendation apply to removing the board? It *looks* like 3 torx screws and it's out (from the face of the wiper motor assembly). What do you have once the 3 torx screws are out - the controller card that needs to be unplugged???? thanks

I didn't remove the neg battery cable. Regards, JR

Reply to
JR

I wish I could say the same. My '99 Silverado was addicted to the dealer's garage for a few years. If I didn't have the warranty I'd have spent quite a few thousand on odd-ball things. ECM and TCCM would be two right off of the top of my head. What was weird is that after I got the wife out of her she didn't complain anymore. :-)

without the

long time I

Reply to
Nightcrawler

In the Wiper board case, the solder was thin to begin with and the connector did not have any mechanical means to hold it in place. As a result, The thermal expansion and contraction as well as mechanical virbration stresses cause micro fractures between the connector pins and the PCB. You can barely see them, unless you know what to look for. ROHS probably did not contribute to it, I do not think it was lead free at the time (97).

To repair, Desolder the connector pins, Fold or crimp the pins down to the circuit board, and resolder. There are some larger components that need the treatment as well. And don?t forget to conformal coat the resoldered joints.

Cheers

Reply to
Martin Riddle

How does the "Wiper Motor Pulse Board Module" come out? I removed the

3 torx screws w/cover and also popped off the wiring connector. The connector and pc board didn't seem to want to come out. Didn't see any other fasteners holding this puppy in place. Noted Autozone sells a replacement for $30 noting 'black connector' which mine appears to be (connector attached to pc card). TIA
Reply to
jcage

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