2001 QX4 Wiper Motor Adjustment

[mh582]

My front wiper motor had failed on my 2001 QX4 and I had replace it. When I went to install it, I removed the wipers and the cowl but found that there was no access panel directly above the motor like there is on the Nissan Frontier truck (which I could actually find a tutorial for), and I couldn't squeeze a wrench or a socket inside to access the rear bolt on the linkage with the motor in place.

I ended up removing the wiper motor and disconnecting the linkage afterwards, but lost the alignment of the linkage in the process of installing the new motor and now my wipers won't stop at the right place nor travel in the correct pattern. It looks like they currently park ~2/3rds of the way through their range of motion.

Does anyone happen to know the correct way to reposition the linkage to get proper travel and parking of the wipers? I would prefer to avoid trial and error.

[VStar650CL]

I'm not getting this. It's a locomotive drive on the QX4, there's nothing to align or adjust except having each arm on the correct side of the center pivot. The short arm goes on top, the long arm goes on the bottom. Getting that backwards will make the arms sweep asymmetrically, but not park incorrectly. The park position of the arms is determined by where you nail them down on the splined studs. If you nail them down at the park position on the windshield but the motor isn't actually parked, they obviously won't sweep right.

[mh582]

I drafted up a reply on my phone earlier, but I got signed out before I could submit it. I rewrote everything as best I can, but I apologize if it's a little scatterbrained.

It's a locomotive drive on the QX4, there's nothing to align or adjust except having each arm on the correct side of the center pivot.

That's what I thought too, but I was unfortunately mistaken. The proper cycle of the wiper blades is just as dependent on the correct alignment of the linkage to the motor as the wipers are, because the motor has a fixed home position. If it's not connected in the right orientation, the wipers will always park at the wrong point in the cycle, even if the wiper motion is right. If both the motor-to-linkage and wiper-arm-to-linkage connections are aligned wrong, you can end up with some very ugly wiper movement.

Fortunately, it was easy to fix.

For anyone who searches for and may stumble across this thread in the future, here's how to replace your wiper motor on your R50 Pathfinder, and, if necessary, correct both potential wiper alignment problems.
1. Wiper arm alignment. If you haven't started yet, don't remove the wiper arms or the cowl. You don't have to - there's no access panel, and it's far easier to replace and time the wiper motor to the linkage if your wipers are already in the right place.
But if you already removed and/or messed up the alignment of the wipers like I did, you'll need to fix that first. It's actually pretty simple. If you didn't, look at step 2.
First, remove your wiper arms to make sure they don't hit anything. Then you first need to get the motor to cycle the linkage to it's most retracted point. Since that wasn't my park position any longer, I used painters tape to make a little flag on the spindle and turned the ignition off when it got to the end. Now reinstall your wipers in the correct position, and make sure to test them.
If they sweep the correct region of the windshield - it does not matter when or where they park - you can move onto the wiper motor alignment. If it's wrong, you may make adjustments as needed.
2. Wiper Motor Replacement and Alignment.
To realign (or replace) the wiper motor, you'll first need to unbolt it from the firewall (4x 10mm bolts), and remove the 14mm nut that holds the motor to the linkage. A box wrench works best here, but you'll need to find a way to keep the linkage from spinning to loosen and tighten it.
If you're just adjusting the linkage, the threads on the spindle are long enough that you can disengage the splines without completely removing the nut. This will save a lot of heartache because it's a little awkward to thread the nut on - there's not a lot of room for your hands. If you have to replace the motor, also keep this in mind when reinstalling it. You don't have to have it exactly right when you first put the nut and washer on. You can align it after you get the threads started.
When you have the motor disengaged from the splines, you'll want to turn the wiper motor on and let it return to its parked position in the cycle. Now manually move the wiper blades and linkage into their parked position, connect the linkage to the splines on the motor, and tighten the nut down.
If you're lucky, you can bolt it up now and it'll work perfectly. I was a tooth or two off the first time, so I had to loosen the nut and adjust it once more to get it to park exactly at the end of the cycle.
If your wiper arms were properly aligned before you replaced the motor, congrats, you're done. The wipers will sweep the exact same region of the window as before, but when the motor is aligned, they'll also park themselves at the right place.

[VStar650CL]

That's a lot of extra work. Park position is built into the motor and it only runs one direction. If you're changing just the motor, leave both wiper arms in the park positions and and the driver's side link connected. That assures the locomotive cam will remain in the correct position. Then hook the motor up and park it before installation (they often come un-parked from the factory). The motor cam will automatically line up on the correct splines when you connect the passenger side link to the locomotive cam. The only thing you need to remember is the original orientation of the motor cam, you can't install it 180 out.

[mh582]

The motor cam will automatically line up on the correct splines when you connect the passenger side link to the locomotive cam. The only thing you need to remember is the original orientation of the motor cam, you can't install it 180 out.

I'll have to take your word for it since I have it all buttoned up now, and I didn't notice. It looked like the cam could be installed on the new motor in any direction, and I initially had it oriented wrong, but I admit I could be wrong.
The factory service manual was pretty sparse (unless I was looking in the wrong section) and some other vehicles I've come across make the process much more intuitive.

If the motor would only index the cam in one orientation, disconnecting and attaching the other linkages to aid in install and alignment would make a lot more sense to me. Without adequate info and nothing but the part in hand, what I ended up doing seemed the most direct approach to get the cam onto the motor after I had already torn everything apart. I did the above on my lunch break and I don't think it'd take long to adjust one the same way if I had to do it again.

In any case, I'd like to thank you for sharing the right method. I had to work out a solution for myself after making poor assumptions and getting it wrong.

[VStar650CL]

You're most welcome. First time you do any job on a car is always an adventure, but all's well that ends well. Good job and happy motoring!