Wiper motor from a Volvo into a 75 FJ40 (1 Viewer)

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kcustom73

Stretched it...
Joined
Jun 26, 2007
Threads
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694
Location
Ottawa, ON, Canada
I'm on the last stage of my build and was looking at re-installing the wiper motor. Decided to take the motor a part to check its condition (was giving me issues before I parked it) to find out one of the brush holder is completely gone :(

Wasn't sure what I was going to do, seeing that the 75-77 motors are non-existent and even the 78 and up are getting hard to find. After going to one of the local pick & pull yard to follow up on a lead on Chrysler wiper motor which didn't work out I came upon a 2000 S40 Volvo with an open hood. Having my old wiper motor with me, I compared them in size and they where almost an exact match. So out came the tools and this is what I came home with.



After striping the excess.





After trying to use the original mounting plate, I realized that I needed to shift the main shaft opening over by 5/16" (toward the driver side) and re-drill some new mounting holes.



The old and new mounting plate (old one is underneath)



Also had to trim the windshield frame a bit to clearance for the wiper motor screws.



The fit was still to tight and I couldn't get the wiper cover to seat completely. I realized that the cover was hitting the connector on the top of motor. After some closer examination of the connector I decided to cut most of it off using my dremel. With part of the leads still left over on the back of the connector I soldered some new wires with bullet connectors at the other end.





So with a little digging on the internet I was able to find the wiring schematic for the 2000 S40 Volvo and figured out what each wire from the connector was used for.



light green wire = low speed
red/black wire = high speed
blue/yellow wire = +12v
tan wire = park
dark green wire = ground

After reading Coolerman's webpage on wiper motor/switch wiring I had thing figured out (I taught).

+12v went to + side of my test battery

Light green, red/black and blue/yellow went to the stock switch as shown below



Dark green went to - side of my test battery.

So all I had left to do according to Coolerman's website was to ground out pin 4 on the switch. After hooking up pin 4 to - side of the battery, I got nothing...

So out came the schematics again and figured out that the Volvo motor was not looking for ground on pin 4 of the switch but +12v. So after hooking up a test lead from the + side of my test battery to pin 4 of the Toyota switch, I pulled out the switch to low speed setting and eureka I had a working motor. Next was the high speed setting and again success. Now for the last test was to push the switch back to off and the motor kept spinning until it got to its park position.

I still need to finalize things like running permanent wires, pot the connector to make sure the wire and pins are protected and will need to do something with the connection to the wiper arm (shaft is a little longer then stock), but I think I might have found a replacement motor that works for the 75-77 folks.





(yes I know the wiper motor cover gasket is missing... ;) )
 
Last edited:
Yes, interesting.
For folks far away from a Volvo junkyard, there should be a Bosch part number on the motor, that possibly could be tried at the local auto parts store.
 
Awesome find... we need more finds like this to keep our 40's on the road as parts become NLA. When you tried it, were you able to tell any difference in power between that and the stock motor? I imagine it is more powerful, being that the Volvo wipers are much longer than 40's.

Thanks for posting!
 
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I'm on the last stage of my build and was looking at re-installing the wiper motor. Decided to take the motor a part to check its condition (was giving me issues before I parked it) to find out one of the brush holder is completely gone :(

Wasn't sure what I was going to do, seeing that the 75-77 motors are non-existent and even the 78 and up are getting hard to find. After going to one of the local pick & pull yard to follow up on a lead on Chrysler wiper motor which didn't work out I came upon a 2000 S40 Volvo with an open hood. Having my old wiper motor with me, I compared them in size and they where almost an exact match. So out came the tools and this is what I came home with.



After striping the excess.





After trying to use the original mounting plate, I realized that I needed to shift the main shaft opening over by 5/16" (toward the driver side) and re-drill some new mounting holes.



The old and new mounting plate (old one is underneath)



Also had to trim the windshield frame a bit to clearance for the wiper motor screws.



The fit was still to tight and I couldn't get the wiper cover to seat completely. I realized that the cover was hitting the connector on the top of motor. After some closer examination of the connector I decided to cut most of it off using my dremel. With part of the leads still left over on the back of the connector I soldered some new wires with bullet connectors at the other end.





So with a little digging on the internet I was able to find the wiring schematic for the 2000 S40 Volvo and figured out what each wire from the connector was used for.



light green wire = low speed
red/black wire = high speed
blue/yellow wire = +12v
tan wire = park
dark green wire = ground

After reading Coolerman's webpage on wiper motor/switch wiring I had thing figured out (I taught).

+12v went to + side of my test battery

Light green, red/black and blue/yellow went to the stock switch as shown below



Dark green went to - side of my test battery.

So all I had left to do according to Coolerman's website was to ground out pin 4 on the switch. After hooking up pin 4 to - side of the battery, I got nothing...

So out came the schematics again and figured out that the Volvo motor was not looking for ground on pin 4 of the switch but +12v. So after hooking up a test lead from the + side of my test battery to pin 4 of the Toyota switch, I pulled out the switch to low speed setting and eureka I had a working motor. Next was the high speed setting and again success. Now for the last test was to push the switch back to off and the motor kept spinning until it got to its park position.

I still need to finalize things like running permanent wires, pot the connector to make sure the wire and pins are protected and will need to do something with the connection to the wiper arm (shaft is a little longer then stock), but I think I might have found a replacement motor that works for the 75-77 folks.





(yes I know the wiper motor cover gasket is missing... ;) )

Great find and nice job making it work!
 
Interesting find :)


Wish we had pick n pulls near me :(

Johnny, I have one near me so if you need a part let me know and I'll get it for you!
 
That is a great find. :clap:

You should do a complete write up including electrical hookup and exactly what you had to mod for the benefit of the MUD community. If you do I will add a link to the thread from my wiper web page.
 
After doing a little more digging, you can ask for any 00-04 Volvo S40 V40 cars. As for the Bosch # I'll have to take a closer look at the housing to see what I can find.

Jetranger, can't really tell you if this motor is stronger then the original as my original motor was dead when I got the truck.

Coolerman, once I get the wiper arms figured out, I'll write something a little more precise for the folks here on MUD. I've ran all new wires for mine so I might have to pick your brain on the stock Toyota wiring so this works as a retrotfit..
 
I could easily make an adapter that could be soldered onto the Volvo motor connector and come out to the standard Toyota plug using OEM wire colors.
 
Thank you @kcustom73 for posting this thread. Shortly after I saw this thread I acquired a wiper motor for a 2001 S40 for $20 from a wrecker and kept it on my shelf for a later project. Getting caught in a flash downpour last week prompted me to finally do this mod. I installed mine in my 78 and it was very close to being bolt in.

I did make a new mounting plate since the OEM has about a 1/4inch bulge outward which puts the motor into the cover. I used a flat piece of steel and kept the original mounting locations. I didn't end up needing to offset the wiper motor 5/16in. like you did, although my first attempt at the mounting plate used the offset location. After mounting it like this I wasn't happy with the linkage travel, so tried the stock mounting position on another plate I fabbed up. It worked perfectly for me, so I'm not sure if there is a subtle difference between the 75 and 78 mounting location.

My switch has the pigtail and not the pins built onto it like yours. I simply pushed the #4 pin out and made a new connector for it which I attached to a switched +12V source. I removed and reused the stock FJ40 wiper connector on to the Volvo motor and soldered all of the connections. After trimming the Volvo connector to clear the wiper cover I filled in the area with potting compound, I also installed a small piece of adhesive backed rubber inside the wiper cover, although I was able to confirm that it was not in contact.

I'm very pleased with the result. Much better performance and it appears stock.

For anyone trying this, make sure you cycle the Volvo motor into the park location before mounting the wiper linkage.

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Glad my post was of help to someone. The motor cover on a 75 is smaller then a 78, so maybe that's why I had to do a little more to get it to fit. One of these I need to play around with it to get a little more travel out of the wipers.
 
This is great stuff! Nice going, all!
 
Just for fun I went to Rockauto.com and looked up that Volvo part. 76 dollars and change. Nice to know. Thanks for the write up.
 
Nice work guys. I just picked up a motor today and will tackle this job over the next couple weeks. For those who have done this replacement, any other feed back or insight? Where did you splice into to get switched power? I may have to drill out my frame as it is a '76 and I will cut a new plate.
 
For those that have done this, are the wipers faster with the Volvo motor?
 
For those that have done this, are the wipers faster with the Volvo motor?

They are faster than my tired old motor was, but probably as fast as they were when they were new. The new motor definitely is more powerful than my tired old one.

This is one of the best and cheapest mods I have done.
 
I'll second abtx4x4 on that one.
 
Many thanks to the pioneers of this project! Can someone show or explain what to do with the linkage? How did you join up with the OEM linkage?
 
Many thanks to the pioneers of this project! Can someone show or explain what to do with the linkage? How did you join up with the OEM linkage?
I'm working on that right now. I have tried to use a gear puller to separate the shaft that connects the OEM motor to the linkage, so far I can not get the thing to budge. The plan is then to use the Volvo shaft to connect the newer motor to the wiper linkage. I'll post a picture or two when I get things worked out.
 
I'm working on that right now. I have tried to use a gear puller to separate the shaft that connects the OEM motor to the linkage, so far I can not get the thing to budge. The plan is then to use the Volvo shaft to connect the newer motor to the wiper linkage. I'll post a picture or two when I get things worked out.
So I ended up using the ball from the OEM wiper linkage, measured(this way it travels the same circumference as the OEM linkage), drilled and inserted it onto the Volvo wiper motor bent arm(technical term I'm sure). There was just enough room to drill the correct size hole next to the existing ball on the Volvo motor arm to place the OEM ball. This is as far as I am able to get today. I still need to make a mounting plate for the volvo motor and run wire from the motor pigtail to the switch as well as switched +12. Good luck.

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