Svc70 Headlight Wiper Motor Replacement

[bill d cat]

SVC70 driver's (L) side headlight motor replacement notes:

1.) The cheap route: you can simply disconnect the wiper motor, on the '98 V70 the connector is the brown one clipped to the top of the headlight support. Then re-center the wiper blade by loosening the nut on the shaft, removing it and re-positioning it. Cost: $0.00. Time: 10 minutes, max.

2.) The "correct" (?) way is to replace the motor. Cost: $150. Time about 1 hour of actual wrench work. I don't want to say how long it took to try noodle what Sven, Volvo's chief engineer in charge of making you wonder "What the !@#$ were they THINKING???" was thinking when he designed the setup. If it had been Saturday, it would have been a 3-beer job.

I chose the latter course only because I don't like to see the car on it's way to complete decrepitude. Deferred maintenance is what made the Roman ruins look like they do today.

The Bosch motors are NOT identical from side-to-side. Also, the boxes do not specify "right side" or "left side". Careful. The Haynes manual simply says un-do the two bolts mounting the motor and pull the motor back. This does not work on the SVC70. It might have worked on an non AC, non-turbo '93 850, but not anymore. The right edge of the motor will simply not clear the intercooler-AC condenser-radiator sandwich. To provide clearance I removed both headlights, and loosened the headlight supporting frame. This is held on by 4 10mm bolts behind the parking lights, 3 blind 10mm bolts behind the bumper and 2 TORX screws on the engine side cleverly hidden by the fan shroud. Even with all the bolts and screws loosened it takes some squeezing to remove the old motor. The new motor slips in easily enough.

The job is really not worth the cost or effort. But if you try it, Good Luck! The passenger's ® side looks even worse!