When you are cruising down the road and it begins to rain or snow, aren’t you glad for wipers? A woman inventor who noticed the streetcar drivers in New York City sticking their heads out the windows to drive, invented windshield wipers in 1903. Originally called a car-window cleaning device and operated by using a lever, wipers became standard equipment on most cars by 1913. By 1997, the levers were gone of course, and wipers are operated by motors. Replacing the wiper motor in your 1997 Sentra is something you can do at home in the driveway with little time and effort. The next time you turn on your wipers, remember Mary Anderson and her invention.
Using masking tape, mark the position of the wiper blades in the parked position. If they're not in the parked position, don't worry about it -- you'll address that later. Remove the small plastic cover at the base of each windshield wiper arm, using the small screwdriver. Remove the nut, tap on the wiper arm, and remove it from the post.
Remove the two Phillips screws from the plastic cowl, and then remove the rubber seal and clips. Pull the cowl up and set it aside.
Remove the nut from the wiper motor linkage shaft, and pull the linkage from the shaft. Unplug the electrical connector at the motor. Use the small flat-head screwdriver to push the center tab on the connector and pull at the same time. Remove the four bolts holding the motor to the firewall and remove the motor.
Install the new motor and bolt it to the firewall. Plug in the electrical connector until you hear the center tab click.Turn the motor on for one full cycle and then off. Install the wiper linkage to the motor and tighten the nut.
Install the cowl and tighten the two screws, then install the rubber seal and push the clips in. Install the wiper arms; make sure the blades sit approximately 1.25 to 1.5 inches from the base of the windshield at the tips. If you used masking tape, then position the wiper blades on the marks and tighten the wiper arm nuts to 15 to 20 foot-pounds of torque. Install the plastic caps and you are done.
