Designed as a safety feature for the automobile, the windshield-wiper motor of your Oldsmobile Bravada is a combination of an electric motor and a worm drive. A unique linkage system takes the rotation of the windshield-wiper motor and connects with a gear that changes the motion into the back-and-forth movement of the windshield wipers by means of a worm drive. Occasionally, your windshield-wiper motor may wear out. You can replace the motor yourself fairly easily and save some money in the process.
Disconnect the negative battery cable from the battery of your Oldsmobile Bravada with a crescent wrench. Move the cable out of the way, but be careful not to place it where it will come into contact with any metal and cause sparks or short out the wiring.
Remove the windshield-wiper blades by sliding a screwdriver under the clip and releasing the spring mechanism that holds the blade on the motor arm. Slide the wiper arms off of the motor arms and set the wiper blades aside.
Locate the Oldsmobile Bravada windshield-wiper motor that is mounted on the firewall behind the engine. Disconnect the windshield-wiper hoses and electrical connectors that are attached to the wiper motor. These should all slide off without any tools necessary.
Undo the bolts that are holding the windshield-wiper motor onto the firewall with a socket wrench and detach the motor from the firewall. Take the wiper motor out of the engine compartment and attach the new wiper motor to the firewall with the bolts.
Reattach the windshield-wiper hoses and electrical connectors to the wiper motor and then slide the blades back onto the wiper arms using a screwdriver to slide the pins back and moving the blades into place until you hear the spring click and lock into position.
Connect the negative battery cable onto the battery with a crescent wrench and then verify that the wiper motor is working by turning the ignition switch on. Set your windshield-wiper switch to on and let the motor run through a few cycles to confirm that it is operating properly. When you are satisfied it is working, turn the wiper switch off and then shut off the ignition switch.
