The convertible motor has been hanging up since I got the car. It was slow and occasionally I'd have to tap the end of it with a screwdriver to get it working. I heard some say to fill the fluid and others said that the brushes were worn/getting hung up. The other day I decided that I had enough of that. I didn't feel like running out for fluid, so i grabbed a ratchet and got to work.
I was a little nervous since I've never worked on an electric motor before. I was also worried that fluid might go leaking everywhere, this is not the case.
Once you get the back seat removed and can access the motor, you should unplug it. Its a small 2 pin connector coming out of the rear, passenger side of the unit. The motor is separated in two parts: the left which is the electric motor itself, and the right which contains the pump and fluid.
Before you do anything else, you should make marks to aid you in putting it back together just mark the position on the end-plate, motor housing, and pump so you know where they line up.
Loosen the two bolts on the passenger side end to remove the motor. The end is just a plate with the brushes on it. Mine are worn very low and will need to be replaced in the near future. For now I just cleaned them up
BE CAREFUL: There is a small ball bearing in the end plate that might fall out (mine did).
Once you remove the motor from the pump you can clean it up. The center rotor part in the housing pops out with a little force, it is only held in by the magnets on the sides of the housing.
I cleaned the inside of the housing and the larger part of the rotor. Most importantly, I cleaned the smaller copper end (where the brushes touch) and sanded a bit with emery paper. I also cleaned the brushes on the end plate and used a little emery paper there as well.
The hardest part was putting it back together, Lining it up was difficult without markers and I ended up losing my ball bearing but it works anyway.
I hope this helps those who are unsure or on the verge of buying a new motor.
I was a little nervous since I've never worked on an electric motor before. I was also worried that fluid might go leaking everywhere, this is not the case.
Once you get the back seat removed and can access the motor, you should unplug it. Its a small 2 pin connector coming out of the rear, passenger side of the unit. The motor is separated in two parts: the left which is the electric motor itself, and the right which contains the pump and fluid.
Before you do anything else, you should make marks to aid you in putting it back together just mark the position on the end-plate, motor housing, and pump so you know where they line up.
Loosen the two bolts on the passenger side end to remove the motor. The end is just a plate with the brushes on it. Mine are worn very low and will need to be replaced in the near future. For now I just cleaned them up
BE CAREFUL: There is a small ball bearing in the end plate that might fall out (mine did).
Once you remove the motor from the pump you can clean it up. The center rotor part in the housing pops out with a little force, it is only held in by the magnets on the sides of the housing.
The hardest part was putting it back together, Lining it up was difficult without markers and I ended up losing my ball bearing but it works anyway.
I hope this helps those who are unsure or on the verge of buying a new motor.
