Chevy Tahoe Rear Wiper Repair - Wiper Motor Re-installation and the REAL Problem Discovered!

You are watching Part 3 of a video Series that shows troubleshooting and repair of the rear wiper on a 2004 Chevrolet Tahoe. This procedure should be similar if not the same for GMC Yukon, and Chevy/GMC Suburbans based on the GMT800 platform.
Video #1 Is here:
• Chevy Tahoe Rear Wiper...
Video #2 is here:
• Chevy Tahoe Rear Wiper...

[@DobraLLC]

My 04 Escalade’s rear wiper has worked on and off for a few years. Today my wife said it got stuck in the up position and after turning the truck off she hear a thumping sound in the back door. Your video came up 1st. Watched all 3 videos, went right outside and tested it with a lead wire and it worked perfectly. I made a small jumper like yours. Works great! Thank you!

[@michaelc.fischer2439]

Great video's X3. This helped me a lot on my 2005 Escalade.

[@SevenFortyOne]

Awesome!

[@kellykracht6560]

Just saved me buying a new unit. Bad enough I had to grab one from the junkyard for $15, it was doing the same thing as the original one. Found your video and luckily I watched it to the end before ordering a new one. Got my rear window defogger working too. By the way, the wiper motor assembly that you have is an aftermarket one. The factory units are different. They have a different gearing mechanism and circuit board configuration. Oh...one other thing, the washer hose goes around the wiper shaft clockwise and then plugs into the rubber fitting. Functionally it will work the same, it's just that there's a chance of something snagging the hose the way you have it. Also wanted to add that this is one of the best instructional video's I've found on KZbin, you definitely take your time and show all the steps and explain things very well. Keep up the great work!

[@SevenFortyOne]

I'm not surprised mine is aftermarket. I think my Tahoe was rear-ended at some point in it's life.

[@nerdepreacher7787]

You may have just saved me hundreds of dollars with your videos on this.

[@WrathofPharaoh]

Dude, I bought my 2005 Suburban 5 years ago, and the rear wiper and rear defrosters never worked properly. Two different Chevy dealers and my local mechanic shop all threw their hands up in despair and told me to take it to a place that specializes in electrical work. Your little ground wire hack took me 10 minutes, and now both systems work perfectly. Thanks for a great video. Subscribed and liked!

[@GG-jl8wl]

Thank you!!!

[@mikeredfield2102]

On mine, I just cleaned off all the extra grease from the wiper contacts and no more wiper problem. On a side note, I had a problem with the climate control baffle motor under the dash. It was making a clicking noise when set at max cold. One day after disconnecting the battery, the AC quit blowing cold altogether. Again, similar contacts all loaded up with grease, cleaned with a q-tip and as good as new! Gotta love these helpful youtube videos.

[@CooganBear]

My 2001 Yukon was doing the same thing. It turned out that it was just ceased up. I took the wiper arm off of the motor and worked the motor spline back and forth with some channel-locks, then sprayed some PB-Blaster down the shaft. It kicked right on. I let it run for about 20 minutes, then sprayed it again. Thanks for the video. It gave me some ideas to try.

[@Bourricot]

I had the same symptoms, mine gradually slowed down for a year until it was not moving, but was still clunking. I started by redoing the burned ground at the body to liftgate, no success. Added a ground between the motor and liftgate, no success either. Took the motor apart, removed the rust on the shaft and greased it generously, put it back on and added the ground and it works perfect now. At the end, I think both the grease and the ground solved the issue, not just one of them. Thanks for the walk up.

[@jedarramorriss7064]

This is exactly what I needed!! I haven't fixed it yet, but I also have a new ground noise in my radio and my battery quickly dies sometimes, so I'm betting that this is the culprit 🥰🥰🥰🖤🖤🖤

[@BellesetBeauxDad]

Excellent video! You're a good man for making these detailed videos. Thank you!

[@davebarron5939]

Man you saved me a boat load of screwing around, Thanks.

[@TheHazelberg]

This is really a good documented, very detailed in comments, repair video instruction on the Tahoe 2004 rear wiper. I have a similar issue on my Tahoe 2004, where the wiper seems to start and then get stuck just 5 cm above the resting/housing point. Then nothing happens. However sometimes it does work normal, so it beats me a bit. I tried switching on and off several times, every time the same issue but last time I could hear a rattling sound, which makes me believe the worm-axle is rotating over the teeth of the plastic tooth wheel. That sound was present for approx 20 sec. And now it does not do anything. When you showed me the grounding issue, i directly believed that could have been my first showing issue. But then it should not make that sound i believe and work sometimes normal. Anyway, your video is exactly what i need to take the wiper off and apart and see how the condition of the shaft, tooth-wheel and engine is. I could buy a new assembly directly, as i believe there is an issue now with the tooth-wheel, but would like to find out what the matter is/was. Your video is really so well detailed instructed, I like that as I tend to do that also in the same manner when I try to make things clear to others. Well appreciated. :-) Thanks a lot and good luck in all the other projects you will have next time.

[@stoobydoo4790]

Very helpful as my wife just let me know that ours quit working in a 06 Suburban.

[@adrianquintal7010]

Very thorough indeed, thank you, I'll be trying to fix mine soon. Very helpful

[@morecowbell235]

That was an interesting video, thanks. As part of your volt testing, check voltage from + to - terminals with the voltmeter, then check from + terminal to *all* the grounds you can find for the issue at hand. i.e. your rear wiper motor has a ground. If there is less voltage at any ground, its time to fix that ground by cleaning it up etc.

[@adelaideautowashes]

Im glad you got it fixed! Wipers are very important for clearing your visibility out the front and rear windows, and not having them work can be a big problem, especially the front wipers. Great video!

[@hawk7825]

Thx man whoa ... here is a virtual beer bud...🍺🍺

[@SevenFortyOne]

Thanks!

[@andyhansen2030]

Thanks for the video, can't wait for the weather to get warmer to try that fix. I have an 05 Yukon with the same 2 problems, rear wiper and rear defrost. A repair shop said that there was an issue with the 'grid' on the back window, but I'll try this before I replace the window.

[@stoobydoo4790]

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU the extra ground strap worked and now my wife thinks that I have super powers 😉. ( at least for today)lol Thanks again for sharing your knowledge & experience, it saved all kinds of time Todd

[@elnoodles13]

I’m going through the same exact problem. I just changed motor and didn’t work but I did hear that Click noise too. I’m guessing it’s the same bad ground problem. Thanks for your helpful video

[@SevenFortyOne]

Yes - check the ground. Also, there is a connector up near the roof that connects the wiring from the hatch to the rest of the truck that goes bad sometimes too.

[@owentimo]

@El Noodles, Did you fix your wiper problem with the ground?

[@julial8442]

Great vid, very informative. Thank you.

[@chris59011]

Great videos. Very helpful and gave great detail on how to remove, inspect and replace.

[@ricardojano3716]

Bad Grounds can cause many problems on Chevy & GMC 's

[@johnullman5620]

So!? Always check to see if you have ground. ? Or you'll have a journey adventure learning experience.?

[@TjMills1972]

Good video, of course I’m having a wiper issue as well. It worked fine the other day and now nothing. At least now I have a few things I can check, but I’m not sure if everyone is having ground issues with there Tahoe, but I’ve been having ground problems since I’ve owned the Tahoe. So if it’s getting power then I’m just gonna go to the ground. I’ll try and let you know if that’s the problem. I’ll also check the connection above the hatch.

[@sacaircooled]

Awesome videos bud!

[@NTromb]

Bravo! So is it still working well or did you get rid of vehicle

[@SevenFortyOne]

It worked ok until I sold the car in may of this year

[@drfox303]

you should mention at the beginnings of your video series here that they usually just need a new ground wire. . I went through all three videos then replaced the motor before eventually finding this video again when searching why it still wouldn't work with a new motor

[@itaintnothang6370]

Mine don’t work but when my car is off all you here is the wiper an when you go to touch the wiper it fills like it’s alive how would I fix that like it makes noise

[@reidbowman1798]

Just did the repair exactly as you did. Also discovered the wring harness in the top right of the hatch area shows significant heating. Just wondered if you have had any more wiper problems since doing this repair? I don't want to burn anything up by doing the bypass, if fixing the wiring is a better long term solution.

[@SevenFortyOne]

Mine runs very slow...I've thought about bypassing that connector but just haven't gotten around to it yet.

[@joehissong2449]

I recently purchased a 2005 Suburban with a similar rear wiper issue. The rear defroster works but the wiper just clunks as yours did. Being a lazy person, I think I am going to start with your ground jumper technique. I have already purchased a new Dorman aftermarket motor just in case i need to replace it. I'll let you know how it goes.

[@SevenFortyOne]

Good luck! Please do stop back and let me know how you made out. If the ground wire doesn't solve the problem you may want to take a look at the connector between the rear hatch and the body. I'm told that connector sometimes develops problems over time.

[@user-sq6ut1uq6i]

Good video, my suv has the same issue and even with a new wiper motor from auto zone, the wiper arm would not move. What guage wire did you use for the extra ground cable you striped and crimped?

[@SevenFortyOne]

I don't remember...maybe 14ga???

[@user-sq6ut1uq6i]

Thank you for the help, 14 awg should be alot better than the factory stock 18 awg ground wire.

[@barryb821]

I've tried the ground wire work around , purchased a new motor - and still have no power coming to the back rear window wipe - and now - I have a REAR ACCESS OPEN message on my console even though the rear window and lift gate are both closed? Any thoughts?

[@SevenFortyOne]

There is a connector between the hatch and body that fails...check that out and see if it is good

[@caznova3054]

Wondering if the poor grounding is between the door and the main frame of the vehicle, contact points are all grimy. I’ll test it out on my Yukon having the exact issues. Thanks for making the video.

[@SevenFortyOne]

Since shooting this I've come to the same conclusion.

[@Radiowild]

I know the rear defroster draws lots "O" current, and I had a feeling that a bad ground might have been the issue. I had no idea that was also the wiper motor had the same problem. Isn't the term "bad ground" kind of a oxy moron? Shouldn't it be "no ground" instead. Like "jumbo" shrimp......lol Good job!

[@SevenFortyOne]

The fact that the wiper and the defroster didn't work should have tipped me off in the first place. Then the light bulb should have went on when the voltage and resistance of the defroster tested good...but it didn't. Oh well, some lessons are learned the hard way I guess.

[@steveblunt8040]

Did you splice into the ground wire to do new ground? Or just that bolt to bolt wire?

[@JamieForBarb]

What gage wire did you use for the jumper?

[@SevenFortyOne]

16

[@buzzsah]

lol, I know, been there.

[@JoeyLovesTrains]

that rear wiper sure does spin kinda slowly..

[@frankmontenegro9830]

I have a warranty that wants to cover that but they want $750 for the job the mechanic says that it's not worth it for him to put one man on there for $50 an hour Taken 2 hours and then of course I pay my hundred dollar deductible I asked him if he could work $200 deductible in the $750 price he said he couldn't because the warranty would not pay for an aftermarket wiper pump and motor had to be original item what do you think about that Frank Montenegro

[@autoclock50]

Mine is doing this also. The rear defogger is also working slow. I found this link on how to fix the common issue with bad ground to lift gate door. kzbin.info/www/bejne/a2GtZ3iDfaZ4mq8

[@MrMetallica777777]

I don’t know if anyone has mentioned this or even noticed, but this guy could’ve saved a lot of time if he had tested the motor after putting the shaft back in lmao