What is the procedure for replacing the passenger side headlight wiper motor on my 96 850 turbo. That motor is buried down under so much stuff that I can't see how to get it out. Even removing the headlight doesn't give proper access! Do you have to remove both headlights and the entire pastic front framework to get at it?
Can someone help me out?

It is a pain in the butt.You need alot of PATIANCE to do it.If you feel under there you should feel the 2 screws.They should be T-25 screws.Then comes the fun of working the motor out after you get it loose.

I got the motor screws out, after taking off the headlight, but there is now way to get the motor out of the car! There is a rectangular plastic conduit that prevents pulling the motor back far enough to get motor shaft out of the hole. Even then, it seems to be trapped by other metal tubes (AC?), and I can't move it backwards more than about 2 inches. Thus, I'm wondering if I need to remove both headlamps and then the entire front black plastic frame that the headlamps bolt into, so that I can pull the motor out from the front.
I could look harder at removing the tubes that obstruct removal from behind, but this doesn't look any easier, as I think I would have to access stuff from underneath (and I don't have a lift). Too bad its not the driver's side motor, as that one is just sitting in the open and it would be a piece of cake to remove!
Anybody have the Volvo instructions for this!!

Volvo instructions are pretty useless.They give you less information than I did.It is very possible to get it out.I have done it many times.One little tip try to lift up on the harness that comes out of the engine control modules.Also I have seen some people notch out some of the plastic under the headlight assy. close towards the engine side.It is hidden very well.Try many angles it will come out of there.

Thanks for your advice. I was beginning to believe it was impossible to get it out this way, but your reassurance made me work to get it out. I have the used motor I bought installed and everything is working great!
For others trying this, here is what I did to get it out:
First remove the wiper arm by wedging open the base of the arm from the back using a chisel edge or small blade screwdriver. This will expose the wiper motor shaft nut. Remove it , remove the washer hose from the wiper assembly and set the wiper aside. Carefully wedge out the trim panel (between the headlight and the bumper) starting at the radiator side and working outward. Now open the hood and disconnect the air vent tube to the electronic control box (behind the headlight). Wiggle it apart at the joint near the box and rotate the tubing out of the way (No need to completely remove it). Remove the 2-12mm screws holding the hood latch mechanism to the car body and place it on the engine (leave cable connected). All the headlight screws are now exposed. Remove the three 10 mm screws holding the headlight on (2 screws on the outboard side top/bottom and one on the inboard side bottom) and pull the headlight and turn signal out from the front of the car and let them hang from their wires. Note (for reassembly later) that the spring from the turn signal assemble fits into a notch on the back of the headlamp. Disconnect the wiper motor connector (depress the wire clip on the wide side of the connector and pull the plastic connector pieces apart). For a little extra wiggle room, remove the top screw hold the A/C evaporator canister to the car body (located a few inches behind the wiper motor. Now I removed a bunch of screw holding the black plastic grill frame to the car body to obtain more access room:
- Remove the 2-10mm screws on the outboard end of the grill frame.
- Remove 2-10mm screws along the bottom the grill frame using an open end wrench. One is located a couple inches to the right of the wiper motor screws, the other is at the middle of the grill. These screws are long, but they will come out in this confined space.
Now remove the 2 screws holding the wiper motor in place. To get the motor out, I had to pry the grill frame toward the front of the car, while pulling up on the conduit/harness that holds the wires going into the bottom of the electronic control box (this is the box that we removed the air vent tube from earlier). I had to use a pry bar to get the conduit above the bottom lip of the grill (where it can rest for now). Now one should be able to wiggle and twist the motor around to get it back next to the engine and eventually out of the car. This takes a while and requires much swearing, pushing, pulling, prying, etc. I'm not sure how I did it, but with determination you can get it out. Reverse this procedure to put the new one in.

Im glad you got it.I have done it many times and only got paid for a certain time that it should require.That is one draw back to working flat rate.I have figured out how to do it with out taking out all that you did to.When you work flat rate you figure out alot of ways to do it faster and easier.

Wow. Mark, I wonder how long did you actually worked on the car, dude? I guess the first thing you looked at when you woke up, and the last before bed? Good instructions, man. By the way, since my car doesn't come with the headlight wipers, I'll definitely come back and search for this posting, should I decide to install one ...


;)

I did the tear-down one weekend, and the re-install the next. My back was out of shape for this sort of work for more than a few hours. I found a used wiper motor on eBay for thirty-some bucks. Sure beats $150.00 that a new one would cost at a discount internet site ($180.00 at the dealer!). I'm took a chance doing all this work to install a used motor (not to mention buying it on eBay from a stranger!), but for now it seems to have paid off. BTW, since the drivers side motor is exposed, that one would only require removing the outside trim piece to get it off. Quite a difference. Now I look at every Volvo that goes by to see if the passenger side headlight wiper is broken, and if it is, I imagine the how the owner must have told the dealer its not worth paying hundreds of dollars to fix it.

BTW, Tech... Wanna share with us your time-saving techniques...?

I'm really psyching myself up to be a dedicated DIY-er. (Needless to say, wife wasn't impressed - instead gave me the ridiculous look again...)
:haha:

It is kinda hard to explain.Once you learn to do the short cuts you just do it.Sometimes it is hard to explain.If I was there I could make it go faster.If I remember correctly the dealer will sell the job for between 1-2 hours labor for.Some times it goes pretty easy like 11/2 hours to replace and sometimes more than 2 hours to replace.