Motor should have been well coated with a thick moisture resistant coating that is very difficult to remove. Also has the 2 rubber boots one of which is a real pain to remove and refit.
Mine was untouched from new. As you can see there is no o ring or gasket where the two halves come together. Just a fitted plastic step. The encasement appears to crack and before disassembly I could see that seam around the housing as a line in the grey stuff. That's my guess as to where any moisture gets in. Regardless it's a pretty simple fix as above.
It's weird. Some have a coating. Some have a rubber housing top & bottom. I have 4 motors...all came with the coating and all had been compromised. Perhaps a bead of silicone on that sealing joint of the two halves would help after repair.
Couldn't hurt but mine is back in. If it lasts another 19 years it can be fixed again. Kudos for the fix Watson!
I was wondering the same. Maybe build year makes a diff. My 99 has the coating on both and they look pretty good.
