Wiper motor issues

[ChimaeraKev]

Evening again!

Just having a few issues with my wiper motor, as in it doesn't work! I've replaced the park switch as the old one was all gunky and nasty and re-crimped some of the nastier looking connection but still no joy.
One thing I did notice upon my inspection is the state inside the housing:



I presume it is not supposed to look like that!

I also found bits of metal lurking by bushes, that turned out to be the bushes! I've purchased a new kit off ebay to replace them but I found that the magnetic part of the motor at the rear was hard to turn, is this correct or should it have some sort of lubricant in it?

Cheers,
Kev

[sapper]

Looks like some sort of gunk has been sprayed in there at some point. I d give it a good blast with WD40 to clean it and free it up.
The magnet should be stiff but moveable .

[ianwayne]

Looks like old dried grease to me.

[ChimaeraKev]

Do I need any type of special grease to fill it back up again?
Any special method or do I just coat everything in it?

Kev

[Penelope Stopit]

Special grease isn't neede for this job, make sure that the grease you use does not contain anything that could swell the nylon gear

[sapper]

I just give it a squirt of wd40 every now and then

[ChimaeraKev]

Morning all,

I have replaced the bushes on the motor but this made no difference in getting the motor moving (didn't think it would but they were knackered anyway). Is there anyway of shorting some pins to force the motor to move?

Cheers,
Kev

[Penelope Stopit]

Does the gear turn freely as they do tend to seize up
Did you have a good sniff at the armature as they do tend to overheat and burn out if the gear or rack/wheel-boxes are tight
Enjoy the images

[Steve_D]

Pins 1 & 5 should give you slow speed with none of the park stuff involved which will prove the motor functions.

Steve

[Penelope Stopit]

Penelope Stopit said:

Does the gear turn freely as they do tend to seize up
Did you have a good sniff at the armature as they do tend to overheat and burn out if the gear or rack/wheel-boxes are tight
Enjoy the images

Don't connect power to the motor if it is tight, if you power up the motor when tight the armature will burn out very quickly
Also note that the wiper motor fuse will often not blow when the motor is tight, hence many fused motors still manage to burn out

[ChimaeraKev]

Awesome, thank you chaps!

Kev

[Penelope Stopit]

ChimaeraKev said:

Awesome, thank you chaps!

Kev

My Pleasure

[ChimaeraKev]

Well had a play with it tonight and managed to get it (sorta) working!

I basically stripped it down and cleaned it up, made sure the bushes we in correctly and then did away with the connecting block and wired the 5 cables straight onto pins. Fired it up and away they went!

Takes them a bit of effort and they really don't like anything but a soaked windscreen but they work! The only problem really is the 2nd speed doesn't work. They just stop dead in place when it is selected. Any ideas on this one anyone?

Cheers
Kev

[Penelope Stopit]

ChimaeraKev said:

Well had a play with it tonight and managed to get it (sorta) working!

I basically stripped it down and cleaned it up, made sure the bushes we in correctly and then did away with the connecting block and wired the 5 cables straight onto pins. Fired it up and away they went!

Takes them a bit of effort and they really don't like anything but a soaked windscreen but they work! The only problem really is the 2nd speed doesn't work. They just stop dead in place when it is selected. Any ideas on this one anyone?

Cheers
Kev

If you connect 12 Volts Positive to the Blue/Light Green Wire at the motor plug 2nd speed should work, if 2nd speed doesn't work when you have by-passed the switch by connecting 12 volts directly to the motor, there is a very good chance that the 2nd speed brush is broken, if the brush was worn out you would have noticed it when having the motor in bits
Did you check the length of the motor brushes?
on occasions the brushes have been known to stick in the brush boxes and not make contact with the commutator, sometimes the brush springs lose their spring and don't push the brushes onto the commutator

[Steve_D]

Your comment about the wiper not liking a dry screen may be the answer to your high speed issue in that the wiper wheel boxes and drive cable need cleaning and lubricating. they are so stiff the high speed can't shift them.
First thing to try is to take the cover of the gear mechanism and remove the motor/gearbox from the drive cable and tube.
With that lot out of the way remove the wiper arms and pull the drive cable out of the tube. I'm predicting it will be very stiff.
If it is then go to each wiper spindle and see if they turn freely. With luck they are free and you just need to grease the cable. If they are stiff then you are facing a world of hurt getting them out to lubricate and free them up.

If the drive mechanics are free moving then I suspect you may have winding problems in the motor.

Steve

[Penelope Stopit]

Penelope Stopit said:

Does the gear turn freely as they do tend to seize up
Did you have a good sniff at the armature as they do tend to overheat and burn out if the gear or rack/wheel-boxes are tight
]

Did you check everything is free?
If 1st speed is working 2nd speed should work even if there is something tight somewhere, it may be slower than it should be if something's tight

[geeman237]

I'm figuring out why my Griffith wiper motor isn't working either, so in a similar boat. Hope you don't mind, but could you confirm the positions of the red, blue and yellow wires from the connector to the motor? Mine looks like this, but I think there's been a little meltdown I need to chase down.

[Steve_D]

geeman237 said:

I'm figuring out why my Griffith wiper motor isn't working either, so in a similar boat. Hope you don't mind, but could you confirm the positions of the red, blue and yellow wires from the connector to the motor? Mine looks like this, but I think there's been a little meltdown I need to chase down.

Those are correctly positioned.
Don't assume you have a heating issue as those sleeves perish and that is exactly what they look like when they do.

Steve

[Penelope Stopit]

geeman237 said:

I'm figuring out why my Griffith wiper motor isn't working either, so in a similar boat. Hope you don't mind, but could you confirm the positions of the red, blue and yellow wires from the connector to the motor? Mine looks like this, but I think there's been a little meltdown I need to chase down.

The wiring from the motor to the park switch is correct
As you have no doubt noticed, the red and blue cables terminals sleeves aren't in the good condition like the terminal sleeve of the yellow cable terminal is, the reason that the yellow cables sleeve is good is because it controls the 2nd speed and rarely does as much work as the 1st speed
Those 2 bad sleeves have melted over time and it is difficult to prove at what time. Unless you have owned the car from new, those sleeves could have melted in the past and the cause could have been rectified before you owned the car
To be sure all is good you will need to disconnect the rack from the wiper motor gear and pull it out of the tubing that it feeds through to the wheel-boxes, you can now make sure the rack isn't stiff and if it is it will need replacing (Grease The Rack), with the rack out you will also be able to check that the wheel-boxes are free and if not you will need to lubricate or replace them

• ***Before you remove the rack, mark the position of the wheel-boxes, by marking the wheel-boxes positions you will be able to turn them 180 degrees so that as new wheel-box teeth will then be in contact with the rack and not the possible worn teeth that are now in contact with the rack. Obviously this is assuming the wheel-boxes positions haven,t been altered in the past****

Once the above work has been completed, with a good wiper motor the wipers will work as they did when all was new

Edited by Penelope Stopit on Monday 8th May 09:04

[geeman237]

Thanks for the confirmation. I may try some heatshrink around the damaged covers. I'll make sure I rotate the wheelboxes too.