Wipers: Mechanical and Electrical

Have a look at what I did for the wiper spindles

http://www.e9coupe.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9430


And comments I made back in 2012 when I did my wipers

Fitted new wiper relay today, every wiper function now works perfectly! if your intermittent, or one of your speeds doesn't work and all the switches are ok, I would bet the house the relay has a fault, there is quite a bit of circuitry in the relay that operates all the intermittent timing, wash wipe etc etc

Also make sure the wiring is plugged onto the washer motor, I seem to recall that if it is not the wipers run without being turned on.
 
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thehackmechanic said:
I'm late to the party, but add me to the list of people who's hand was pinned to the sharp metal on the cowl when I plugged in the wiper plug and the armature swing around. Not something to be treated lightly.
Click to expand...

The list would be twice as long if you counted those who cannot use the keyboard to post after the incident...

Pain builds character.
 
@kasbatts - Your thread looks good, but the pictures seem to be broken. Any chance those are still around?

Thanks!

E
 
In my 72, the wiper relay resides above the door to the hood latch, on the inside of the front fender up high just in front of the load shedding relay. As Steve noted, however, you can zip tie it up anywhere so long as you are not stressing the wires.

As to your mystery wires, Loom A appears to have a dual brown, a larger gauge black (or black red wire) and a third wire. If that third wire is blue green, that could be the wiring for the rear window defroster switch.

The colors in Loom B -- purple, brown, white green and white -- along with the half-assed connections lead me to believe that is a radio circuit.
 
More progress!

So I think I'm gaining on the wiper problem. Here's the current status:

Pulling stalk gets voltage across the wash pump. It makes a bunch of noise but nothing squirts out. I'm going to assume a bad pump or clogged lines. Either way, electrically, we're good.

If I turn the wiper switch on high (pull all the way up), the wipers move. Upon turning them off, they return to their original spot.

The button on the stalk does not appear to do anything. Low or Medium on the speed switch does not do anything.

Any ideas?

One thing I had a question about: Looking at the diagram, I see Intermittent Wipe-Wash Switch Control Unit, Intermittent Wipe-Wash Switch, Wipe-Wash Switch and Wiper Switch.

I'm aware of the excellently named Wisch-Wasch Interval Relay, the control on the stalk and the control in the console. Which one is which and what's the fourth one? I haven't found that guy.

Thanks!

E
 
Hi Evan - I am not sure you are looking at the operation of the wipers correctly. The console switch is a "preselector" switch. It determines whether the wipers operate in intermittent mode (all the way down), normal mode (mid way) or a tiny bit faster mode (all the way up). Moving this switch by itself should not cause the wipers to operate (or to stop operating).

The stalk is the on-off switch for the wipers. Push the stalk in once and the wipers are on. Push it again to turn them off.

Operation of the wipers runs through the relay, which varies (or times) the voltage to the motor depending on the position of the preselector switch.

If your wipers operate with the preselector switch in the highest position, this means the motor and relay are working. The wipers only appeared to turn off when you moved the preselector to its lowest position. Instead, the wipers were on, but did not operate because they were in the delay portion of the intermittent cycle.

Finally, pulling the switch toward you both operates the pump and turns on the wiper motor for a few swipes. Again, if you hear the pump operating you seem to have the proper electrical connection here. Note you can burn out the pump pretty quickly operating it without fluid.
 
Ohmess said:
Hi Evan - I am not sure you are looking at the operation of the wipers correctly. The console switch is a "preselector" switch. It determines whether the wipers operate in intermittent mode (all the way down), normal mode (mid way) or a tiny bit faster mode (all the way up). Moving this switch by itself should not cause the wipers to operate (or to stop operating).

The stalk is the on-off switch for the wipers. Push the stalk in once and the wipers are on. Push it again to turn them off.
Click to expand...

Really...Who knew? Thanks for the operating tip, I was just about to tear into my dash to try and find out why my wipers only worked on intermittent! :roll:
 
The wiper motor is probably shorting if you keep blowing fuses. Problem is the magnets inside the motor crumble into pieces due to age and fall against the armature. Can't be fixed as far as I know.
The motor has three brushes which are difficult to replace also. Get a new motor if you can find one.
 
Hey guys!

I have a new operating theory: bad switch or bad wiring to the switch. The P/O has "rewired" the connector there and I'm not sure that he's got it. At this point, I can get the wipers to come on high EVERY time and keep moving without issue. I get no intermittent and no low, even though the return works as expected and the stalk works like you would expect.

I've got my wiring diagram, but I'm not sure how the pinouts are supposed to work for the switch. Does anyone know where those wires from the speed switch end up or anywhere I can jump some pins to test?

Thanks!

E
 
To test your theory, I would check end to end continuity in each individual wire (to include the connector) that the PO has modified. You can use the wiring diagram in your owner's manual to identify the start and end point of each wire.

Also, identify and check the grounds in the circuit (e.g., coming off the relay).
 
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