weak wipers...
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Junior User
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 64
Likes: 0
From: Hendersonville TN
weak wipers...
I finally put the wiper arms and blades on yesterday...I have changed the vacuum wipers in the'54 to an electric setup I got from a'55 at the junkyard...put a voltage reducer in the circuit...turned them on...nothing.I put some Windex on the glass and started them by hand and they moved back and forth a time or two and stopped...they work fine with the blades retracted(pulled up at the swivel)...what is causing this?Thanks!
Posting Guru
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 2,440
Likes: 0
From: Ventura County, CA
Coley,
Could be too much spring tension shoving the blade against the window. This causes more strain on the motor trying to move the arm/blades across the glass. Try to loosen up the spring on the blade arm so it doesn't cause the arm to slam down so hard on the glass.
Also, what kind of wiper blades (the rubber part) are you using? Some of those dual-blade and triple-blades look cool, but they create additional strain on the wiper motor. You should be using just a single blade, high quality... nothing fancy.
A last option to check is the straightness (for lack of a better term) of the wiper arm. Are they straight? Sometimes they get bent downward (ie, toward the windshield glass). This can also create additional strain on the motor because the arm is forced down at a steeper angle against the windshield glass.
Just some ideas... hope one of them helps.
Could be too much spring tension shoving the blade against the window. This causes more strain on the motor trying to move the arm/blades across the glass. Try to loosen up the spring on the blade arm so it doesn't cause the arm to slam down so hard on the glass.
Also, what kind of wiper blades (the rubber part) are you using? Some of those dual-blade and triple-blades look cool, but they create additional strain on the wiper motor. You should be using just a single blade, high quality... nothing fancy.
A last option to check is the straightness (for lack of a better term) of the wiper arm. Are they straight? Sometimes they get bent downward (ie, toward the windshield glass). This can also create additional strain on the motor because the arm is forced down at a steeper angle against the windshield glass.
Just some ideas... hope one of them helps.
Posting Guru
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 1,243
Likes: 0
From: Michigan
Hi
Has your truck been converted to 12 volt?
Are you sure the wiper motor that you have is 6 volt?
Perhaps you don't need the voltage reducer.
Ford didn't have a 12 volt system until 56
Just some thoughts
Chuck
Has your truck been converted to 12 volt?
Are you sure the wiper motor that you have is 6 volt?
Perhaps you don't need the voltage reducer.
Ford didn't have a 12 volt system until 56
Just some thoughts
Chuck
Thread Starter
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Junior User
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 64
Likes: 0
From: Hendersonville TN
Maybe the reducer can't supply enough amperage to run the wiper motor-with the blades touching the glass...at first it worked fine-at least with the blades pulled back from the glass.Now the motor doesn't work at all...I'm starting to think maybe it could be a lack of good ground...I think in the morning I'll run a ground wire instead of depending on the bracket touching the underdash brace...I know one thing...that reducer got REALLY hot while the motor was working.It is one of those Fifties-type reducers they used on street rods...my truck and my parts truck both had several,so I cleaned them up and used them for the heater and wipers...the heater works great with it.I thought maybe it was the switch...the one I got off the 55 was really funky...I looked around the garage and found an almost new one...it must have come off my parts truck...it had electric wipers too,but the fusible link was burned up on the motor...can you replace those easily?Jaye...what are you looking for...I still have some stuff left...
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Junior User
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 64
Likes: 0
From: Hendersonville TN
So...the latest...I took the motor off after checking voltage everywhere...it seems that there is 12 volts on BOTH sides of those reducers...why is that?I figured the fusible link had to be burned after that,but I took the cover off and it seems to be intact...there is some kind of ground strap on the bracket that is about the thickness of a feeler gauge blade...it's loose at one end...could be part of the problem I guess.Anybody got any ideas?Thanks!How can I test the motor with it off and no way to send just 6 volts to it?
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