Is my wiper motor stuffed?

[parisian62]

I have power going to the wiper motor but it's not wiping...any suggestions?

Stewart

[Blacky]

Have you got a decent earth going to it ?

[MeFB]

Was it working when you took it out?

[Harv]

Damn thing thinks it's an FB vacuum wiper... they never work. Threaten it with a hammer.

Sorry Stu, couldn't help myself.

Cheers,
Harv.

[parisian62]

Blacky - there is a band of copper? coming out of the wiper and is attached to the bolt that holds the wiper mechanism to the fire wall.

Alan - Yep it was working before I took it out. It was also working when I first put it back in but the wiper switch worked a bit loose and it sparked a bit from behind the switch - I've since tightened that up.

Andrew - my FB vacuum wipers have never failed me...except on big hills in the pouring rain...

I've also checked the fuse.

[MeFB]

I know you've probably done this, but just bridge the switch as your first check. If it works when you join the wires, then you know the switch is faulty and not the motor

[Trev]

I've also checked the fuse.

Change the fuse anyway, I've been caught out with a fuse that looked good but wasn't.

[MeFB]

I've also checked the fuse.

Change the fuse anyway, I've been caught out with a fuse that looked good but wasn't.

I've had that too with the glass fuses. Sometimes the fuse wire separates from the end cap and it still looks good

I think maybe vibration is the culprit

[Blacky]

Yeah - dont rely on the fuse looking OK , check with a test light , then switch on and check at the wiper motor, did you remove the paint from behind the earth strap and has the earth screw got a star washer on it ?

[parisian62]

Many thanks for the help guys. Craig Wilson who is in the FE FC Club dropped by for a visit and we...

Tested the fuse with the test light - A-OK.
Checked the back of switch and made sure no paint was behind switch and was earthing properly.
Added a star washer behind earth strap.

No dice.

So we pulled the wiper motor out of the car and connected it straight to the battery...dead as a doornail...

Next we took the cover plate where the switch and battery wires come through. The grease was rock hard and the contact point very dirty so we cleaned that all up and re-greased.

Next we took the other end of the wiper motor off and cleaned the commutator and re-greased the end of the armature.

Tested in on the battery and voila! We're back in business.

Stewart

[Dandy4]

Thanks for this thread. My wiper motor stopped working the other day and I've gone through all the recommendations. I finally wired the motor up directly from the battery and it worked perfectly, meaning the earth is fine, the motor works and the switch works, but it won't work when wired through the loom. There's power from all fuses.

Any ideas?

Danny

[BILLY BLACKARROW]

Stewart
Check this out
viewtopic.php?f=28&t=13510&p=134085#p134085
The link didn't work but I posted a how to repair wiper motor just do a search
Billy