Upper style wiper motor confusion. (1 Viewer)

[Scott Parsley]

I’m working on getting the wipers working on my ‘72 FJ40. Before removing the assembly they only worked on low speed and they were laboring badly. I rarely used them in the last 15 years or so but they did work ok-ish previous to that.

I removed the whole assembly and cleaned out the 52 year old grease. It got reassembled with fresh grease and I installed a new factory switch in the dash. I installed the right/motor side on the windshield to test and it did not work. Nothing. I do have 12v on the solid blue wire going directly into the motor. The dash switch is not powered so nothing there regardless of switch position. That’s all I’ve got so far.

Not sure what to do next. I’ve read Coolermans wiper page a couple times and get a little confused by the park switch. I kind of understand it but not totally. I’d like to bench test the motor and I do have a 12v power supply I can use with alligator clips. Do any of you electrical gurus have any advice on the next step or how I can attempt to bench test the motor?

I’ve got VW arms, new blades from Napa, hardware, and grommets. I’d love to get this back in my Cruiser and dialed in for winter.

 

[charliemeyer007]

On my 72 the motor is on the passenger side. It has a plug on the wires a few inches away from the motor. You should be able to clip test leads at the plug. The case is the ground. The new switch could be bad. the wires from switch to motor could be bad, the wires/fuse supplying power from box to switch. Any of the connection inside the plugs could be corroded on the terminal or the wire inside the crimp.

Its a DC motor, windings could be bad, comutator bad or the isolators not trimmed down properly. Alignment of the shaft could be off when you tighten it back up causing a bind. Worn bushing/bearing

 

[Scott Parsley]

On my 72 the motor is on the passenger side. It has a plug on the wires a few inches away from the motor. You should be able to clip test leads at the plug. The case is the ground. The new switch could be bad. the wires from switch to motor could be bad, the wires/fuse supplying power from box to switch. Any of the connection inside the plugs could be corroded on the terminal or the wire inside the crimp.

Its a DC motor, windings could be bad, comutator bad or the isolators not trimmed down properly. Alignment of the shaft could be off when you tighten it back up causing a bind. Worn bushing/bearing

Yes, of course. You’re correct. It’s obviously on the right. I’m a dummy and can’t tell which is which sometimes. I edited my post. Thanks for the input too.

 

[Coolerman]

Bench Test
Tools Needed: Fully charged +12V battery and a set of three test leads
Connect Red +12V lead to battery + then clip to Blue lead of wiper motor. HIGHLY suggest you put a 15 amp fuse in line with this lead, you know in case...
Connect Black - lead to battery - then clip to the case of the wiper motor. This grounds the motor case to battery -.
Connect the third test lead to the wiper motor case or battery -
Now you can touch either the Blue/Red or the Blue/Black wire to the wiper motor case to make the motor run. Blue/Red is Lo speed, and Blue/Black is Hi speed.
The Park function is best tested in vehicel with everything hooked up the way it should be. Ground id critical in this application. Not only must the motor be well grounded to the windshield, the windshield must be well grounded to the body AND the wiper switch body must be well grounded to the dash.