wiper motor acting oddly

[SizzleChest]

i put a 77 windshield frame/wiper motor on my 78 FJ40 and the motor is either dying or wired incorrectly it seems. the wipers only work in the low speed setting and only when the motor is at higher RPMs. I'm not very good with electrical so any help is appreciated.

 

[rusty_tlc]

Pull the dash vents and lube up the connecting rod joints.

I'll buy you a beer if this doesn't work.

 

[johmbie]

didn't work for my '77 which pulls similar tricks. Think the power line has developed some impedance from age & corrosion of the connections. Not saying don't lube it: absolutely do it. But you may want to pull the cover and spend some quality time with a multimeter finding out if you are dropping volts somewhere you don't want. Clean & repair of connections may do the trick, if not you may have a damaged wire somewhere between points A & B.

 

[SizzleChest]

Pull the dash vents and lube up the connecting rod joints.

I'll buy you a beer if this doesn't work.

so far, so good. i like easy fixes. too bad the high setting doesn't work. i'm assuming the 77 wiper motor only had one speed.

 

[65swb45]

so far, so good. i like easy fixes. too bad the high setting doesn't work. i'm assuming the 77 wiper motor only had one speed.

10 percent chance the high speed in the motor has failed

25 percent chance the contact wire on the motor has failed

25 percent chance the wiring between the motor and the switch has failed.

39 percent chance the terminal in the switch has failed.

1 percent chance my percentages are off!

Best

Mark A.

 

[johmbie]

yep, there's a high speed. and yep, Mark's probably right.

 

[ken_79-fj40]

Mine used to work really slow on both speeds. I had slow and barely moving basically. Then one day 3 hours from home in a driving rainstorm it quit completely. I would up pulling the motor at a rest area that was conveniently about 1/4 of a mile from where it quit. When I took the motor apart I discovered that the grease for the gearbox right off the motor was thick and nasty. We scraped most of it out, and the motor worked better than ever. When I got home I fully cleaned it out and re-greased it with regular wheel bearing grease. It's been working great like this for 5 years. But I do admit that when I know it's going to rain I drive something else. My old kayline soft top leaks above the windshield at speed.

 

[bsmith123]

grounds

disco the connector to the motor and shoot back through the switch and see how much resistance you have to ground--a rusted terminal to ground could give you probs, or crud in the switch

Another way to do this is shoot back and find hi and low or check the schem wire colors and run a hot and ground from the battery and test the motor---then you know if you need to look at the motor/lube side of things or the wiring/grounds

good luck

 

[65swb45]

So, what's the word from Mr. Sizzlechest?