slow wipers

[Tempest455]

Hi All,

I have been restoring a 1980 2000 FI for the past 2 years. A car in a condition that most folks would have used for a parts car. I guess I am just a glutton for punishment or just can't stand to see such a cool car stripped down and left for the crusher.

Anyway she is coming along very nicely and running strong thanks in part to the posts on this forum. I would like to try and pay back the favor by posting things that I have learned over the past 2 years.

Anyway!

Lots of posts out there about slow wipers. I tried everything on the site and finally got my wipers working great without spending much money.

1. Brown wire surgery (just search for it, great step by step out there and can be done in an afternoon)
2. Check all ground terminals, clean and apply dielectric grease to prevent corrosion on old ground pods and studs.
3. Lube wiper linkage (anti-seize worked great)
4. Headlight relays (again search the forum for great info)

If that didn't make them faster try bypassing the wiper speed switch on the dash with a jumper wire to see if it is the problem. If it is the problem there are tons of these units on evilbay etc. I never tried but you might be able to clean or otherwise rework the switch.

If that didn't fix the problem and you are considering getting out the BFH or buying a new wiper motor WAIT!!!! I read in some posts that folks rebuilt the motors, new brushes etc. Well, i don't know much about finding motor brushes but I figured what the heck, lets take this thing apart and see whats going on in there. Believe it or not the wiper motor is easy to remove and disassemble. I won't go into the step by step here unless there is a need but once pulled from the cowling and disconnected from the linkage (10mm wrench) and with a straight slot screw driver I was able to pull the motor housing off and remove the main gear cover. Once apart spray the unit down with electrical contact cleaner and degrease of the main and worm gear (contact cleaner works okay for this too) (old grease = bad sluggish motion) The add a conservative application of new grease on the main gear and motor end shaft bearing. After cleaning everything up and getting some fresh grease on the gears the wipers work like new (or what I surmise "new" was like) It was as if the unit wanted to be taken apart for some TLC rather than being tossed for a new one.

For the pros out there please let me know if I did anything wrong, I don't want to mislead folks. That said for the price of some contact cleaner and a sunny afternoon I should be ready the next time I get stuck in the rain.

b

[So Cal Mark]

thanks for posting that

[Fiat88]

Helpful post as I'm in the process of doing the same thing! What's the best kind of grease to use to lube the wiper gear shaft and white plastic gear and linkage?

When I moved the linkage by hand it was kind of tight, now I know why the wipers are slow.

[beachboy]

The best of your suggestions was to clean up wire ends and ground points. Taking apart mechanical motors and re-lubing them and their moving arms is essential for good operation. Just throwing more amperage at it is not sound judgement. Dipping the wire ends in TarnX for 15 seconds and flushing with clean water is a wonderful thing, before adding dielectric.

The only shake my head moment was the brown wire surgery to a FI spider! So now you have two brown wires? FI spiders were given 65A alternators and a separate brown wire from the factory. Maybe you can use it as an antenna for the radio.

[Tempest455]

@Beachboy - thanks for the heads up on the brown wire surgery WRT to the car being an FI. In my attempts to get the wipers working nicely again it was something I tried since it is such a prominent solution on the forum. I went back through the posts and found where it wasn't really applicable to the FI models.

I like the idea of the tarnex idea! going to have to pick a jug of that stuff up for sure.