Wiper Motor/Wiring Problem

[J-Mart]

Hey guys,

I'm kinda new here and this is my first post, so I'm saying goodbye to my FBBO posting virginity. But no seriously.

My real question is that my wiper motor only works on one speed, FAST. I have a 73 Satellite/RR clone with a rallye cluster and I do have the 3 speed switch. I'm not totally sure about the motor, whether its a 3 speed or 2 speed. Does anyone have any tricks to tell the difference?

Also, it seems like the wipers work backwards. What I mean is that the motor runs in the "OFF" position of the switch, and doesn't work on any of the other settings. I've replaced the switch, and same thing happens. I have put a voltage meter on the terminals, and have gotten messed up readings from what the factory manual says. Things like, no power on a wire that is supposed to have power and then power to the same wire on a different position of the switch. Any ideas on that?

I cant say much about the car. I legit just bought it in late August and have been working on it after school and some weekends, so things are kinda slow. I bought it from a guy in Kentucky who I'm pretty sure tried to flip the car and make some quick cash. It originally was a triple white, 318 2bbl, floor shift car with rallye cluster, special ordered for someone in Florida (at least that's what I've been able to surmise). It is now B5 blue with white stripe, original white interior (I'm almost positive) 8 1/4 rear and I'm not sure if its original drivetrain, but I highly doubt it.

Hopefully someone can help me out, or at least give me some ideas in a direction to go, because I really want to get the wipers working so I can get the car registered and inspected before the snow flys up here in wonderful Buffalo New York. Thanks so much guys.

Jeff

 

[67 coronet]

get yourself a wiring diagram and double check the wiring to your wipers.maybe someone screwed up the wiring,only way to be sure.make sure you have good ground as well,most common problem with our rides.

 

[D575]

"Bench testing procedure.


Test #1(Hi speed)


Connect jumper wire from motor case to battery ground.
Connect second jumper wire from battery positive to BROWN lead.
Motor should run hi speed continuously.


Test #2 (Lo speed)


Connect jumper wire from motor case to battery ground.
Connect jumper wire from GREEN wire to battery ground.
Join BROWN and RED wires together and connect a jumper wire from battery positive to them.
Motor should run at slower speed.


Test #3 (Park)


Connect jumper wire from motor case to battery ground.
Connect jumper lead from GREEN to BROWN wire.
Connect jumper wire from red wire to ground.
Connect jumper wire from Blue wire to battery positive.
Motor should reverse and park.


I saved this from another post

 

[SureGrip]

Oh sweet Jesus, that is helpful!!

 

[tallhair]

Hey guys,

I'm kinda new here and this is my first post, so I'm saying goodbye to my FBBO posting virginity. But no seriously.

My real question is that my wiper motor only works on one speed, FAST. I have a 73 Satellite/RR clone with a rallye cluster and I do have the 3 speed switch. I'm not totally sure about the motor, whether its a 3 speed or 2 speed. Does anyone have any tricks to tell the difference?

Also, it seems like the wipers work backwards. What I mean is that the motor runs in the "OFF" position of the switch, and doesn't work on any of the other settings. I've replaced the switch, and same thing happens. I have put a voltage meter on the terminals, and have gotten messed up readings from what the factory manual says. Things like, no power on a wire that is supposed to have power and then power to the same wire on a different position of the switch. Any ideas on that?

I cant say much about the car. I legit just bought it in late August and have been working on it after school and some weekends, so things are kinda slow. I bought it from a guy in Kentucky who I'm pretty sure tried to flip the car and make some quick cash. It originally was a triple white, 318 2bbl, floor shift car with rallye cluster, special ordered for someone in Florida (at least that's what I've been able to surmise). It is now B5 blue with white stripe, original white interior (I'm almost positive) 8 1/4 rear and I'm not sure if its original drivetrain, but I highly doubt it.

Hopefully someone can help me out, or at least give me some ideas in a direction to go, because I really want to get the wipers working so I can get the car registered and inspected before the snow flys up here in wonderful Buffalo New York. Thanks so much guys.

Jeff

It's great to have you here Jeff. The good folks of FBBO will get you sorted out quick enough so in the meantime go ahead and head over to the welcome wagon and tell us a story and post some photo's of your ride while you work out your problem.

 

[Photon440]

Welcome to the forum, Jeff.

If your wiper motor sticks out from the firewall, it's probably a 2 speed, like this:



A three speed has the motor sideways, parallel to the firewall:



Hope this helps...

-=Photon440=-

 

[AMX364]

And if it is neither of those 2 motors(posted by Photon440) then it could be a variable speed motor. Wiring and switches do NOT interchange. Wiring is easy to change to correct.

 

[J-Mart]

Hey guys, quick update.

First, Thanks to Photon and D575 for the really helpful posts. But after a solid week of screwing around with the car and the wiper motor, the linkage, the switch and all the wiring, I have finally found the cause of all my issues. I believe that the switch that is in the car is NOT grounded, causing the motor to run only on High Speed in only one position of the switch.

Big thanks to my dad for helping me figure out what was going on. What we did is we took the motor out, hooked it up to another switch that I knew was a 3 speed switch, hooked that up to a 12V battery charger and grounded everything and sure enough, everything worked. The motor turned on all 3 speeds and even parked.

So now it looks like I have to rip my dash back out and make sure the switch is grounded. Hopefully once that is finished, everything will work as it should. So if anyone else is having this problem, check to make sure both the motor and the switch are grounded! (I REALLY wish I did that in the first place haha)

Again, thanks for all the help everyone!