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Welcome to FordPinto.com, The home of the PCCA => General Help- Ask the Experts... => Topic started by: Jdm071755 on December 09, 2017, 02:45:29 PM

Title: Wiper motor
Post by: Jdm071755 on December 09, 2017, 02:45:29 PM
Wipers don’t work. Pulled the motor out I tried to turn it by hand boy it doesn’t budge. Should it spin freely by hand?


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Title: Re: Wiper motor
Post by: Wittsend on December 09, 2017, 03:32:31 PM
Usually they have a worn gear drive so, "No" it most likely wouldn't turn.  Often times the grease in the gear box can harden to the point that the motor won't turn, or if left on long enough burn up the motor. Electrical contacts can get corroded too. Did you check the fuse?

1. Check the fuse.

2A. Put a volt meter on the connector. You can just run it to chassis ground on the - side. Turn on the wiper at each position and then look for voltage on each connection point. You should only find voltage at one point per switch position (other than off*). The one where you find no voltage after going through each position is likely ground.  *You may find one wire that has voltage all the time as something like that is needed to get the wipers back to the "park" position.

2B.  You can set a voltmeter to Ohms and check for continuity on the motor. Unfortunately I have no idea what to expect to read at any given connector. So, it can be a bit of guessing what thereadings mean. Maybe others are more versed on that.

3. Assuming you have voltage at the connector you might want to open the gearbox case and look at the condition of the grease. There are often wipe tracks of copper on a circular board and any corrosion, hardened grease etc. can disrupt electrical contact.

So, that should get you started.
Title: Re: Wiper motor
Post by: Jdm071755 on December 19, 2017, 01:58:11 PM
Usually they have a worn gear drive so, "No" it most likely wouldn't turn.  Often times the grease in the gear box can harden to the point that the motor won't turn, or if left on long enough burn up the motor. Electrical contacts can get corroded too. Did you check the fuse?

1. Check the fuse.

2A. Put a volt meter on the connector. You can just run it to chassis ground on the - side. Turn on the wiper at each position and then look for voltage on each connection point. You should only find voltage at one point per switch position (other than off*). The one where you find no voltage after going through each position is likely ground.  *You may find one wire that has voltage all the time as something like that is needed to get the wipers back to the "park" position.

2B.  You can set a voltmeter to Ohms and check for continuity on the motor. Unfortunately I have no idea what to expect to read at any given connector. So, it can be a bit of guessing what thereadings mean. Maybe others are more versed on that.

3. Assuming you have voltage at the connector you might want to open the gearbox case and look at the condition of the grease. There are often wipe tracks of copper on a circular board and any corrosion, hardened grease etc. can disrupt electrical contact.

So, that should get you started.
Ok now that the brakes are done on to wiper motor. Look at the picture closely someone spliced 2 wires together. Red to black and black to red.  Don’t seem right


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Title: Re: Wiper motor
Post by: Pintosopher on December 19, 2017, 02:25:39 PM
What year is your car? 72 & 73 have dark brown /orange , Red, white, Black /pink to motor The splices could have been a intermittent relay spliced in the past.
Title: Re: Wiper motor
Post by: Jdm071755 on December 19, 2017, 02:54:12 PM
What year is your car? 72 & 73 have dark brown /orange , Red, white, Black /pink to motor The splices could have been a intermittent relay spliced in the past.
80 cruising wagon


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Title: Re: Wiper motor
Post by: Pintosopher on December 19, 2017, 04:11:48 PM
Same colors for 1980 in my Clymer Manual at the Motor Connector plug. Sounds like an attempt to get a feature on the factory intermittent to work when it failed.
Title: Re: Wiper motor
Post by: Jdm071755 on December 19, 2017, 05:08:37 PM
Same colors for 1980 in my Clymer Manual at the Motor Connector plug. Sounds like an attempt to get a feature on the factory intermittent to work when it failed.
I’m going to put them back to red/red black/black and see what happens


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Title: Re: Wiper motor
Post by: Reeves1 on December 21, 2017, 05:13:22 PM
Let us know.
Every day I keep meaning to go hand test one I have in the shop & keep forgetting.... .
Title: Re: Wiper motor
Post by: Wittsend on December 22, 2017, 11:23:49 AM
If you are unsure about wire connection it would be prudent to use an in-line fuse holder (fuse rated to the wiper motor) so if the connection resulted in a short you have a form of protection.