1952 Special Wiper Motor Removal

[Guest shadetree77]

Trying to remove the wiper motor on my '52 Special. On the Special models the motor is located deep under the dash. Just wonderful. Anyway, I can't figure out how to remove the two wiper arms that attach to the motor itself. Service manual only states, "The spring connected washers of the link retainer have key hole slots for engagement with grooves in link pins on wiper motor." Huh???:confused: I took that to mean there is some kind of trick to this. That's about all I got out of it. I can't get them to detach. It would probably help if I could see the back side of the arms but I cannot. Anyone have any helpful hints or advice?

[TexasJohn55]

Robert,

It looks like you remove the spring from both washers, slide washers opposite direction from spring and lift off posts, then lift arms.,

[1953mack]

Deleted.

Edited May 1, 2014 by 1953mack (see edit history)

[DonMicheletti]

All you have to do is get the 2 little clips with the spring between them off. There is a good chance that the long rods from the wipers may have worn a groove in the pivots causing them to resist removal. Careful prying with a small screwdriver between the long arms and the motor arm should get them off.

[Guest shadetree77]

Thanks guys. Right after I posted here I did remove the two clips with the spring attached. They were very easy to take off. A little spin and off they came. But the arms are still stuck fast. Don, I believe you may be right about that groove. I didn't want to pry on them until I got some feedback here for fear of breaking something. Tomorrow, I'll try prying on them and maybe a little penetrating oil. They are pretty corroded. I'll update here after I try again.

Oh, and while I'm at it, any recommendations for what type of grease/lubricant to put inside the motor once I rebuild it? I've searched the internet and found recommendations for everything from brake fluid to John Deere Corn Head Grease:confused:

Edited May 1, 2014 by shadetree77 (see edit history)

[Ben Bruce aka First Born]

White lithium, spareingly.

Ben

[trp3141592]

Hi,

The fun part is putting that motor back in. You need one hand to hold it, one hand to work the screw driver, and one hand to hold the screw onto the screwdriver. I was born with only two. Oh, and that's all while upside down so you can't move your arms. Oh yeah, the sweat runs down into your eyes and blinds you. And your trouble light either 1) creates a shadow where you need to be able to see, or 2) slips and puts a 3rd degree burn on your forearm. And you can't fit your two arms that close together to hold the motor AND the fastener, so it's effectively a one-handed task.

My solution was to get some knobs with 10-32 threaded studs (Lowe's, or mcmaster.com # 3857K21), start one knob in one end of the wiper motor, slide the motor into place and hand tighten the knob to hold the motor in place, which allows you to place the other end of the motor on top of the sheet metal mounting ear and then start the 2nd knob. No one will ever know, or care, that you threw away the slot-head screws.

--Tom

PS--You want to do this again? As big a pain as this motor is to remove and install, you might just bite the bullet and send it to wiperman.com. It's worth it.

Edited May 2, 2014 by trp3141592
added wiperman info (see edit history)

[Guest shadetree77]

OK guys. I got the wiper motor out following Don's suggestion of prying with a screwdriver. I proceeded to open it up, clean it, lube it with white lithium (thanks Ben), put some sealant on the lid, and re-assembled it. Waited 24 hours for the sealant to cure, hooked it up to the manifold vacuum port to test and.....it worked! The mechanism actually took off faster than I thought it would and pinched my finger!

Then, I re-installed it under the dash with a new piece of rubber vacuum line and some hose clamps. I adjusted the open and close switch so it's operating correctly. I squirted the windshield with some water, started the car, and hit the switch. Nothing!

So I got under there and unhooked the wiper arms. The mechanism will work without the arms attached, albeit weakly. I can easily stop the motion with my hand. Being that it seemed to be working quite strong when I tested it the first time, I checked my vacuum on the OUT side of the mechanical fuel/vacuum pump right before it goes through the firewall and hooks up to the wiper motor. I have a rock solid steady 19.5" of vacuum at idle. Is this enough? Should this amount of vacuum be working my wipers? Any ideas guys?

Edited May 3, 2014 by shadetree77 (see edit history)

[TexasJohn55]

Be sure it didn't somehow bind when bolted up. Check the vacuum tee'd in line while it is static and also after switching on. On-off is cable actuated isn't it? Try removing cable and manually switch on and off.

[Guest shadetree77]

Thanks for the suggestions John. Tests completed. It isn't binding. I took it loose and left the vacuum line hooked up. When turned on it is still weak and can be easily stopped by hand.

I took loose the cable actuated linkage and opened and closed the switch by hand. Made no difference.

I put a tee in the line right before the vacuum nipple on the wiper motor. I'm reading 16.5" at idle with switch in OFF position. Drops down to 8.5" with switch ON. I don't know how I'm losing 3.5" of vacuum from the engine compartment side of the firewall(19.5") to the inside of the firewall,(16.5") but that's what it's reading. Either way, Rob over at Wiperman.com says on his site that they test their re-built units at 13". So 16.5" should be more than enough to run my unit.

Even though I don't hear any leaks while the unit is running, all of this is leading me to believe that the unit did not seal. I have plenty of vacuum from the engine to run the motor and all of the working parts are intact, clean, and freshly greased. What else could it be?

Edited May 3, 2014 by shadetree77 (see edit history)

[TexasJohn55]

I'm in the same boat, been putting off spendin' that money you know.

I mistakenly checked mine dead-headed to guage, that didn't show system loss from hoses and switches while operating. That is why I had to tee in, kinda like checking oil pressure. The closer to the accessory the better on small lines, it gives an accurate indication of what is available to operate the accessory. A guage on the intake manifold would be useless as the vacuum would not drop much at the manifold, only at the end of the line where it is needed.

Edited May 3, 2014 by TexasJohn55 (see edit history)

[TexasJohn55]

Vacuum, like pressure is a function of flow and differential or supply and demand, the smaller the line or the smaller the flow, the greater the pressure drop from leaks. Either the supply is limited or the leak is greater than the supply circuit and supply line can compensate for. Makes me wonder why your vacuum is lower than the actual intake mfld vacuum, is the vacuum pump restricting the flow or is the leak really that big?

[trp3141592]

Hi,

I am thinking that the amount of vacuum has nothing at all to do with these symptoms. I suggest that you should look at the following:

1. How much friction is in the wiper transmission shafts? These can be lubricated easily with Lock-Ease, which leaves a coating of graphite behind when it evaporates. It also will not wash out of anything you get in onto, and it will fill your fingerprints until it wears off.

2. Perhaps more importantly, the operation of the motor is 100% dependent on the condition of the paddle. When you disassembled the motor you certainly came across the paddle--it's the beef in this burger. The leather or rubber seal at the edges wears, gets stiff, or deteriorates, and you have significant vacuum loss around the perimeter. Vacuum loss = lack of operating force.

I know of no source for replacement paddles. I assume that Rob Ficken either rebuilds them or has a huge NOS inventory or has paid for or made tooling to make them. He doesn't sell them.

Bottom line, lube the transmission shafts with graphite. If that doesn't work, send the motor to Rob Ficken at wiperman.com.

--Tom

[sweetpotato]

Maybe I'm missing something here but doesn't it look like just extending the spring retainer will let the ends of it come off the pins?

[old-tank]

Robert,

If cleaning and greasing did not revive it, the paddle is probably worn and/or shrunken and not sealing. I did mine like you did and it lasted until I got 2000 miles from home...sent it to Wiperman and it lasted 2 weeks...he finally put in a new paddle and it is strong at all wiper and engines speeds and is infinitely variable.

Willie

[TexasJohn55]

Maybe I'm missing something here but doesn't it look like just extending the spring retainer will let the ends of it come off the pins?

Yes but he got past that right away.

[Guest shadetree77]

After messing with it a little more I'm in agreement with you fellows. I do believe it is not sealing. Most likely it is the paddle. The rubber edge was cracked and hard. I will be sending it to Rob soon. I tried my best to save that $100 but I lost this time. Well, the bright side is I now know the gist of re-building a vacuum wiper motor. Added to the ol' knowledge bank at least.

Tom, the wiper transmissions probably could use a little lubrication but they aren't that hard to move by hand so I'm guessing the problem does lie in the motor. While I'm waiting on the re-build I'll crawl back under there and lube those with some graphite.