55 Buick Roadmaster Wiper System

[buickbrothers]

I've rebuilt the motor and it's operational but only on one speed/wide angle and not the narrow faster speed. The jar sprayer is not working for some reason. I tested the pump using my vacuum pump before installing on the car. Water did make it to the nozzles, but it doesn't seem to have enough pressure/consistent flow to spay out. Just some drips. Nozzles are clear/not clogged.

 

I'm confused about the vacuum hose connections in the diagrams vs. the parts on my car. My jar lid only has to connections - not a "Co-Ord" as indicated. My switch is also different compared to the spec. I have 4 connections - two large ports and two small ports. Here's the only Buick spec I've been able to find and the second one I found in a forum post where it eliminated some hoses/routings. It's kind of hard to hook this up correctly when my switch and jar are different. When I got the car hoses were missing and wiper motor didn't work.  

 

I've attached pic's of my motor, jar and switch. One additional challenge, I can't hear if I have a vacuum leak very well because I don't have a muffler yet on my exhaust. I put all new hoses in and all I can do is put my ear really close to the motor, jar and switch. I'll double check these. Any insight is appreciated.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

[KAD36]

Thought the coordinator was a new option for 56 and the short/wide angle wipe was  std option for roadmasters, which would make me think the washer assembly in your picture is correct for the car and the vacuum hose routing to the switch and wiper motor is for the white angle sweep, maybe I’m not understanding the question

[buickbrothers]

Lol - it's very confusing KAD36 and thanks for responding. Per my model on the Hometown Buick site, I'm supposed to have speed control on the wiper system. Now, what does that mean? Wide and Narrow or not? What is really strange is the multiple vacuum ports on the wiper switch. 4 ports? The switch bezel/face does not match this attached screen shot. Mine doesn't have the arrow but it has two tabs on the knob - On/Off and a second tab on the bottom for speed control. Yes, I have no idea if the vacuum diagram pertains to a 54, 55, 56, etc. I have no idea why my switch has two tabs. I'm sure you know the gaps in Buick model documentation. So, my question is what is the correct vacuum hook-up to this 4 port switch to produce the expected speed control indicated below? Jar top is different, wiper switch is different. I've swapped hoses around and no difference. And, I can't get the washer to spray out - just drip. I know the pump is working. This switch is an oddity with all the ports, the two tabs to control different aspects, and everything that I find on switches has two ports, not four. Very odd!

 

  

[buickbrothers]

BTW - I had a 55 Super parts car and the wiper switch on it only has two ports and matches the switch in the Hometown Buick documentation (arrow and on/off only).

[JohnD1956]

As near as I can see the switch is the wrong application for your car.  The first diagram of the hose routing you posted is for a '56. That shows a switch with 3 vacuum hose ports, not 4.  The washer bottle top in that diagram is for the 56 too. The top you showed on your car is what I thought the 54/55 came with.  Unless one of the 4 ports in your switch is the Bowden cable to the wiper motor, I would think that is the wrong switch for the car and even for the 56 application. 

 

As to the variable speed, the picture of the switch shows an off and on position, but when the system works right the area between the off and on will produce multiple speed levels.  Just stop pushing it when you get to the speed you want. 

 

This is true for the 56 in both the wide and fast position of the 2nd knob.  The 54/55 system does not have the wide /fast option.  Not to say someone didn't try to install a 56 system into your 55 in the past.  But as it was pointed out, the escutcheon for the dash is different between the 54/55 and the 56.  The 54/55 dash is round where the wiper switch goes, the 56 is flat where it goes.  So the 56 will not sit neatly on your dash board.  

 

If it were me, I'd harvest the parts from the parts car for correcting this situation

[KAD36]

My understanding was only the roadmaster had a cam o matic wiper system standard in 55 with 2 levers on the wiper switch. On off lever on the lower side just like the standard switch, then an additional wide/fast upper lever,  Moving the lower lever from off towards on increase the wiper speed just like the standard switch.  The wide/fast is a misnomer in my opinion.  Upper lever set to wide sets a wide wiper arc for city driving to see better left/right and since the arc is wider the time to complete 1 wipe cycle is longer for a given wiper speed set by the lower lever.  That cam thing on the wiper arm kept the wiper pressed against the curved glass on the extreme end of the arc.  Moving the upper knob to fast reduces that arc from wide to short arc for highway driving when primarily looking straight ahead, so less arc, less time to complete and a much faster sweep.  So my hunch is the wide/narrow control are the extra vac hoses.  FWIW I always wanted to acquire one of those and put it on my Super even if it’s not correct.
 

There is mention of upper lever operation for RM series only in the owners manual but no letters are shown on the switch.  There is also no distinction for operation of a coordinator - the owners manual documentation indicates pressing the washer and starting the wipers is a 2 step operation, no exceptions.  So my belief is the washer without coordinator is right for the car and the switch with 2 levers is right for the car and the extra hoses control the wide/narrow arc - whether the switch is embossed with “wide/narrow”…the owners manual shows no distinction in 55 from the standard switch, but I think they fixed that labeling in 56 along with adding the coordinator.
 

Below is a picture of my owners manual which came out ridiculously large.  

 

I don’t think this lower diagram and explanation of the upper lever operation is in the hometown buick document scan.  
 

I think the 56 switch labeling was updated for clarification and if not mistaken looks like this - my recollection is this is what’s in JDs 56 Super…

 

I bet there was zero schedule time left in 55 to incorporate the customers feedback of nonexistent wiper control labeling for both levers in the flagship RMs, technicians feedback of the no vac hose routing diagrams for the RMs, the directions weren’t ready for first printing of the owners manual, and nobody reads the directions beyond how to start the car and find “D” anyway.  The first rainy day Jackie Gleason probably complained, and marketing caught hell (Gleason just wants to turn on the wipers why did you make that so hard). Someone in engineering then embossed Wide/Narrow on the first 56 switch thinking that met requirements and marketing, still reeling from having been smacked upside the head the year prior, said “Narrow” may be functionally accurate and intuitively obvious but doesn’t fit in the space, is hard to read and is aesthetically unpleasing.  Go make up a 4 letter word that is opposite of wide and fix it. Engineering says Fine, hits the bars hard at 5:01 pm and on a crumpled napkin at 2 am with their ties on their foreheads they said if Marketing can spin the word “Fast” as the new literary opposite of “Wide” problem solved. Marketing ran with it and at 9am that morning both the bar napkin and switch rev -001 are sitting ceremoniously in the middle of the board room table.  Fast forward to our humble forum today…..

But I’ve digressed LOL.

 

Hope this helps. 

 

[buickbrothers]

Thanks all, this discussion is helpful. Question - this piece may have a bearing on the speed control, and I have no idea if it's good/bad nor how it operates since I can't find any documentation. Note: it appears it may have a diaphragm inside? Looks like it's staked in, and I can open it up to check the integrity of it? Anyone know what this piece does since a hose is connected to it?

 

The rest I'll have to play with and test my other switch.    

 

 

[KAD36]

Does the hose to it go into the wiper switch, maybe that assembly somehow modifies the sweep arc…..

[buickbrothers]

Yes. I have two small hose ports and two large hose ports. On the large, I have the primary vacuum line coming in from the firewall to the switch. The second large I have going out to the Jar vacuum port. On the small, I have both going out to the wiper motor. In the diagram one small line would be the coordinator line between the motor and the jar but since I don't have the Jar coordinator it seemed logical to connect to the second small port on the switch. The other small line goes from the motor to the switch per the diagram. This was a logical hook-up since I have 4 ports - 2 large, 2 small - which connects to all available large and small ports between motor, jar and switch.

[KAD36]

Here’s a related link from a past discussion.  Your 2 smaller diameter hoses are likely the arc control.  The 70 series switch looks like it had 4 hoses in 55 based on this earlier post.  The standard wiper motors without the extra sweep don’t have that cylindrical part on them.  Fire it up see what happens. 

[buickbrothers]

Good find KAD36! It's my switch so I'm not smoking something about a 4-port switch - lol. However, it appears they didn't know the vacuum hose routing and there's still the jar lid difference challenge in the diagram! I believe I have the correct jar lid and I have the hoses connected right. I posted the same routing diagrams at the start which appear to be for the 56. I do think that the part that appears to have the diaphragm that ties to the washer. I found two references that indicated washer vacuum. Mine may be bad since it's not spraying. 

 

FYI - I tried something today which has me scratching my head. I disconnected the large port vacuum line at the "Y" where one of the lines routes through the firewall to the switch and the other half of the "Y" goes to the motor. I used the available "Y" line going to the switch to connect directly to the vacuum line on the jar washer. Still no spray, but the wipers continued to operate at the same single speed? So, it raises the question as to what is the point of the two large vacuum lines (in/out) to the switch? Maybe it's purely for the Jar which is why it didn't change anything. That would leave the two small ports - 1 for the washer as indicated below, and the other should affect the wiper speed. Process of elimination and may get me there if I can figure out what is wrong with the washer part/vacuum.    

 

  

[KAD36]

2am, last call, bars closing….put it into production and we’ll figure it out and write it up later. That’s my story and am sticking to it.

 

Am beginning to think your vac motor is not quite right for the year.  
 

Can’t understand the pump.  The large diameter vac hose at the switch should simply port vacuum to the suction side of the pump when the button is pressed.  One hose should have suction all the time and the switch seals it when the button isn’t pressed.  Press the button and vac is introduced into the second hose.  That suction pulls the diaphragm up in the air chamber against the large spring while pulling fluid up in the lower fluid chamber for as long as button is pressed or until the piston goes full stroke up against the spring.  Release the button and the spring pushes the diagram assembly back down and out comes water pushed by spring force through the lower chamber and seal.  Do not overfill the jar such that liquid enters the air chamber where the plastic assembly is split.  If you put raw vacuum into the pump you should hear that big spring making sounds as it is compressed inside the plastic canister.  Am maintaining the small hoses have to do with arc sweep.  Only the Bowen cable adjusts base wiper speed, augmented by the upper lever if needed.  At least that’s how I believe it (the wiper control) works.  The washer is supposed to be as simple as dirt until the coordinator showed up, then it got tricky. A number of years ago mine had a vacuum leak at the switch from a corroded internal washer button from overfilling the jar in a past life so I feel your pain in trying to figure it out.

[buickbrothers]

Thanks for all your effort on this KAD36. I agree, I think the motor is for a different year. I'm looking at 55 Buick Roadmaster pic's and here's what I see. My jar, my switch but a simpler motor without that coordinator piece. Since I have the motor off my 55 Super parts car, my plan is to clean this one up and I have to transfer some parts off my current motor to this one. Then I test it and see how much closer this gets me. I'll post back my findings. 

 

 

 

 

[KAD36]

Interesting, how do the other motors provision for the arc sweep control.  Am riding on your coat tails because I might still want to put a system like this on mine someday.  It helps me be more successful at procrastinating re-paint #2 and bodywork.  
 

Am also wondering if the 55 RM switch and motor are a 1 year only thing.

Edited October 7, 2023 by KAD36 (see edit history)

[buickbrothers]

Final post. I ordered a pump rebuild kit from oldbuickparts and I have the windshield water pump working now. $38 bucks for the two seals, the small spring, a diaphragm, small rubber piece on the pin at the top of the pump and two screws. My seals were hardened. Three notes.

1. You have to drill the rivets out on the bottom of the pump to get to the diaphragm and use the two screws to reattach. That went fine.

2. The instructions indicated using oil on the seals which I did. The pump didn't operate very long before stopping. I disassembled and used a lite coat of lithium grease. Then it pumped, for a while, and stuck again. Opened it back up and used more grease and played with the pin at the top with that has the small rubber washer that holds the top of the pin in place. I think it's an air pressure escape of some sort. Sorry for the vague descriptions, but I have no documentation on this pump. Anyway. third time did the trick and it's pumping great.

3.  After mounting pumping and testing on car, it dribbled. It needed a small rubber seal between the extrusion and the water port. Mine had none. So, I took a piece of vacuum hose that fit into the hole on the back of the extrusion and cut it even with the back. Mounted it tight over the port and it's spraying like a jet now (note - clean the extrusion hole really good. I use carb cleaner, paper clip and compressor air until a clean air flow came through on the sprayer pin hole).

 

In summary, vacuum connections appear to be correct although I haven't achieved the narrow vs. wide angle wiper sweep. I just have the wide. Since the narrow is driven off the line on the front of the motor, I may open that back up later and see if I can understand how that should be affecting the sweep but happy everything else is operating.