wiper motor

D

drbill

Gold forum user
Messages
124
In the reassembly of my dash, I can't seem to get the wipers to work at all. I want to be sure I have the switch wired correctly. Could someone tell me which connectors are supposed to have which wires on the back of the switch?
Also, best way to test the wiper motor?

(I think it was wired incorrectly when I got the car. Most switches should have a power in, then a power out. Mine has 2 wires going to the switch, a red and a green, both of which have power when ignition switched on.)

Thanks,
Bill
 
You should have a Green wire at pin #4 that goes to Ignition #4 or to the voltage stabilizer #B
There is a two wire cable that goes to the motor The green wire goes to #6 and the Brown wire goes to # 8.

You should be able to test the motor by putting 12 + on the green wire in the cable & ground on the brown wire

Cat has a really nice under dash wiring diagram that is laminated that you should get for reference

Moondoggie
 
Moondoggie said:
You should have a Green wire at pin #4 that goes to Ignition #4 or to the voltage stabilizer #B
There is a two wire cable that goes to the motor The green wire goes to #6 and the Brown wire goes to # 8.

You should be able to test the motor by putting 12 + on the green wire in the cable & ground on the brown wire

Cat has a really nice under dash wiring diagram that is laminated that you should get for reference

Moondoggie
Click to expand...
Last time I checked, CAT was out of the under dash wiring diagrams. I would love to get one!
The wire colors you describe sound more like the blower switch... aren't the ones for for the wiper motor green and red?
Thanks, Bill
 
Crap that is the blower motor wiring.........
The wiper has a light green/green ( RLG) wire going to pin #1 from
wiper motor 2

A brown/light green ( NLG ) wire going to pin #4 from wiper motor # 3

A black wire ( B ) from pin 3 to ground at the Tach

Power goes directly to the motor at pin #1 it's a green wire.

To test the motor connect the two wires at 1 & 4 of the switch and make sure
you have 12 + at pin #1 of the motor

Moondoggie
 
Moondoggie said:
Crap that is the blower motor wiring.........
The wiper has a light green/green ( RLG) wire going to pin #1 from
wiper motor 2

A brown/light green ( NLG ) wire going to pin #4 from wiper motor # 3

A black wire ( B ) from pin 3 to ground at the Tach

Power goes directly to the motor at pin #1 it's a green wire.

To test the motor connect the two wires at 1 & 4 of the switch and make sure
you have 12 + at pin #1 of the motor

Moondoggie
Click to expand...
Thanks, Moondoggie!
I did test the wiper motor by connecting the 2 wires... no joy. I guess I need a wiper motor. I think the ones for the Mk 1's are single speed, correct? There's a guy on Ebay who has a 2 speed wiper motor....
Bill
 
I need to keep reminding myself to think like an Englishman when I read
these English schematics........The switch is putting ground to the motor
at pin 3 or pin 2 I depending on how the switch is thrown. Try grounding out
one or the other wire and see if that gets the motor going....also see if you have 12 volts at pin #1 of the motor

Moondoggie
 
Moondoggie said:
Crap that is the blower motor wiring.........
The wiper has a light green/green ( RLG) wire going to pin #1 from
wiper motor 2

A brown/light green ( NLG ) wire going to pin #4 from wiper motor # 3

A black wire ( B ) from pin 3 to ground at the Tach

Power goes directly to the motor at pin #1 it's a green wire.

To test the motor connect the two wires at 1 & 4 of the switch and make sure
you have 12 + at pin #1 of the motor

Moondoggie
Click to expand...

Okay, I wired the switch as you say here, then grounded it better. Wiper motor worked for a few cycles, then nothing! I think it gave up the ghost. Even when it worked for a bit, the wipers only went about halfway up before starting down towards the park position. I guess I'll need to replace the motor... good times!
Thanks, Bill
 
Just in case it might help

In case this might be helpful to anyone, I have just figured out on my own car that the green cloth wire from the wiper motor goes to the double green wires from the wiring harness, the red cloth wire from the motor goes to the red/light green wire from the harness, and the brown wire goes to the brown/light green wire. I had accidentally disconnected all three wires from the wiper motor and was mystified that there were five wires from the wiring harness to choose from. Cheers.
 
Hi Bill, I rebuilt several wiper motors I had laying around according to the advice given here:
http://mgaguru.com/mgtech/electric/et217.htm

It's a pretty simple mechanism but there are lots of moving parts. On the ones I did there was very little grease left and what was there was thick and did more harm than good.

On mine there was too much resistance and the motor wasn't able to put things in motion and stopped working. Once everything was cleaned with new grease it worked great.

I haven't been able to find a replacement for the 3 wire harness that goes to the motor, I've emailed the guy on ebay that rebuilds them and have yet to hear back.
regards
Bob
 
Try taking the cover off the motor and check the bushes. I pulled mine apart and replaced some of the cloth wires. My bushes are very worn and I will have to find some new ones.
 
Wiper motor

I know this is an old post, but I have hooked up my wiper according to the wiring instructions provided, and the wipers work fine when on. However, the wiper motor gets warm after the ignition has been on without turning on wipers. Is this normal?
 
I would think not.

Heat logically means there is some power being dissipated at the motor. As I recall, the motor is wired with power always present as an input to it. The switch is between the motor and ground. There must be some current leaking through the motor to ground even with the wiper switch in the open position.

If you are comfortable around electricity and have a multi-meter, with the wiper and ignition switchs off you can insert the meter between the motor switch grounding terminal and ground (the black wire connection). There should be no DC current flowing. Turn the ignition switch on and and check for DC current again. If there is, the problem is in the switch. If still no current flowing, power is somehow getting through the motor, to ground somewhere else.

Don't get zapped by touching any bare connections if you try this. Make all connections with clips or other mechanical means and not by holding things with your hands.

Just my 2 cents.

Gene
 
Disconnect the wiper motor now... I ruined my motor by burning out the armature by having it wired wrong with power running to it while off.
 
Ditto Ditto & More Ditto

michael-king said:
Disconnect the wiper motor now... I ruined my motor by burning out the armature by having it wired wrong with power running to it while off.
Click to expand...

The man speaks correctly; disconnect now! Re-trace your wiring schematics :eek:
 
One wire goes to power all of the time when the ignition is on, the other wire goes to the switch. The reason for the power on all of the time connection is for the wiper's parking mechanism. When the wiper switch is turned off it is supposed to complete the current cycle and park itself. There is a switch inside that shuts the motor off when the cycle is complete. It is either wired wrong (backwards) or the internal switch is malfunctioning.
 
Wiper motor

wag123 said:
One wire goes to power all of the time when the ignition is on, the other wire goes to the switch. The reason for the power on all of the time connection is for the wiper's parking mechanism. When the wiper switch is turned off it is supposed to complete the current cycle and park itself. There is a switch inside that shuts the motor off when the cycle is complete. It is either wired wrong (backwards) or the internal switch is malfunctioning.
Click to expand...

Turns out the problem was the wiper switch. New switch solved the problem.
 
I have had Tigers on and off since 1981 and I can honestly say I have never used the wipers in one.....gotta love California weather (sometimes). :)
 
Parking wipers??

Wait... from the above thread I gather Tigers are supposed to have self parking wipers? Does that include MKI's? I've had 5 different Tigers, 4 Mark I's (well, maybe 3 1/2 depending on how you count it, #2 contained half of #1) and one MkIA, and the wipers never self parked on any of them. I got real good at hitting the switch at mid-downstroke so the blades would stop right at the bottom of the windshield. Contrary to what the previous poster said it DOES occasionally rain in Southern California, besides I lived in Tennessee in the '80's with Tiger #2 as my only transportation, and it definitely rains there. I hate to admit that I haven't hooked up the wipers on my latest Tiger yet since the restoration and re-assembly, I just don't drive it on the 10 days a year it rains in San Diego (-: So, maybe if I get everything back together correctly in the wiper circuit they'll park themselves? I did get a new SS wiring harness and the wiring diagrams, and I think I'll dissassemble the motor and follow the above suggestions for cleaning, lubrication, and new brushes.
Bob Knight
B9471705
B9471929
 
Bob,

that is odd they do self park.. even the early alpines pre Tigers... odd that ALL the cars you had didnt! :confused::confused:
 
Wiper fun

michael-king said:
Bob,

that is odd they do self park.. even the early alpines pre Tigers... odd that ALL the cars you had didnt! :confused::confused:
Click to expand...

The more I think about it, you're probably right... Tiger #2 was half of Tiger #1, so it's entirely possible that it used the same wiper motor - or I followed the same incorrect wiring hook up sequence. I didn't drive Tiger #3 much, and the wipers on #4 don't work at all, and I haven't hooked up the wipers on Tiger #5. So, I guess it's possible my opinion was based on ONE wiper motor that was either incorrectly wired or not working correctly among 5 Tigers - it's the one I drove the most, anyway. I apologise to all the Tiger wiper motors out there I slighted.
I do remember one other "fun" wiper incident with Tiger #2 when I lived in Tennessee... I was driving in moderate traffic on a two lane, raised road with a big ditch on either side and no shoulder or place to stop, when the cable (similar to a speedometer cable) popped out of the wiper motor and the wipers stopped moving. I should mention also it was in a driving rainstorm with horrible visibility in addition to the fact that the Tiger's windshield defogger is just about useless and my right hand was already busy constantly wiping the inside of the windshield. I was afraid to stop because that would have probably caused a 20 car pile up, and so I was trying to keep on the road while reaching under and behind the glove box trying to get the cable back in and the retaining nut collar screwed back on, yelling at my girlfriend "grab the wheel! Get your goddamn legs out of the way!". That resulted in a serious finger pinch as I stupidly hadn't turned off the wiper motor. I eventually gave up, rolled down the driver's window, and stuck my head out into the rain for a couple miles until I got to a side road I could pull off on. Then I had to make my girlfriend stand in the torrential rain for 10 minutes while I laid on my back across the seats and put the cable back together. She broke up with me right after that... said something about what an A-hole I was. Yep, them Tiger's sure are FUN to drive sometimes.

Bob Knight
B9471705
B9471929
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top