After hours of driving home from Carlisle I realize the single speed wipers on my VS are inadequate...I need an intermitent function to handle a constant drizzle.
Any experience/advice on a technically uncomplicated and easy swap?
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There are "timers" available that are wired into the existing circuit, if you can live with the single speed wipers..... I didn't think VW had a single speed wiper in 12volt.... I wired in a momentary push button switch just to have a way to clear light road mist....
Hey, thanks Leon. A timer sounds like an easy solution.
The single-speed, plus RainX, should handle a steady rain... It's the constant drizzle and road mist that's devilishly irritating.
Can you point me to a source for such a timer?
One of the guys in the Beaufort club used one of these below.
IF you can turn on your wiper and quickly turn it off AND it continues the swipe and then parks itself, this kit is for you.
OTOH, if you turn yours on now and turn it off in mid-stroke and it stops where ever it is, then this doesn't make it.
Aaaah Shoooot, Gordon...mine isn't 'self parking'
Even though it was PITA I got pretty darn good at manually 'parking' the wiper after a mist clearing swipe....I had a couple of hundred miles between Carlisle and home to perfect my timing!!!
BTW, I'm constantly amazed at the experience/advice (& ad hoc parking lot repair expertise) available for the asking from you knuckleheads...THANKS
I have two-speed wipers, and the steering column switch is pretty handy, but I still thought about putting in an intermittent system during the several "drizzle events" I passed through on the way home.
Without "self parking" you coud parralel the switch with a momentary push button and just push it for the required time.... I located mine within easy reach of the steering wheel on the left side of the columb... Gordon has the Latest and Greatest timer located in his entry....
There are others to be found just cruising places like CiP1 or So. Cal. parts.... But they all require self parking.... You might crawl under the dash and check the number of wires coming from the wiper motor....You may have a two speed with only one section wired.... I would give you further details, but I'm in the middle of a move and everything is either packed, moving, or stored until we settle into the new location.... I'll probably be "off the web" for about a week as I intend to raise as much fuss with Comcast as it takes to get what I want....
If you do go for self parking, its easiest to use an OEM type VW wiper switch, which will give you 2 speed selection also if you have the 2 speed motor....
You could also Use a Bronco II dash switch and relay and your 2 speed Vw motor Makes a real neat setup You still have 2 speeds and turn it to the left for intermittent wipe and it also has a the push in wash feature. And it works and looks the same as a early switch, you just rethread the knob
Most do not know how to properly wire athe VW wiper motor and switch to have 2 speeds as well as park position.
Simple method is a aftermarket 2 position headlight switch for low and high.
The park wire goes to a hot ignition on power source utlizes a set of points to keep the arms moving when the switch is turned off... until the points breaks circuit and the arms come to rest in the park position.
I will be more than happy to have a self parking wiper. I have a 2 speed manual parking wiper. I understand the concept of self parking, what I need is the set up to convert the manual parking to self parking. Anybody knows what and where to get it?
I ended up with a different year wiper motor and switch from Vintage Spyders. Park wasn't a part of their plan, nor was any kind of wet driving! It took me a bit to figure out, but my wipers now park. Eddy, there is a wire that needs constant power on the wiper motor. With that, they will park. I went through a few fuses to figure it out, even took the motor apart to figure it out. But it isn't that big a deal to make it happen.
Danny is correct, there is simply a plate that gets power when the wipers are turned off, and a copper finger rides on this plate until it hits a gap, thus no more power, thus wipers are "parked". There is a wire (typically brown/yellow) that needs constant power, BUT you also have to keep it from back feeding in normal operation or you will just pop fuses.
We recently sourced some self parking wiper switches and made a 356 style knob for them. They have low, high and off positions, and a park lug on the back to control self parking. In the worst cases (early VW wiper motors) you just need to add a diode to the feed side, later model VW wipers just wire right up.