Wiper motor issue

Mine has two speeds (slowest and slow). So slow that I would not consider them functional for rain. Did your new wiring improve the speeds?

Yes, slightly and, I think cleaning the 47 year old grease out of the linkage and off the motor shaft bearings and replacing with a nice fresh moly grease, helped.  I actually ordered a new motor from Jbugs.  I am going to wait till that comes in (and it warms up a little) to compare a new motor with the original.  In the mean time, I am thinking of putting in a relay with a heavier wire from the fuse to the power tabs and not through the switch.  If it works to make brighter headlights, why not a better current to the wiper motor too? This is what keeps me from being bored during the winter.  

Safety Jim posted:

Yes, slightly and, I think cleaning the 47 year old grease out of the linkage and off the motor shaft bearings and replacing with a nice fresh moly grease, helped.  I actually ordered a new motor from Jbugs.  I am going to wait till that comes in (and it warms up a little) to compare a new motor with the original.  In the mean time, I am thinking of putting in a relay with a heavier wire from the fuse to the power tabs and not through the switch.  If it works to make brighter headlights, why not a better current to the wiper motor too? This is what keeps me from being bored during the winter.  

On my older IM the entire wiper assembly needed to get replaced as the splines that held the wiper arms had gone totally TU. I bought a new unit from CIP1 and bench testing showed that it was very slow on either speed setting. So slow, that I sent the unit back for replacement. The new one got bench tested and it was no faster than the first so in it went. I feel safer now that I do have a wiper system that will not shed the moving parts just when they are needed most. I cut and welded one of the blade arms too and that allowed the blade to sit "flatter" against the lower windshield frame. I use RainX also. 

Great tips David:  I plan on doing the rainX thing when it warms up.  I modified my wiper arms slightly also in order to get the blades to sit well against the glass.  I hope this is all worth it!  

Jim

Great tips David:  I plan on doing the rainX thing when it warms up.  I modified my wiper arms slightly also in order to get the blades to sit well against the glass.  I hope this is all worth it!  

Jim

OK, I just checked my build manual from CMC and they show only 3 wires going to the motor. For both speeds to work an for it to park the blades when the switch is off, it needs 5 wires.  Here is what I figured out: 

Wire (1) 31 is ground for the main unit.

(2) 31b or 53e  is the ground for the self park circuit. (may or may not be required.) 

(3) 53 is low speed from the switch. 

(4) 53a is parking the blades, powered from switch.

(5) 53b is high speed from the switch.   

Any of you guys that followed the CMC wiring diagrams to letter will appreciate this, I hope!  My bench test shows 2 very different speeds and self park from either speed when turned off.  

I had always wondered if a Porsche 914 wiper motor might work better.  Years ago I had a '72 914 and even pushing much larger blades it had decent speed.  I even added a Hella intermittent switch for delayed wiping in a mist. It gives 2-20 second swipes per minute. Part number is HE-001871061 but now  >$100.  There is a cheaper <$50 Bosch unit available too.  Called a pulse switch Bosch 0 336 920 004 as it send electrical pulse thru original wiper switch.

OK, I just checked my build manual from CMC and they show only 3 wires going to the motor. For both speeds to work an for it to park the blades when the switch is off, it needs 5 wires.  Here is what I figured out: 

Wire (1) 31 is ground for the main unit.

*(2) 31b or 53e  is the ground for the self park circuit. (may or may not be required.) 

(3) 53 is low speed from the switch. 

(4) 53a is parking the blades, powered from switch.

(5) 53b is high speed from the switch.   

*I am still not sure of the function of the 31b/53e  contact on the motor... My VW diagram shows it as a green wire going from the switch to the motor. It does not show a current to the ground on the motor.  Hmmmm.  

Any of you guys that followed the CMC wiring diagrams to letter will appreciate this, I hope!  My bench test shows 2 very different speeds and self park from either speed when turned off.  

Jim, you described my wipers to a T.  One speed. Suuuuuuuuper slow and won't park.

Thanks for doing the dirty work for me. 

Ted

Jim, thanks. This is great information about a thing most of us don't want to think about—and don't—until we get caught in a deluge and have a real sucky time of it. 

For what it's worth, I've been working on making my speedster more water tight. I found Aquapel to be very helpful to increase visibility. I used rainX in the past and got the wiper shutter people often complain about. Aquapel has been working very well over the past 3 rains.

Watertight ? Drill a hole in the floor....

Like they say in "A Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy," always carry a towel - or several.

Safety Jim posted:

OK, I just checked my build manual from CMC and they show only 3 wires going to the motor. For both speeds to work an for it to park the blades when the switch is off, it needs 5 wires.  Here is what I figured out: 

Wire (1) 31 is ground for the main unit.

*(2) 31b or 53e  is the ground for the self park circuit. (may or may not be required.) 

(3) 53 is low speed from the switch. 

(4) 53a is parking the blades, powered from switch.

(5) 53b is high speed from the switch.   

*I am still not sure of the function of the 31b/53e  contact on the motor... My VW diagram shows it as a green wire going from the switch to the motor. It does not show a current to the ground on the motor.  Hmmmm.  

Any of you guys that followed the CMC wiring diagrams to letter will appreciate this, I hope!  My bench test shows 2 very different speeds and self park from either speed when turned off.  

These two images may help to complete the picture. My car is an older IM with a 1967 chassis. The problem again is poor written communication on the instructions from CIP1 for example and that's who supplied my new wiper motor assy. What they are trying to say to set the park position is to take a wire off 53 ( slow speed ) or 53b ( high speed ) on the motor  (  live + 12 v now because the switch is either turned on or you're bench testing and the lead goes to the + side of the test battery ) and touch that wire onto 53a ( park tab on the motor ) as many times as you need to, to advance the park position to where you need it. Then turn the switch off or disconnect your test wire at the battery + terminal, then reconnect the wire to either the 53 or 53b on the motor. The wiper motor will work as it should and will self park where you set it. Don't like where it parked ? .....repeat above as many times as necessary to fine tune things. 

In the first image, ignore the photo on the left and concentrate on the words on the legend on the right. 

Nice info!  The earlier 1 speed is what CMC diagram is designed to work with. That explains why they didn't include the other wires. The later drawing is right on.  Apparently VW changed the contact numbers a few times over the years. 

  I think you can set the motor up, wire it with a pigtail and then set it to park position. Then mount your wiper arms in the park position.  That should work.  I'll let you know how I do when my new motor comes in and I can compare the RPM's from my old vs. the new.  I have a noticeable increase in speed and the high speed is certainly faster than this car has ever had!  So, now I'm waiting for UPS to drop my new motor at my doorstep. 

Safety Jim posted:

Nice info!  The earlier 1 speed is what CMC diagram is designed to work with. That explains why they didn't include the other wires. The later drawing is right on.  Apparently VW changed the contact numbers a few times over the years. 

  I think you can set the motor up, wire it with a pigtail and then set it to park position. Then mount your wiper arms in the park position.  That should work.  I'll let you know how I do when my new motor comes in and I can compare the RPM's from my old vs. the new.  I have a noticeable increase in speed and the high speed is certainly faster than this car has ever had!  So, now I'm waiting for UPS to drop my new motor at my doorstep. 

I mounted my motor on the bench and set the park position to where I thought it should be, then mounted the wiper arms to see if I could get them working in an orientation that looked about right. When satisfied with that, I took the arms off and mounted the assembly under the dash, then reinstalled the arms in a finished position on the splines. It works. 

Jim, I figured out my wiper motor a few years ago, and did the same thing. It parks now and has hi-low speeds. I cleaned and greased it anew, but it still is a bit slower than I'd like.....

Good job!