Wiper motor/wiring nightmare

Wow....Sounds like the PO's had a lot of fun wiring that thing ("Hey...Bubba!  Let's make the horn blow when you pull the directional lever!!")

 

Yes, for most state's vehicle inspections, you can run a single-speed wiper.

 

IIRC, there should be four wire connections to your wiper motor:

 

1.  A ground to the motor or frame and connected to the car's ground

2.  a 12V "hot" lead that has power all the time (so the wiper arms will "park" when the switch is turned off)

3.  A low-speed wire connected to the wiper switch "low"

4.  A High speed wire connected to the wiper switch "high"

 

Tell me what kind of wiper motor you bought or have and I'll try to help with wire colors, but, since the PO did the wiring the colors may be meaningless.

 

Wiring isn't all that hard - just be patient.  Think of it as little electron bubbles running through a teeny-tiny hose.  Always good to have a visualization.... 

Basic electricity is plain stupid easy, power and ground! 

It is we that have the problems.

Actually kind of clever using the hi-beam "overtake switch" on turn signal arm for horn!

If you have a VW wiper motor assembly, I've been looking at a few VW wiring diagrams and might be able to help with the following:

 

Wiring to the wiper motor contacts (as best I can figure out - I may be wrong).  The numbers refer to the tab numbers on the motor contact block:

 

31 = ground

 

53 = "low" from switch

 

53a = looks like constant +12V for parking the wiper arms

 

53b = "medium" from switch

 

53e = "high" from switch

 

I don't believe there are any voltage resistors involved - the various switch positions connect wires/voltage to the proper winding in the motor for the different speeds.

Good description and diagram here: http://speedyjim.net/schem/wiper.htm

Because you have a column switch, you need to have the late wiper motor to match it. If the switch and motor are mismatched, the park function will either not work or blow fuses from creating a short.

Motor (late model):
31: ground
53: low
53a: park power in (from switch 53a or from fusebox)
53b: high
53e: park circuit jumper wire to switch

Switch (column):
53: low
53a: +12v in
53b: high
53e: park circuit jumper wire from motor

Be sure to run at least a 12 ga 12v wire dedicated to the wiper switch and motor, w/ a decent ground...this has cured most of my past slo - mo wiper motors 

What I have

53a, 31b, 53, 53b and 31 (grounded)

 

I have 53b hi speed hooked up right to column switch and ground (31) It works, I don't need a low speed. But, should I have a relay or gone through the fuse block?

Need to take a break and will check back later. 

It's all the unlabeled cut wires coming off the column plugs that I want to identify and fix. 

Since you column wires are cut, I would power one of them      (making sure it is not a ground) then operate the switch checking it with a test light to be able to identify function....

IIRC, my wipers are one the very few things on my car that are NOT powered by a relay.  I run them right off the switch (and so does VW) but do as Alan mentioned and use a robust wire (at least 12ga), fuse to switch to wiper motor.

I don't use a relay either, mine is wired up the VW way. The always hot is fused though, but I have an old in-dash switch from the earlier VW. It did take some blown fuses and head-scratching to figure out the park feature. Mine was wired hi-low ground only when I got it.