The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay wipers

Put electric wiper motor in the 52 1/2 ton this summer. Plenty of winter to test them. So far? They work. Better than any vacuum I have ever had. Two speed is nice, parking is nice. Can any one explain why the passenger side wipes so much farther than the driver side? Not just a little bit, that would only annoy me. But, hey! Passenger side sweeps from cowl to the outside of the windshield. Nice! The driver side? Not so good. From cowl to straight up. That ain't gonna get it. Stock original wiper linkage. No clicking, noise or rubbing that I can tell. The length of the "crank"? is the same as the link arm on the vacuum motor so no change in lever. So, what is up with this thing? Any ideas? Thanks in advance.

I also just installed the electric wiper motor in my '53, and like yours my driver's side does not sweep the entire glass, only about three fourths. Mine does however go beyond the straight up point. I think it is largely the nature of the original wiper mechanism having one long arm and one very short arm. You might check to see if the short arm is bent a little as a small bend would limit its travel. Also I set my drivers side to park a tad higher, which adds some travel. As a last resort it might be possible to rotate the motor a small amount to gain some wiper travel.
RdsLessTaken/Don

http://s1291.photobucket.com/user/RdLessTaken/library/

What brand is the wiper motor and where did you buy it so I can avoid this problem when I get ready to order one. Sounds like a bad design. Having said that, all things mechanical can be modified to work. I would guess that modifying the length of the crank arm on the motor would solve the problem. I would try lengthening it first.
Carl

Wiper motor was from Classic. I got the less expensive, no frills 12 volt one. No delay and no washer. I don't think there is any thing wrong with the motor, bracket or crank arm. My thinking is headed towards a sloppy, loose original part. Or some geometry thing that is messing up what should be a straight forward system. But, it is hard to get my head and eyes under the dash to see what is happening and it is too cold to pull the seat and hang upside down for now. If and when I figure it out you will know. I was hopeful that some one had figured it out for me...:) Lots of things to try and it will get warmer soon.

If worn parts are NOT a problem, loosen the motor and slide it left or right to adjust out the difference between the wiper arms/pivots.

mrneerMike is on to something. try that first. On my 52 I used a Rockport Engineering electric wiper and got lucky. The only thing I had to do was move the wiper a little on the nub outside. Let us know what you find.

It will also help if its not to much trouble for you, to remover the center grille so you can see and get in there better. Also did you replace the little rubber bushings?

MtneerMike, and Achipmunk: Great idea moving the mount or rotating the motor. I will try that. Center grill? Only way I know how to get a hand on it and do anything with it. Only crazy me put a double speaker up in there so it has to come out first then the grill. But hey it is only work. Just need it to get a bit warmer so my hands will work for more than a few minutes. Getting old has some perks. But pain free hands ain't one of them...:)

I agree on the old hands things. I have the same problem on my 49 sub. The drivers side wiper only has about 3/4 of the travel as the passenger side. I bought a driver side used link from bowtie tim while attending ATHS and stovebolt reunion in KC in '09. It helped a lot. Imho is that the links cannot have ANY slop at all. Mine will also park in a different spot every time I shut them off.


Weeds

Weeds: Thanks. The observation that the linkage might be the issue is helpful.