The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk vacuum wipers

Installed my wiper blades on my 53 the other daya and turned them on and they barely worked if i helped them. I sent the motor to the wiperman and he overhauled it. What would be a cause of this. vacuum hose is new from intake to vacuum motor. What should my vacuum reading be.

1) you want a minimum of 15" of vacuum at idle. 17" is better, 21" is optimum.

2) disconnect the wiper linkage and test/check them for binding.
The wipers should move easily by hand.

Since you had the motor rebuilt by wiperman you shouldn't have to do this next step.
My wiper motor was completely inop. I poured about a tablespoon of 10w30 motor oil down in vacuum intake port of the motor and sloshed it around to ensure it coated as much of the interior as possible. Hooked it up and it's been working great since.
I figure the oil helps to seal the internal bellows.

I would imagine wiperman lubed the motor up when he rebuilt it so you may check w/him before you add oil.

Good luck
Dave

Can I ask who wiperman is?

Related question I've been needing to ask around fuel pump:

Need to buy one to rebuild my truck's fuel system. The engine is a '62 235.

Is it safe to assume that since my current pump doesn't have the provision for vacuum wipers that I don't need that type?

Try spraying some water on the windshield and see what happens. Maybe the dry windshield and blades make too much drag for the motor to start working. Do what Dave says, and check the linkage for binding. Check and see how much vacuum your engine is making. I wouldn't put oil in the wiper motor. Because if that ends up being the problem, wiperman might not warranty it.

JW51 here's a link to wiperman for you.
http://www.wiperman.com/

Google/Search for Wiperman

You do not need the dual-action fuel pump unless you want the vacuum side for your wipers.

I can remember back when new vehicles had vacuum wipers and they were not worth much then. Always would stop when going uphill.
I switched mine to a 2-speed electric motor from carandtruckshop.com for about $100. Replaces the original vacuum perfectly down to the knob.
Now you cannot even stop the wipers with your hand.

I've used two of those kits from the carandtruck shop. Both fit well, but the two speed switch they provide is hard to turn. Or at least the two I have received have been.

Yes you are right. The 2-speed switch is hard to turn. I am hoping it gets better with use/wear.
Someday when I have an extra hour, I may remove the battery cable and just sit there and turn it on and off. hehee

i'll double check under the dash. it's probably rubbing on something. I think my vacuum is good but i'll double check that too. thanks.

my experience with vacuum wipers has been there is a reason they use electric wipers now. If you NEED wipers and unless this is a show truck, that never actually gets used in the real world, just go electric. As far as I am concerned this is a safety issue. A few people have reported success with them using the dual action fuel pump, and an accumulator. But the simple fact is they (the automotive industry) changed to electric because this just doesn't work all that well. And why most of the vehicles I have seen with vacuum wipers only use a wiper on the drivers side.

I very much agree. Even if it is a purist show truck, someone will have to lay in the floorboard and look under the dash to tell the difference. The knob mounts back in the original hole, and you can change the knob color if desired.
The one I got from carandtruckshop.com has a chrome knob, shaped like the original.

I think the original wiper arms had a very small amount of tension on the blades. The replacement arms that I bought have a lot more tension and I switched back to the old ones so that my wipers would work.

Use whatever type of wiper motor suits your tastes/needs.

I think that electric wipers would be safer/better for driving in the rain.

However, someone does not have lay on the floorboard to determine if the wiper motor is vacuum or electric. Usually, hoods are open at car shows and the presence/absence of the vacuum line/hose would be a give away.

The first optional (factory installed, 6v) electric wiper on Chevrolet trucks cost $10.35 (1954). The dual-action fuel pump cost $9.05.

truckernix, thanks for the reminder about the spring-tension on the arms.

Vacuum wipers "suck" (sorry, couldn't resist and surprised no one else posted it :D)

I still have vacuum on the Grumman (and a vacuum fan too), but have the dual electric motors to convert. My experience with vacuum is you better use RainX too.

I forget we are talking about pickups. On my LCF the wiper hose connected to a fitting through the firewall just above the steering column. You actually cannot even see it laying in the floorboard because of the column mount. It comes off the hydrovac fitting on the other side of the firewall.
There are no vacuum lines at all under the hood. It has a centrifugal advance distributor.
Now it makes a great place to hook a vacuum gauge.

I got caught out in the rain a couple weeks ago. I learned real fast to try and keep a steady speed and be frugal on increasing the rpm.
Funny I was managing my rpm more for wiper control than for speed.
Yep, they most certainly suck

I was just wanting them because they are different. I had a 52 styline with v8 and they worked ok. Only got caught out in the rain a couple times in 2 yrs. This truck is not my main vehicle. If it's raining i'll drive my 04. But i would like to have them work just in case.

Wouldn't trade my vacuum wipers for a truckload of electric ones. Where electrics have one, two, or at most three speeds mine has three thousand speeds (or more) and will stay at the same exact speed pulling a loaded trailer up a hill with the foot feed on the floor in high gear as going down the other side of the hill. Went to the pick-a-part yard and pulled an electric vacuum pump off a Mercedes diesel for twenty bucks about twenty five years ago and been grinning ever since.

He Hee. That's great, but don't you still have "electric" ?

Well Evan, it's obvious that you've got a vehicle that is 12v or
has been converted over to 12v. I like the idea of an
inexpensive electric vacuum pump from the salvage yard. But
that still leaves us guys that are stickin' to a 6v system out
in the cold.
The dual stage fuel pumps, at least the reproduction ones, are a
waste of time and money. They really don't add anything to the
system and might even hinder it. The original AC pumps were
valved internally to only add the vacuum assist when the engine
vacuum dropped but the repops just don't do it.
A vacuum tank or ballast or accumulator or what ever you want to
call it isn't much of a help, they would have to be quite large
to be of any use, vacuum taint like pressure.
Now Fred brings up a point that I've not thought of before.
After doing as much meticulous restoration as is possible
lacking a new piston (paddle) my wipers worked almost as good as
they did when they were new. Over the winter several years ago
I replaced the blades and arms with the newer style and they
haven't work well since then. Stick all the time unless they
are wet and have full vacuum. I attributed it to the fact that
it had sat over the winter.

Denny G

I like vacuum wipers because they add "character" to our old trucks. Yes, I know the limitations and would probably tire of their shortfalls if my stovebolt was a daily driver in a wet climate.
Trico, the maker of our wipers, also knew the shortfalls and they provided an optional vacuum pump. I don't believe these were a GM option, so they would have been "aftermarket".
I found this on the firewall of my COE

http://s1116.photobucket.com/user/1950Cabover/media/IMG_0052_zps01521464.jpg.html?sort=3&o=20

It is in series, so to speak, with the vacuum hose and consists of a 6 volt motor that drives a vacuum pump. There is an electical switch that detects loss of vacuum and then kicks in. This is what it looked like during the restoration, in the same place on the firewall.

http://s1116.photobucket.com/user/1950Cabover/media/IMG_0700_zps8f39f3e5.jpg.html?sort=3&o=18

I wired a simple on/off switch below the dash because the pump will come on as soon as you turn the key. I will turn the switch on when I am driving in the rain but it only runs when needed, as in going uphill or accelerating. It completely eliminates loss of wipers when going uphill and is capable of running the wipers with the motor off, all by itself. I tested it and it produces about 11 inches of mercury vacuum. I have seen very few of these on Ebay and they tend to be pricey but mine just happened to come with the truck.

Kent

That's cool Kent, you've got a fine stable of trucks there. I
never was one for the COE trucks but I've changed my mind after
seeing what you've done with that one. Besides, you got my
favorite color on it.

DG

Kent,
That is a good bit of info on the 6v pump and a new one on me. I like to keep mine about 90% stock but do go with radial tires, 12 volts negative ground, eliminate the points and do the wiper modification. The two main reasons for this are cost and parts availability since I drive, drive, and drive mine. Planning out a Texas to Florida to Pennsylvania to Wyoming to the west coast and back to Texas for my old 37 Buick this year. I use Pertronix on everything but for a long trip I machined an HEI V8 distributor to fit the Buick's straight eight engine as this will let me get parts from any store along the way. P.S. I left the coil mounted and have the 37 points distributor wrapped up in plastic in the trunk.