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

My 54 3100 wipers make a quick, full aweep and stop. They return by cutting the switch off as they should. I clamp off the pcv hose and no difference, except the idle changes slightly with the increase of vacuum. Have lubed the pivot points of the mechanism, no help.
Thoughts?
Jethro.

Jethro,

It sounds like your vacuum motor is in need of a rebuild. Could also be something under the dash binding up the wiper arms, but most likely culprit is the motor.

There are tons of previous conversations about the topic with helpful info and sources should you decide to tackle it yourself or send it out for rebuild.

On the flip side, there are also electric units designed to replace the vacuum system. On those, it beneficial to not go cheapest. Some products are a major pain, while others are well designed and function perfectly.

Your choice on which direction to pursue.

RainX

I know how much you like it so I got some this morning. Thought I had some, but... it's gone.

Hahaha!

Actually a guy at Advance Auto told me there's a better version but I can't remember the name or maker. I think it begins with an M like MacGuier's but I can't be sure.

I still had a good amount of RainX so I didn't buy any of the other stuff. I do plan to find out what it is and give it a test.

McGuire sells a full line of pricey car errr ahhh truck care products.

Years ago, I repaired vac wiper motor on a 49-jeep pickup by adding a vacuum can off a late 70's ford, with headlight doors. The can was about the same size as a large coffee can. Worked out great! The owner never had any issues after that.

If you determine that the vacuum wiper drive is faulty call Ficken Wiper Service. That guy does thorough rebuilds at a reasonable cost.

Turtle. Those were coffee/juice cans. The same company that made Donald Duck orange juice cans made them. Ford used them as vacuum reservoirs well into the 90s.

Somewhere I read you can revive the wiper motor with a cleansing of oil of some sort that is like oiling a leather on a bike pump ,don’t know how well it works but may be worth a try to read up on

I saw a video a while back in which it was stated that the oil treatment of vacuum drives was once a standard maintenance item , like changing oil. It involved disconnecting the vacuum line at the manifold , dunking that line into scan of oil and manually working the vac unit til it sucked in the oil.
(Don’t take my word for it, look it up.)

Here we go again beating this subject over and over. Like a flat tire going flop..flop..flop.
Cut and paste from previous posts. See if we can nail the foot of this post so "discussion ad naseum" doesn't continue anymore. Fingers crossed.

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https://www.stovebolt.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/12561/2.html

Most attempts to revive a vacuum wiper motor with various chemicals work for a time then fails again. Whatever liquid you force into the wiper motor is sucked back into your engine so be careful what you use.

The leather or leather-like material of the paddle that fits the contour of the housing ages and becomes stiff. The material needs to be somewhat flexible and is coated with a type of grease. The paddle must seal well in order to provide maximum torque to move the wipers. There is an art to rebuilding the paddle. The original repair kits are hard to find and many restoration businesses make their own parts. They do not sell kits.

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The wiper motor must have a good paddle seal inside. Leaking vacuum causes reduced torque which causes the wipers to stop moving. It's like worn piston rings in an engine causing blow-by and reduced horsepower.

The weakness of good working vacuum motors is when the engine is under load and not producing enough vacuum. It's really not a fault of the wiper motor but a loss of vacuum. That's why Trico made the Electro-Vac.

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Many moons ago Ficken sold Trico repair kits until they ran low. I suspect they make their own parts now. Here is a copy of the repair instructions.
You apply wheel bearing grease to the paddle.
Injecting brake fluid, anti-freeze, 3-in-1 oil, Marvel Mystery oil, snake oil, coconut oil, pine oil, motor oil, moonshine or LOX simply makes the old bearing grease softer for a time.
Oils eventually dry out and so does grease (not silicon, but...you don't want that sucked back into your engine).
The seal material (leather in some cases) of the paddle can harden or crack.
The smart thing to do is send your wiper motor to Ficken and let them do an overhaul.

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I used Fricken Wiper Servicetwo years ago and my wipers work awesome. Charged me $135 with less than two week turn around. I highly recommend!

New member here and this was certainly going to be one of my questions. Now stickied to myself. Thanks for the write up!

Glad this question was brought up ... good memory exercise for some of our folks. AND it's still helpful, especially for newbies!

Also, use your favorite "truck" wax on the windshield..
It's better than Rain x in my opinion.
My vacuum wipers work but Barely . With the Waxed windshield they slide easier and water sheds far better.
Give it a try.
-Todd

That;s funny. Back in high school a friend of mine had an MGB. The notoriously crappy British electrical system wouldn't allow the car run the headlights, heater , and wipers all at the same time.

Before anybody ever heard of RainX, he coated his windshield with Turtle Wax so he could at least run the heater and headlights simultaneously.