The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk 49 wipers

Need to get wipers going

Any advice stuck with vacuum or go electric

Thanks

There are guys that will rebuild your vacuum wiper motor. On my last one, I removed it and connected a vacuum hose to it. Then sprayed WD40 in the vent holes. I turned the wiper shaft back and forth by hand until it would work by itself. Then reinstalled the motor and hooked it up to the wiper linkage. And it worked as well as vacuum wipers… work.

As little as I drive in the rain, I've found that RainX does an excellent job.

In Dallas we frequently have intermittent rain and traffic you have to watch continually. I find electric wipers with an added delay circuit are the best answer for that. A few years ago I provided the intermittent wiper circuit (with 4 delay speeds plus low and high). If you search for it, you may still find it. It corrects the non-working circuit shown in the tech notes section. I used a generic electric wiper motor I bought on the large internet auction site. Two things to note (and somethings people may not tell you): avoid the so-called dual action fuel pump. What you get today will be expensive junk. Also electric wipers in an AD truck won't be as silent as they are in a modern vehicle. That's because they're inside the cab where in other vehicles they'll be on the other side of the firewall. Good luck. I would not be interested in returning to vacuum wipers. I grew up with those and was very glad to say bye-bye to them...especially if you live in a hilly area with city traffic.

If you do decide to keep/fix your vacuum wipers you can get an electric vacuum pump that you can mount under the hood where you won't hear it. It will keep them operating at full capacity no matter what you engine load is.

One example: https://a.co/d/1Lmd88N

Jack Ryan They say to get a diesel truck vacuum pump,I saw where another bolter wanted to use longer wiper blades. Wouldn't it be better to go with shorter,easier to pull blades ?? Another thing is if you crowd it up under the dash with A/C then it's tuff to work on anything under there. I'm still just stock 51 so really don't know.

WIll this unit provide enough vacuum continuously for our wiper motors?

That's the same pump that's on my 7.3L Diesel. It only runs the HVAC controls (most modern wipers are electric). That system uses a vacuum reservoir of about 1/2 gallon capacity and the HVAC controls only operate intermittently.
I have my doubts whether it would handle a continuous demand. I might go tie in my wiper motor to the truck and see, but it would be a while before I could get to that.

I got an electric wiper motor for my 38 . It was listed as a 12 v model. When I opened the package it said it could be run on 6 volts, it just goes a bit slower. So I think that might be useful information.

Thanks

Should it have a dual action fuel pump or were they only used on some vehicles

My 56 Nash has one

Jack,

Dual action fuel pump was an option, not a requirement.

Your call on which solution works best for you and how you plan to build/use your truck.

On my 49 I did what Frank50 suggested but used mineral oil. That was three years ago, they still work and we get a LOT of rain; I try and avoid driving it in the rain but they get used frequently regardless (weather can change on a dime up here). If it failed I'd probably send it out for a rebuild and keep vacuum just for the fun of it. I added a vacuum cannister but not sure how much that helps.

That's not to make it sound like they work as well as any modern system - no they don't But they keep the visibility (within the reach of the wiper).

Use OEM wiper arms & wipers if you stick with vacuum.

I believe that your last line is spot on.
Aftermarket wiper arms come with a spring which is too strong, causing to much friction on the windshield even when it is wet, for the vacuum motor to work properly.
We need a spring genius among us to come up with a proper spring which can be swapped out for the too-strong one.
Alternately, maybe there is a way to install a short link to the too-strong spring to reduce the overall force placed upon the wiper blade.

Jack Ryan I wouldn't call it stuck with vacuum wipers,with todays rain-x and some work ahead of time you can get along OK. With old trucks it's mostly fair weather driving anyway and may need to just clear a summer shower now and then. My .02 cents

Yep. I RainX all my vehicles, even those with perfectly functioning electric wipers. It's far superior to wipers.

I like to RainX the insides too, really helps with the defroster on cold mornings.

I put RainX on the mirror in the bathroom. It doesn't fog up when you take a shower.

klhansen Did you check to see if that 7.3 vacuum pump might pull AD windshield wipers ?? Kinda cold in eagle river now for that kind of test.

Good luck finding a dual action fuel pump if you don't already have one to rebuild.