The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay OEM Electric Wiper Motor Install

Hello,
I purchased a rebuilt electric wiper motor for my 55.2 Chevy truck. It only has one brown wire. Should it have a ground wire or is the body of the motor grounded when bolted in? I sanded off all paint where it mounts and connected the "wiper motor" wire (aftermarket wiring harness) and switched the motor on and nothing happened. Any ideas? I get a little spark when I connect the power wire if that means anything.

intrigued with that , one wire ? usually has 2 which the switch changes polarity to reverse the motor. have you tried connecting the motor up does it go one way with 12v on the brown wire and an earth on the motor frame ? if so try grounding that brown wire and place 12v positive onto the case of the motor. doing this on an insulated surface i.e timber bench what happens?

bad unit? there is only one brown wire on the original and the case is the ground via the small sheet metal brace on one end [the main mount has grommet cushions on the 2 bolts] - the spark means power is finding ground .... did it come with the control attached? maybe that cable needs adjusting where it connects to the control, did you try it on the bench or mounted?

Bill

I tried it mounted in the truck. Guess I thought a rebuilt motor would work! BTW, the grommets where it mounts on the top were disintegrated so I just took that down to bare metal as well.

I hooked up the cable and it seems to click to the on position, but that is a good idea to double check that.

If I test it out of the truck do I simply hook up a wire to the + side of a battery and ground the - side to the body of the motor? I don't want to fry this thing!

yes, you can just clip a wire from the body of the unit to ground and then touch the lead wire to the + with the switch in one position then change the switch and touch the + lead again ... hold the motor so it doesn't jump, they do have some torque .... and there should be 3 positions of the switch, off, on, high

you do want to have those rubber grommets on the mount or it'll drive you crazy with the noise humming thru the body metal

Bill

Bill,
I'll give it a try tonight. Though I must say, I only recognize one "click" when moving the cable, even if I move it by hand. Doesn't seem like three?

Do you know where to get those grommets?

Thanks for the advice!

I'd have to try one on the bench to see the sound and feel, but they are a 2 speed motor so there's 2 "on" positions, the high speed one may not be noticeable .... I'd look at a FLAPS for the grommets, should be able to find some to fit in an assortment

Bill

So I left the motor in the truck and ran two wires directly from the battery to the motor. I grounded the motor housing and touched the + wire. Got a small spark and nothing. I manually moved the lever and nothing. So, I guess it is a bad unit. Hopefully Classic Parts will replace it as I bought it over a year ago.