joshtried

Hey guys,
The wiper override light on my '68 is staying on... It did not come on until i repaired my temp gauge (the connector was flipped upside own). Once i positioned that connector the correct way (the temp gauge would not register with the connector oriented incorrectly), the override light came on. I have turned the override switch (between the 2 vacuum overrides) both directions while the car is on, and the light does not turn off. Any ideas why this light is remaining on?
I do have a battery disconnect, so my battery isnt a concern right now.. Getting this working properly is a concern though..

Easy Mike

The wiper over ride stops the wipers on the windshield to allow for blade changes and maintenance.

With the wipers running, does your over ride switch stop them on the windshield?

gq82

Wiper override "light"? Is that something unique to 68's....never heard of it.

0Willcox Corvette

Once upon a time.. Ha ha ha.. there was the horrible nightmare called the 68 wiper motor system. It has haunted 68 owners for years.. and then right in the middle of the nightmare they did this crazy thing called an over-ride lamp... In my humble opinion one of the stupidest designs out of GM in ever.

Late 68 cars came with a wiper over-ride lamp. When the switch was turned off, the brown wire from the motor would then back-feed voltage to this black wire.

For this black wire to pick up voltage you must have two things present.. 1) the over-ride switch is activated and 2) the motor must be in the run position.

It has been over a year since I visited the dreaded 68 wiring.. so I've posted the only correct schematic that I'm aware of... for you below.

joshtried

well, it definitely sounds like i have a problem then.... I have power to this light with NEITHER of the 2 things that should cause it... I have put the override switch in both positions and the light did not go off, and the wiper switch is in the off position. I have not yet bench tested the wiper motor itself.. hope to get to that tonight. perhaps it is grounding out and "trying" to run.
Thank you for the diagram. hopefully, it comes in handy tonight.

0Willcox Corvette

Does the motor work?

joshtried

thank you for all the help. I have established that everything works as intended... (minus the vacuum system)
Since the wiper door wasnt opening, the button that it pushes was not activated. Apparently, if the button does not get pushed, the the override lamp activates. As everything stands right now, i am not able to use the wiper door system and have removed it from the car. I also bypassed the switch in question and all works right as rain!

0Willcox Corvette

Good deal.. And yes.. if the limit switch is not collapsed the motor will operate just the same as if you turned the over-ride switch ****.

txnese

Guys, I know this is an old thread, but I'm having the same issue. I put a new wiper motor in and it works great. My coolant temp gauge was not working so, put I put a new temp sensor in, now that works. But, my wiper override light is stuck on and my wiper doesn't work at all. Override switch itself seems to be working as designed. Maybe the temp gauge thing is coincidence. Any ideas on what to check next?

0Willcox Corvette

There are only a couple of scenarios that will cause the lamp to come on, one being the over-ride switch is in the off position and secondly if the limit switch at the firewall is not closing when the door is open or a short somewhere.

If the limit switch is not closing the motor would not run so that's out... you said you can operate the motor with the switch, so that pretty much eliminates the over-ride switch unless it has an issue. I'd follow the black wire for the over-ride and see where it goes to, it should go to the bracket the over-ride switch is mounted into.

Just a suggestion to... you should always start a new thread vs. firing up an old one. Most people don't look at the old threads and they don't show up on your recent history when they are this old so the only way I found it was scanning the main page for issues I could help with. New threads will have low view counts and low replies which are usually jump on by lots of people.

-Willcox

txnese

I had this posted in a similar thread, but You called it. My limit switch didn't get closed completely. When I tested it with my finger or screw driver to push it, the switch itself was able to go a little past the switch's bracket, but when I used the flat bolt from the car, it stopped at the bracket. I guess the top of the actually switch was worn down enough to cause trouble for me. I ended up putting a little piece of rubber on top of the switch, and when the plunger closes now, the button goes down a little further, so everything works like it supposed to. Will be ordering a new switch soon. Thanks.

0Willcox Corvette