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Old Jan 10, 2019 | 09:50 AM
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Default 69 Wiper System

I've got my dash apart on my 69 to do various restorations. I bought this car about 18 months ago without the wipers working, so I'm trying to fix them and think I'm pretty close but am getting a strange behavior. Yesterday I hooked everything up and when I turn on the switch I hear the relay click and what sounds like the pump clicking. I definitely have power to the pump. I messed with the limit switch a bit and the wipers started working. Then I messed with it some more and they stopped. I had trouble getting them to start again. I setup my test again and made sure I had power at the motor (yes). Then I left it to go look for a troubleshooting video from Willcox. 2-3 minutes later I'm sitting there and the wipers start working without me touching them (they were still in the powered on state).

A couple questions:
1. Does anyone know why they would start working after a while of sitting there with power to the motor?
2. They go really slowly. Is that a function of the wiper switch? I thought I read somewhere that the switch controls the speed via manipulating resistance to ground. (My switch only seems to have on/off. there's no variation in the speed)

Thank you!
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Old Jan 10, 2019 | 01:19 PM
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Originally Posted by Hayes69
I've got my dash apart on my 69 to do various restorations. I bought this car about 18 months ago without the wipers working, so I'm trying to fix them and think I'm pretty close but am getting a strange behavior. Yesterday I hooked everything up and when I turn on the switch I hear the relay click and what sounds like the pump clicking. I definitely have power to the pump. I messed with the limit switch a bit and the wipers started working. Then I messed with it some more and they stopped. I had trouble getting them to start again. I setup my test again and made sure I had power at the motor (yes). Then I left it to go look for a troubleshooting video from Willcox. 2-3 minutes later I'm sitting there and the wipers start working without me touching them (they were still in the powered on state).

A couple questions:
1. Does anyone know why they would start working after a while of sitting there with power to the motor?
2. They go really slowly. Is that a function of the wiper switch? I thought I read somewhere that the switch controls the speed via manipulating resistance to ground. (My switch only seems to have on/off. there's no variation in the speed)

Thank you!
go to the wilcox website. lots of info on that
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Old Jan 10, 2019 | 02:25 PM
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I have viewed various things over there but nothing has helped so far. Hoping someone here has the knowledge!
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Old Jan 10, 2019 | 05:46 PM
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Try to ground motor with a good ground wire ,hope that Alan has seen your post. Ernie at Willcox
will help you ,just send him a pm.
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Old Jan 10, 2019 | 06:17 PM
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Originally Posted by JBrooke825
Try to ground motor with a good ground wire ,hope that Alan has seen your post. Ernie at Willcox
will help you ,just send him a pm.
Thank you sir. I think all of the dash components may be good at this point, so I'm going to put it all back together and see how it runs then. Hopefully I can continue to tshoot from outside of the dash! ::

Thank you for the grounding tip. I will try that to see if it speeds it up any.

Oh, and is Alan back?!
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Old Jan 11, 2019 | 07:52 AM
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I wish. And good luck with your wipers they are a challenge.
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Old Jan 11, 2019 | 02:18 PM
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Originally Posted by Hayes69
I have viewed various things over there but nothing has helped so far. Hoping someone here has the knowledge!
Odd, there is enough info on the tech site to find any issue.

Did you bench test the motor? I'd do this first.... Take every factory wire off the motor then run power to the center terminal, ground the case and have two other ground ready... if you test the motor this way and it works you've taken it out of the picture. You can do this test on the car by taking the bell crank off the motor.

There is also a video on how to test the wiper switch if you think this is the issue posted below.

Here are the main articles and videos on the web site to help you.

Upload this first... http://repairs.willcoxcorvette.com/w...-with-test.pdf

Then review the items at this link. http://repairs.willcoxcorvette.com/p...t=1969&s=wiper

And then review the following.... you'll find your answer.

Video on testing the motor:
1969-1972


Video on testing the switch <-- Switch Test


Wiper Motor Bench Test 69-72


1969-1976 Corvette Wiper Motor Bench Testing and Some Relay Repair Help


Ohhhhhh sooooo Free Simple schematic.



Willcox-
18243
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Old Jan 11, 2019 | 05:32 PM
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If it were me, I would make sure your wiper door and the wiper door safety switch is working, and the door is tripping the electrical safety switch.
lots of vacuum switches and hoses and leaks in them could lead the door to close really slowly until it finally hits the electrical safety switch.
if you heard a click when you pushed the wiper switch in the cabin, that's a strong indication the vacuum switch under the dash is working and wiper switch as well. Likely the issue is after those 2 components
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Old Jan 11, 2019 | 05:55 PM
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Originally Posted by mongoose87
If it were me, I would make sure your wiper door and the wiper door safety switch is working, and the door is tripping the electrical safety switch.
lots of vacuum switches and hoses and leaks in them could lead the door to close really slowly until it finally hits the electrical safety switch.
if you heard a click when you pushed the wiper switch in the cabin, that's a strong indication the vacuum switch under the dash is working and wiper switch as well. Likely the issue is after those 2 components
Your suggestion is a very good one, but that won't explain why only one speed. It might explain the all of a sudden running though. After testing the motor and if it's good, then I'd guide him to other things.

I always tell customers to test the motor first, if it works hard wired then it will work with the car and you can go looking for other issues after that. The motor is a two field motor so he could have a working motor and a ground broken somewhere or a relay that is defective, it could be the center dash bezel is broken and the motor switch doesn't have a good ground. It's so easy to test the motor without removing it from the car to.

All the links on my tech page should help him solve the issue.

Ernie
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