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I can't find a wire to go to this switch..so..from the override switch..where does the single wire go to..what is it overriding?..I'm just going to run another wire...i have a 68
Last edited by 68 beginner; Jan 9, 2021 at 08:59 AM.
Interesting he didn't post what fixed the issue.... the system has a ground wire on the over-ride switch, if this ground isn't present the light will come on and stay on.
You can see the wire in the diagram below. (over ride switch bracket A in the picture below).
Last edited by 71 Green 454; Jan 9, 2021 at 09:34 AM.
The wiper over ride allows you to park the wiper arms mid stroke so you can replace the 16" blades with the trico replacements. The over ride has one connector only. The ground wire has an eye let and attaches to the right side bracket mount screw. The bracket should have two pull downs flanking the wiper over ride switch.
Marshal
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it may not have a ground wire, I believe mine is just grounded though the bracket and the mounting nut. The only wire is the brown wire that comes from the wiper motor wiring harness itself, What it does is interrupt one of the grounds for the motor. It has a lot of grounds and the wiper switch itself is just changing grounds and resistance, so if you are ever trouble shooting, DO NOT add power to the wiper switch, the PO of my vette wired mine up that way. I asked him if it worked and flipped the switch. It worked for making smoke
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Oh and if you do hook up that bypass switch so your wipers work and you leave the switch in the interrupt position, the wiper motor is still on and it will drain your battery, fyi. Late 68s and 69s had a wiper bypass light on the console
Oh and if you do hook up that bypass switch so your wipers work and you leave the switch in the interrupt position, the wiper motor is still on and it will drain your battery, fyi. Late 68s and 69s had a wiper bypass light on the console
I found out the hard way about draining the battery if the switch is left on. My early 68 convert does not have a warning light to let you know the switch is on.
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I did too. I used a white paint pen to put a dot on the front so I can see if its in position or not. On mine it can disconnect with just a few degrees of rotation. I keep threatening to put in a toggle switch but havent yet. I also have a battery cut off switch that kills all power that I always turn off when the motor is off, saves on surprises like that.
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My early 68 had Bubba butchered wiring. I believe there should be a brown wire going to the switch and a black wire to the mounting bracket as per Wilcox's diagram. I had to search for these under the dash and once found, I hooked them up (and removed Bubba's other wiring), the switch worked as it should. I'D be very careful regarding adding wires.
So I am going to assume my factory switch is bad as I get nothing with an ohm meter measuring from the terminal to the switch case. Rather that wasting 60.00 for the correct switch I'm going to do a 2.00 SPST toggle switch. The brown wire on one side, the other to ground !!!
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I did the same thing because it will kill your battery on a 68 if turned to the open position.... Very old thread by the way but still pertinent for 68 guys as this issue doesnt affect the 69 and newer guys
Rescue Rogers......I'm trying to understand how the switch works. So by open you mean the wire going to the switch needs to be grounded except to change wiper blades ?
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Yes on a 68 the switch interupts the path for the wiper motor ground. So the motor will always have power and the motor park solenoid too even with the key off. Somehow taking away the motor ground will reactivate the parking solenoid. The solenoid switch having power to it will put a very weak drain on your battery which will kill it over night while the switch opens to ground.
There was a service notice in the AIM
Those rotary switches have a lot of rotation But only need a few degrees Of rotation to disconnect. I put a white dot on my **** so i could see if it was on or off but it could still get bumped easily getting in and out. I recently replaced it with a 3 way toggle. Center of left or right on.
To be sure i never had an issue i installed a battery disconnect between the seats which also acts as a theft deterent to.
The wiper switch disconnects power at the relay under the console so the motor keeps running until it can park itself, then shuts off. The rest of the wiper switch shunts the ground to diffent parts of the motor for speed control
. The AIM also had a good description of how it all worked, better than i am describing It. But it was a bad design and was changed in 69.
Last edited by Rescue Rogers; Mar 21, 2023 at 09:31 PM.
R.R. ,,,. a few years ago I read the the '68 wiper motor is "always Hot"...and a short in the wiring or the motor can cause a fire.
Rookie questions:
Would a relay for the low speed and a relay for the high speed solve the problem if a short occured?
The motor would be hot only when the wiper switch was engaged?
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I personally dont worry about that. A short would blow the fuse.
You would have to get a circuit diagram and put in a relay to the main power which would be the yellow wire. .
I havent heard of any wiper related fires. The wiper switch on a 68 is switching grounds so the Wiper switch isnt a good place to go to.
The PO of my car sold it to me andxsaid the wipers worked but i didnt try them until i got home. He had hot wired power directly from the alternator To the wiper switch. When i hit the switch it did let all the smoke out of the switch and the motor....not to long after that is when i learned the Chinese wiper switch replacements dont work for more than 2 pushes of the switch...
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Simple set up....first pic is the basic wiring...splice into the black and white wire in the diagram just above the card.
The card has the basic schematic
A pic of the actual wiring...reallt simple. On my switch the center isnt connected so the wipers would stop. Either left or right completes the circuit or in my case forward or backward.
Scott, I did hear that there were a lot of 68's catching fire because of the wiper motor years ago. I looked into trying to rewire my 68 wiper motor and the new wiring is like an octopus going everywhere! I gave up that idea in a hurry.
I think that is the reason GM rewired the 69 wiper motor system. And they added that wiper linkage vacuum switch. I know I trapped my blades a couple of times years ago with the wiper door. Lou.
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Im surprised it hasnt come up more. Thats one thing that I think they did screw up was how convoluted the wiper system was with the relays and solenoids and the override killing the battery. Im judty glad it hasnt been an issue with any of us.
wiper override switch under dash
