[DeTomaso] wiper motor

[MikeLDrew at aol.com]

In a message dated 3/26/07 20 22 7, JAYTCREC at aol.com writes:


> the wiper motor failed to operate on a recent run.  yes, it was  raining on
> the car.
> 
>>>I would hope that you wouldn't be running the wipers in bright sunshine. ;>
)
> 
> the cover under the fender was removed and the wiper motor was smacked 
> sharply several times whereupon it obediently began working.
> 
>>>It is made by Lucas.   Questions? :>)

> Though, it does seem to work in a fairly slow speed even set on high.   
> Would
> a new motor be faster???
> 
>>>Perhaps.   The design of the motor case actually traps water (brilliant!) 
if the car is driven in rain regularly.   The cover probably helps prevent 
that pretty effectively though--I suspect it's mostly those cars that are missing 
(or were built without) the cover that suffer from that.

While the motor can get tired, it's also possible that the grease in the 
mechanism can turn to stone.   I recently learned that it's a fairly 
straightforward process to clean it all out.

The first thing you have to do is remove the wiper arms from the gearboxes.   
Then you can unbolt the wiper motor cover, unbolt the clamp holding the motor 
to the car, disconnect the electrical connector, and simply withdraw the 
motor and the coiled drive from the car.

Check out the grease and see what it looks like.   If you find it old and 
hard, then you have to (CAREFULLY!!!!) remove the wiper grilles, loosen the nuts 
which clamp the drive tubes, and then slide the drive tubes out.   You can 
then remove the gearboxes and take them apart, and clean all the hard grease out 
of there.

It would probably be worthwhile to plug your motor back in, turn the switch 
on and see if the cable moves freely.   If not, then perhaps you would benefit 
from a new motor.   


> >So, should I replace it to make sure that it never misbehaves again or  is
> there a less expensive option? Rebuild or a cross reference to a less  
> expensive
> replacement?
> Thank you in advance.
> 
>>>The motor is laughably cheap.   They are standard issue on virtually every 
British and Italian car from the 1950s, 60s and 70s.   A few minutes spent on 
Google should net you dozens of Jaguar, Triumph, MG, etc. and so forth 
sources.

There are some minor differences between motors; Panteras have the heavies
t-duty motor if I recall correctly.

Here is a fantastic source of information on this system:    

http://www.s-v-c.co.uk/SVCWIPERS.HTM

Cheers!

Mike



**************************************
 AOL now offers free email to everyone. 
 Find out more about what's free from AOL at http://www.aol.com.