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Wiper Motor

Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2013 5:09 am
by AustHaflinger
The pull wiper motor switch for my 73 Haffie has three positions. In is off, one pull is "nothing" and full out is wipers move. The other day I switched the wipers on and noticed some smoke coming out of the motor. I switched off and took the cover off and there was no smoke but the winding looked as if it had been getting hot at some stage. Also my wipers never parked themselves but with the cover off they parked when I moved the switch to the interim position but when to the actual off position they do not park.

So - are the wipers single speed or two speed? Are they supposed to park themselves and is there a common replacement for the wiper motor or should I just get it rewound.

Thanks

Garry

Re: Wiper Motor

Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2013 7:38 am
by heinkeljb
I asked a similar question as my wipers have stopped working completely.

My understanding from the replies is that the wipers are all one speed and have a self park system controlled by a cam switch on the wiper shaft.

I thought looking at the various wiring diagrams ( none of which match my Hafi 100%) was that the they used a 2 position switch. i.e. 2 speed, but I must admit I have not looked at my wiper system yet. Still sort front hubs.

Come to think of it, I think the answers were in my thread on here about 2 fuse boxes.

I would check that all joints work smoothly and do not have stiff points which would make the motor struggle. Clean any electrical contacts you can get at. try running it without the cover for a bit to see if it works.

In shape my wiper motor looks very like early landrover ones so possibly there is an easy replacement that route.

John

Re: Wiper Motor

Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2013 7:49 pm
by Westernair
I am 95% sure that an early VW bus motor with a 12v replacement winding will bolt in as a replacement.
For your original, these old motors are natorious for having your discribed problems. I would suggest you pull the motor, disasemble it being carful not to loose or stretch the spring and fiber tab that holds the carbon brushes. Then clean all the old grease and gunk out of the gear set and repack it with fresh grease. On both my pinzgauers I had to do this to fix the same problems.

Re: Wiper Motor

Posted: Thu Jan 10, 2013 2:28 am
by AustHaflinger
Thanks to both of you for your information. My main concern is that the copper in the winding no longer has the glossy lacquer colour but has the burnt colour.

i will caerfully take the motor apart and see what is what.

Cheers

Garry

Re: Wiper Motor

Posted: Fri Jan 11, 2013 12:14 am
by HaffyHunter
Hi Garry,
It is possible that the motor windings have discolored without being overheated. The gassing-off of the grease in the wiper gearbox will create a similar appearance in the varnish. This same issue will also make the brush commutator very dirty and this should be cleaned with a good quality electrical contact cleaner that leaves no residue.
As for replacement motors, there are several SWF models that are very similar to the one used in the Hafi. The closest match I've found is from a 1969 North American VW Beetle but the drive pin on the motor arm is much too short. The good news is that the electrical parts are interchangeable so if your rotor windings are burnt then get the VW part or have your rotor rewound. Note that 1969 is the only year that this motor was used in the Beetle and these motors are getting scarce. There are also VW parts specialists who offer 12v rotors for those converting their early 6v Beetles. Incidentally, the VW motor is 2-speed (same rotor either way).
To the best of my research ability, I can only find that 2-speed wiper motors were used in the US Pathfinder Haflinger. I believe the Pathfinder's switch is rotary type and very similar to the one used in the 1969 Beetle. Perhaps late model UK Hafi's also had 2-speed wipers but I had one time inquired about this to Haflinger Technik and Dale replied that the UK models were 1-speed. Another possibility is that a previous owner of your Haf had replaced your switch with an after market 3 position version. These are fairly common from vintage car reproduction parts suppliers.
Have a look at my postings in the 2 Fuse Box topic for info on the auto-park function and wiring diagrams.
Cheers,
Steve

Re: Wiper Motor

Posted: Fri Jan 11, 2013 5:20 am
by AustHaflinger
Thanks Steve - that is great information.

Australian Design Rules (ADRs) came into place in Aust for new vehicles in about 1971 and I believe with this 2 speed windscreen wipers, windscreen washers and seat belts became mandatory for all new vehicles (mine a 73). However "commercial" vehicles, even now, are exempt from aspects of the of the ADRs so maybe only single wipers were required - I just don't know.

However I just double checked mine - as mentioned the switch is a 3 position push pull switch - in is off and allows the wipers to park, the middle position on the switch is also off but allows the wipers to park and the fully out position is on. My wipers didn't previously park, so playing with them must have freed them up - maybe the issue also caused the smoke because there is none there now and the wipers work great.

Cheers

Garry

Re: Wiper Motor

Posted: Tue Mar 25, 2014 12:16 am
by Goatwerks
Steyr used a 2 speed 67VW wiper motor and switch(rotary) on the N/A spec units. I have found them on all US and Canadian spec models built after 2-70 that I have seen or repaired over the years.
I got lucky and found a spare in the wrecking yard to repair mine .
Good hunting!

Re: Wiper Motor

Posted: Sat May 31, 2014 7:09 pm
by heinkeljb
I thought I would have a go at my wipers today as they have never parked them selves.

Dismantling the mechanical bit to take the wiper motor and bracket off the windscreen is just down to taking off two circlips and three 8mm bolts. Make sure you take a photo or label the wires going the motor obviously......

Unless there is a reason for thinking the gears inside the gearbox part are in need of lubrication or replacement, don't bother undoing the 4 flat head screws - once you have worked out how to get the bracket off - that puzzled me until I noticed that the nut holding the shaft under the crank arm just has to be loosened and then you can swing it sideways and with the other 8mm nut off the bracket comes off.

The self park switch is actually under a plastic cover which you release at the sides and it comes off on the same side as the wire hoop that holds the cover over the motor proper. Inside is an small rod which is moved by a cam on the large gear in the gearbox (for those who opened it up). The rod pushes a copper strip with "points type" contact faces on both side to make contact with one contact or the other depending on where the cam is.

Other than making sure the contacts faces are clean and shiny and that they make electrical contact. In order to do that you will have to isolate the two brushes on the motor. I used a "U" shaped piece of paper. That allows you to turn the motor by hand to make it operate the cam / rod. With a suitable electrical test equipment you should be able to tell if the switches work.

Now comes the bit which threw me for a while!

If you have a three wire connection to your wiper motor, you need to make sure you have the correct wires going to the correct numbered connections. Mine originally had a simple 2 pole flip switch which allowed you turn the wipers on, but then you had to judge when to turn them off!

So if your 3 wires are colour coded "Red", "Green", "Black" then on the wiper motor starting on the left the order should be:- RED, BLACK, GREEN.

It obviously follows that you need to have the correct switch to operate the wipers. This a four pole switch with one pair of contacts making a circuit when the switch is in the off position and the other pair making contact when the switch is in the on position. Only one pair making contact at any given position.
wiper motor diagram.jpg
The picture is of the only wiring diagram I have with three wires going to the wiper motor.

My wipers now self park when you turn the off!

John

Re: Wiper Motor

Posted: Sat May 31, 2014 7:26 pm
by Julian B
John, thanks for that - very interesting. My wipers have never parked either, but I only have 2 wires going to the motor. This isn't a great photo, but presumably yours if different to this one?

Re: Wiper Motor

Posted: Sat May 31, 2014 9:22 pm
by heinkeljb
Yup, mine is different!

Other than it is a pain to take off the cover because my plastic gasket seal thing has been sitting under the cover in a mashed up position and so has taken on a "set" and I spent a LONG time trying to get it to fit as it is supposed to, I would take it off and post a photograph!

My one has three wire connections where yours has two, (blade terminals). Also my motor is a permanent magnet on and does not have the coil of wire that yours has. It only has two brushes that provide electricity to the armature coils.

I have only found a wiring diagram in volume 24 Number 1 2013 that seems to be anywhere near the wiring in Lurch. All the ones in my repair manual are completely different!

John

Re: Wiper Motor

Posted: Mon Oct 06, 2014 3:36 am
by Yakov
One of the wiper motors I have are the type that Julian B showed, and there does not appear to be any self-park capability in it. One wire, labelled + on the motor body goes to the motor, the other, labelled - just stays on the body as a ground. Not sure why, because mine grounds itself out when bolted to the vehicle. I looked and looked and determined that there's no way it can self-park, unless mine is missing something, which is possible.

My other motor is exactly what John describes, but when I disassembled it, the copper strip that the self-park operates was broken. I soldered it back on and am now trying to make it work properly. Looks promising.

Both my motors had a problem with sticky and smelly old grease.

Re: Wiper Motor

Posted: Mon Aug 03, 2015 11:41 am
by AustHaflinger
Well after I put up this original thread the park arrangement has been working fine - 2 1/2 years then on the weekend it decides not to work - like it did all that time ago. So I guess I will need to pull it apart again and get the park system working.

However, while the wipers do not work very well as they do not stick to the windscreen all that well (a couple of airfoils might fix that) I might look at converting to 2 speed wipers - now in the posts people talk about using a 69 VW Bus motor or using Pathfinder motors, but what is going to be the easiest and cheapest way to convert to to a two speed system - from the comments it would seen that these bits might be hard to find.

Cheers

Garry

Re: Wiper Motor

Posted: Mon Aug 03, 2015 7:13 pm
by heinkeljb
Converting to a two speed wiper motor will involve several things.

First it to find a suitable two speed wiper motor. - either VW or possibly a Landrover item?

Second would be to have a suitable switch which has an off position, and two sets of electrical contacts so you can pull / turn once to get speed on and then pull / turn a second time to get speed two.

Third would be to redo the wiring so that it all works....

I doubt aerofoils on the arms would help much, air speed against the flat glass isn't going to be that high. Better spring and loose pivot points on the arm would be more effective.

John

Re: Wiper Motor

Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2015 4:08 am
by AustHaflinger
Thanks John - my current switch is already a two three position switch so is suitable. A landrover motor is completely different and would not fit so I will start trawling local VW suppliers for a suitable 2 speed unit.

Cheers

Garry

Re: Wiper Motor

Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2015 5:51 am
by Goatwerks
To convert the VW wiper motor, just swap the output gear(longer output shaft).

Re: Wiper Motor

Posted: Wed Aug 05, 2015 3:43 pm
by AustHaflinger

Re: Wiper Motor

Posted: Wed Aug 05, 2015 6:55 pm
by Bernd

Re: Wiper Motor

Posted: Thu Aug 06, 2015 4:20 pm
by AustHaflinger
Thanks for that link - definitely cheaper than locally here.

Re: Wiper Motor

Posted: Thu Aug 06, 2015 6:07 pm
by Bernd
gladly .... maybe you're high cost shipping, but Haflinger are not cheap ;)

Re: Wiper Motor

Posted: Thu Aug 06, 2015 7:20 pm
by heinkeljb
Maybe it would be cheaper for someone here to buy it, get it shipped locally and then posted on to you?

John