wiper motor replacement?

[Donna Bryant]

My car is built on a ’68 VW frame and has what appears to be a VW wiper motor.  I have been re-wiring the entire car, started with the engine and have worked through the lights and gauges.  The reason for the re-wire was there was only one working light switch, no other switches or buttons were working and there were too many wires hanging that were not connected to anything, and bare wire ends just twisted together.  Not to mention all wires were either yellow or white.  A total wiring nightmare!:o

Has anyone had to replace the wiper motor?  What bolts need to be removed to get the motor out?  I do have the seat bases out and can get my head under the dash, but it is hard to see the wiper linkage, the angle brace that supports the dash area is blocking the view.  Also the wiper motor had only 2 terminals with wires connected, but there are 4 terminals.  I have searched the internet and found JBugs has rebuilt motors, but the picture supplied for the 68-69 motor shows only 3 terminals.  I can’t seem to locate any photos for the wire connections, only instructions to connect to numbered terminals.  Heck I can barely reach the motor, much less be able to read numbers next to the terminals.  If I can connect a switch and power to test the motor, I might not have to replace it, don’t want to cross up wires and burn up all the work I have already done. I am hoping someone has a motor that is not mounted yet, and can let me know what terminal to connect the power from the switch and what terminal to connect the ground wire?  And what the other terminals are for?

I am so close to being able to drive my car!  The wheels are being powder coated, tires are waiting to be mounted, carpet kit has been shipped.  I think I can be on the road by the end of March!:D

[Paul Mossberg]

Hi Donna,

 

There are nuts on the outside of the cowl, under each wiper arm. On my Duchess there are no other brackets holding the wiper motor and assembly to the cowl.

 

Wiring instructions are on pages 49-50 of the Classic Roadsters assemply manual, page 5 & 6 of this PDF:

 

https://tdreplica.com/Manuals/Duchess/Classic%20Roadsters%20VW%20Duchess%20Part%203%20-%20Dash%20and%20Electrical.pdf

 

Schematics are further on in the same PDF.

 

 

PMOSSBERG2012-03-14 08:48:25

Paul Mossberg
Former Owner of a 1981 Classic Roadsters Ltd. Duchess (VW)
2005 Intermeccanica Roadster

If you own a TDr and are not in the Registry, please go to https://tdreplica.com/forums/topic/mg-td-replica-registry/ and register (you need to copy and paste the link)

[edward ericson]

I’ve got a pic of my old wiper motor hanging with the wires attached. Will post later.

Mine, too, was held in by the wiper arm studs and nothing else. Use a little allen wrench to remove two (2!) allen screws holding each knurled knobby thing that sticks out through the cowl, then the motor should just fall out.

[edward ericson]

This is a ’69, two-speed wiper that works fine. I believe the far brown wire is ground, the rest are hot. One of them will be hot when the key is hot, I think, so the motor can “park” the wiper arms. The other two are hot from the switch, slow and fast.

Hope this helps.

[Donna Bryant]

Paul – thanks for the link/PDF, the information is very helpful but I do have the wiring complete. I used a universal harness that with easy to follow instructions and color matched diagram.

edsnova – thanks for the picture! This is the same motor I have and now knowing that the very top terminal is ground I can connect wires without fear of setting something on fire – a smoking dash board is never a good thing.

I didn’t even consider that the motor would be connected to the body from the top side, glad I asked before I started taking the linkage apart, only to find out the hard way.

Thanks so much – this site and the knowledgeable members are the best!!!

[Paul Mossberg]

Another successful project!

You are correct. Smoking dashboards are not a good thing. But there is a solution!

 

It is well known that the Lucas electrical systems in British sports cars are, indeed, powered by smoke. This should be obvious even to the casual observer….when the smoke leaks out, the electric bits in your car stop working.

 

There is an easy fix to the leaking smoke problem….smoke replenishment kits:

 

http://www3.telus.net/bc_triumph_registry/smoke.htm

 

Where else can you learn this stuff?

 

PS: And not for nothing, in addition to the reliability of our “replica” TDs, NOT having to deal with Lucas electronics is another advantage!

PMOSSBERG2012-03-15 08:52:39

Paul Mossberg
Former Owner of a 1981 Classic Roadsters Ltd. Duchess (VW)
2005 Intermeccanica Roadster

If you own a TDr and are not in the Registry, please go to https://tdreplica.com/forums/topic/mg-td-replica-registry/ and register (you need to copy and paste the link)

[edward ericson]

HAR!! “Unlike the cheap, far-eastern replacement DIYsmoke offered by the ‘usual
suppliers’, this kit includes a filter to ensure that all the smoke is of
consistent size, It has been our experience in our shop that the reproduction Taiwanese
smoke is often ‘lumpy’, which will cause excessive
resistance in our finely-engineered British harnesses and components.”:lol:

Given what I’ve got going now, I might need this…

[edward ericson]

Update (from the Q&A under the Lucas Smoke Replacement ad):
“Q: 1) When the Brits took over the aircooled VW plant after WW2 did they use
Lucas smoke? I own an old triumph and the smoke emitted from my ’62 bug smells
quite familiar! 2 if so, I assume this thing will work with old bugs too?

A: That is more likely the smell from your overheated wet carpet, but it’s worth
a try!”

AHA!

BTW, I’ve managed to get the tach, fuel gauge, oil pressure and lights back, but not the voltmeter. Also: horn and wipers are now dead.

It’s as if, by mounting the wipers up on the windscreen, I’ve opened a portal of some kind. . . .

[Author]

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