Windshield wiper issue
 

Hey guys, I am having a problem with my Windshield wipers working on low. They work about 30% of the time. Often they don't work, then start to work, then stop working again all in the same trip. The weird thing is they always work on other settings.

Yesterday I pulled the wiper motor, cleaned it up alongside all of the connections and sprayed some silicone on them in an attempt to lubricate things as it seemed that when on low, sometimes they would move extremely slow. It also seems they are more likely to work when it is raining outside, but still intermittent.

Does anybody have any ideas what else to check? Maybe some form of Relay? or cleaning the switch?

Could be the electrical connectors for the motor. They tend to disintegrate over time. Did you
touch them? If not be warned if you touch them they may disintegrate right in front of you.
Sometimes you have to replace them, they are pretty common connectors used else where
under the hood.

I did unplug them when I pulled the assembly out. I did not stick a brush or anything in there to clean them. They looked okay? I didn't look hard, just looked enough to make sure they existed. There was one 4 pin connector and one 1 pin connector. I assume those are the ones being talked about?

Low speed operation has the most friction against the glass (*coefficient of sliding friction). While it could be electrical in nature, it wouldn't hurt to pull the intake grate off the front and remove the wiper rack. It's not hard to do - takes about 15min, and then you have access to the motor mechanism (wrapped in a rubber boot with a band around it) and the pivots for each arm. I've noticed that over time, the bushings on the pivots will get really galled inside and benefit greatly from some penetrating oil followed by a good quality grease. This will free them up to swing nice and smooth.

If that doesn't fix your issue, then it's probably back to working on the switching mechanism (electrical). Give that a try, though.

This is pretty much what I did as I figured that was the most likely cause. I may take it out one more time and try it again.

miasmicmonky, If it works find on other speeds but not at all on low it is more likely an issue with the switch located in the steering column. I had a similar issue with my turn signals because the inside of the switch had become filthy and charred. After cleaning it thoroughly and reassembling it is fine now. You should be able to tell for sure by testing it with a meter or light at the wiper motor and at the switch plug.

I am not positive but I think you'll need to pull the steering wheel if it is the switch.

You'll need an aerosol can of Electronic Contact cleaner, dielectric grease, several cotton swabs/ q-tips, and a machinist scribe/pick to remove any big chunky crud from the switch contact and expose fresh copper.

Once you get to the switch, very gently lift the tabs to expose the inside. remove any big chunks of crud, spray with cleaner, scrub with q-tips, spray, scrape, scrub with q-tips again, then apply a small amount of dielectric grease to prevent future corrosion.

FYI, here's a picture of the assembly with the steering wheel removed...the red arrow indicates a protrusion on the rotating blinker reset ring. There are two and they engage with holes in the back of the steering wheel. Make sure you have the ring properly positioned before you put the steering wheel back on its splined shaft as you don't want to break those protrusions. It should go on smoothly.

Note, if never removed before, the steering wheel might come off reluctantly so use a puller, a cheap-ish universal one works fine.


https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...4d57f88618.jpg

Ah man, I know those pins well and for a while I ran without self-cancelling turn signals before I figured out my blunder.

I got a report that there may be a problem with the server that the pic is posted on and some people can't see the pic. (I can see them fine and have tested in Firefox, Chrome, and IE.)

Anyhow... If you pull the steering wheel off a 1st gen RX-7, flip it around and look at the back. You'll see the big hole where the steering shaft attaches. Right next to that hole, you'll see two smaller holes, about 1/4 inch (6mm?) in diameter.

If you look at the steering shaft sticking out of the dashboard, you'll see a plastic ring with two pins.

The pins and holes are supposed to line up.

When I took the steering wheel off my 1st gen, I was a stupid teenager and just jammed the damn thing back on any which way... I was working at a tire shop and I could do my own wheel alignment anyhow.

When I jammed the wheel on, I ended up breaking off the two plastic pins.

That little plastic ring with the pins is what turns off the turn signals when you straighten out the steering wheel.

Now whenever I pull the steering wheel off of any car, I make sure it was pointed straight before I pull it and I never move the front wheels... That way, I can put it on straight again.

Pele said

"I got a report that there may be a problem with the server that the pic is posted on and some people can't see the pic. (I can see them fine and have tested in Firefox, Chrome, and IE.)"

Hrrmmm, weird. I uploaded it to the forum using the photo widget. Anyway, here's and alternate link if anyone's itching to see what I was talking about, although Pele described it perfectly.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B-...0tacUg5a0s4TFk

Coulda been a browser config thing or something. One person reported it. When I tested, I used my work computer that's locked down by the IT department so hard that I need to call them just to add a printer.

Didn't even log in with Chrome or IE. My copy of Firefox runs off a USB external drive. Nary an issue.

That may be the issue with my 83. The switches have to be manually turned off.

But I will have to try this, sadly today was date day with the girl. And tomorrow, it looks like I have been roped into a cruise through the mountains from central AR to Northwest AR.

If I don't end up going, then I will try to work on this tomorrow!