I took my car out of the garage the other day and drove it as it had been months since it had been out. It needed washing so I did so, and once again I was struck by how s l o w the wipers are or have become. Seems like the last time I tried to buy a new unit, I was told they were unavailable.
I've become real used to the wiper speed/performance on my newer cars and trucks...wish the FD could be brought into the 21st century...

 

Are they slower than normal? If you think something is wrong, the first thing I'd check is to ensure there's not a voltage drop to the motor. Check both the power and ground sides of the circuit.

If unsure how to proceed you can do a web search for voltage drop testing. This involves connecting a volt meter in parallel to different parts of the circuit and excess resistance will show up as a voltage drop.

If you are looking to just improve performance over stock, that would require some real engineering.

But if there's nothing else wrong. Get some Rain-X and follow the instructions to apply it to the windshield. You'd be surprised how this improves visibility.

 

I just don't drive my car in the rain. I've never felt that the stock wiper system was adequate.

Because racecar.

 

I don't drive in the rain either. Mostly because I don't want to have to wash the car. The car still has the same wipers it had when I bought it in 2002. I did get caught in a hard rain coming back from an autocross a year ago. I thought the wipers were fine.

 

I've had some similar issues.

On my car, I have a new from Mazda headlight switch/wiper switch, probably 2 years old. It cost more than you'd think, BTW. So,that's healthy.

I just this past weekend took my wiper motor apart to see what I could see. 4 bolts hold it to the firewall, one you will want to have a 10mm 1/4" drive universal to get to and a decent sized extension. With the 4 bolts out you can reach in and pop the motor arm free from the wiper arm. It's a ball and socket, just like the headlight linkage.

With it out, 2 screws hold the cylindrical black motor case on. You may want to use an impact screwdriver to keep from stripping these screws. You will have to fight the case off as it has a permanent magnet inside it.

Mine had rusty marks on the motor where the brushes contact the copper coils. I used a Scotchbrite pad and SLOWLY and CAREFULLY rubbed it down to bright copper.

To reinstall, you'll have to pull the brushes back. I found with some needlenose pliers I could pull back and disengage the spring to push the brush back. Install the motor then let the brushes go back.

My battery was near dead, I did a quick test and it did move, but I need to get the car out with a good charge or running to really test. Also, you will need to remove the wiper blades and windshield cowl to re-attach the motor to the linkage.

I'd like to find a good fix for this, slow wiper blades are no fun.

Dale

 

Thanks, Dale.


I've had my motor out a couple of times, never took it apart though. Might be worth doing what you suggest, I also like what Vicoor suggests, I can check that out, too.


The thing is...my car was almost 7 years old when I purchased it so...I don't know what is 'normal'. I do know that my wipers on 'high' are slower than my F-150's on low. Just one of those niggling little deals that is a 'round tuit' thing, lol!

 

Definitely sounds like some thing is wrong with the motor or voltage. I drive mine in the rain regularly and the speeds aren't that slow.. are the f 150 's wipers eco boosted?

 

I went through a lot of trouble replacing my motor with a replacement one from... Mazmart I think it was. Same slow performance. I ended up going with the rainex option. As long as you get up to at least 10mph, the water streams off faster than the wipers would have done.

 

Check and re grease or even replace the wiper arm assembly. The bars that are underneath the plastic cowl.

I dealt with the exact issue. Replaced the motor and still slow...Once I replaced those arms (mine were UGLY, thanks FritzFlynn for the clean ones), my wipers work great!
Don't forget to mark the motor before you take the arms off. This will make it much easier to keep 'em aligned and centered when you put on the new ones.

 

FWIW, I only occasionally use my wipers. Last summer I got caught in the rain. When I first turned them on they were definitely on the slow slide (also when compared to my F150) but seemed to pick up speed after a several minutes of use. After a 1/2 hr or so they were pretty much 'normal' speed.
Haven't tried them lately though.

 

I recently replaced the linkage from the wiper motor to the wipers (on my tacoma). The old linkage was nearly rusted solid, and was squealing loudly. I lubed up the replacement linkage (from a salvage yard), and they worked great afterward. Lubing your linkage could fix your issue.

 

with the 1st gens its pretty common for them to have a corroded wiper linkage, its basically a steel rod in a brass housing, so it needs lube.

i'm not sure about the FD, but that would be my first stop.

 

I just did some digging, and found some interesting stuff.

On the parts fiche, it shows two versions of the wiper linkage - "regular" and cold weather. I'm assuming cold weather is more heavy duty to push snow off the windshield. Same goes for the wiper motor, there is a cold weather and a regular version.

The whole wiper linkage shows the part number has been superceded, only the cold weather version is available. Part number is FD02-67-360 and it's around $135 on an online price check, Ray would probably have it cheaper. The same part number but FD01 was the "regular" version.

For the wiper motor, "regular" is fd01-67-340 and cold weather is fd02-67-340. Both part numbers have been superceded by FD14-67-340 and it's around $268.

Also, for the linkage, it looks like you can buy the individual parts instead of the whole assembly - like just a rod, for example.

Here soon I'm going to pull my linkage and check it out, I need to get in there anyway to re-attach the wiper motor.

Dale

 

"Linkage"
That's the word i was looking for.

 

Outstanding information as always, Dale. Thank you. So...the wiper motor is available, then?

 

Seems to be from the online Mazda parts site I checked. Ray would know for sure.

Dale

 

After searching at the Mazda MotorSport site, where racers can buy MazdaSpeed and OEM parts at great discounts, I plug the most updated number for availability and it comes up as No Longer Available
FD14-67-340 PART N L A
Price listed, if it would have been available is $208, without tax and/or delivery applied.

 

Sometimes parts are NLA but are still in a warehouse somewhere. NLA just means they aren't making any more of them. Also, that's the motor - I wonder if the linkage is available.

Dale

 

My understanding from buying parts from Mazda MotorSport, they are IT.
They look at the entire system (warehouses) for availability from the US, Japan and Canada. I have received parts from all those in the past.
I plugged the wiper linkages and shaft drives as individual parts and as a system, but also NLA.
I tried with Ray/Lisa at Malloy Mazda, with same results.

 

Bump for an old thread with no real solution. The slow wipers have been a pet peeve of mine forever. I was thinking back when I was a kid, I used to wind my own RC motor armatures. From what I recall, it made a significant difference. Not that I am looking forward to take off the winding on the armature, but I may give it a shot since it is currently disassembled. I also noticed while cleaning the linkage that the two super thin washers on the wiper studs were causing significant friction and slowing down the motion as opposed to not using the washers. I think I will first try re-assembling everything without the washers. If that doesn't improve the speed, I'll try re-winding the copper on the armature. Has anyone tried this as opposed to retrofitting a newer model wiper motor?

 

friction is bad, if you can get rid of it, do it.
the other thing to keep in mind is that the FD isn't a modern car, modern cars have wipers that break the speed of sound, and the FD was never like that, if you want fast like a modern car, you'd need a bigger motor

 

Yeah I've thought about the possibility of rebuilding the wiper motor or re-winding it or something. My wipers suck at this point .

Dale

 

the housing the motor goesinta is unique to the FD, but the actual motor can't be very special

 

Yeah I had the same thought. Seems like someone willing to experiment could find a way to connect a motor from a newer assembly or even just a generic one.

As far as the wiper speed this is something that has also been on my list, but not urgent. Planning to check out the linkage and make sure its in good shape before doing anything else. Can't speak for anyone else, but the speed on my front wipers is still slower than other cars I have driven from the 90s. I have no idea how they performed new from the dealership, but I don't think the slow speed a lot of people notice is normal.

I know some people bump the voltage up a bit on the door window motors to get "better" performance. Not sure if that would help in this case or not. Will report back if/when I get around to messing with mine.

 

The more I think about it, it would be easier to just retrofit something in there. Plug existing holes, drill new holes, put in some rivnuts, figure out wiring seems to be the easier way to go.