TR4/4A Another Wiper Question - Very Sluggish

[fpstude]

grant tr4a has a current post answering my questions on how to remove the motor. My wiper system is very sluggish. Is it likely the motor needs some lubrication? Or the linkage? Any input would be appreciated.

 

[Tosh]

Lubrication is good especially the wheel boxes.
Something else to consider; the parking switch may need replaced. My wipers were slow and would stop anywhere in the sweep when shut off.
Replacing the parking switch cured both problems.

Keep on'

PS: Raymond Loewy.........awesome.

 

[JerryVV]

The grease in the motor gearbox can harden over the years as well as the grease in the tubes and wheelboxes. First thing to do is clean the gearbox and renew the grease. If that doesn't help then the cable, tube and wheelboxes need to be cleaned and re-greased. Only then would I say the motor needs attention. Those motors are very strong.
JVV

 

[fpstude]

Thanks, great ideas. What / where are wheel boxes? None of these items discussed have ever been serviced. I'd say it's about time.

 

[tinman58]

I am dealing with the wheel box's right now on my 250. Where your wiper arms attach, just underneath the sheet metal. They are a pain in the a-- to get to. I have spent about 4 hours trying to get the cable to run smooth thru the tube. That is with no dash installed.

 

[Foura]

I am dealing with the wheel box's right now on my 250. Where your wiper arms attach, just underneath the sheet metal. They are a pain in the a-- to get to. I have spent about 4 hours trying to get the cable to run smooth thru the tube. That is with no dash installed.

I am waiting for the definitive history of Triumph motor cars to come out. The one showing a picture of the guy on the production line who had 3 arms - one to hold the wheel box, one to hold the screws and one to hold the screwdriver. I have often wondered if they installed the wheel boxes BEFORE they welded up the front bulkhead! At 4 hours, you did well, Tinman.

 

[Jerry]

And when you take the wiper box apart and see the old grease, note the color. Most of them are army green, probably from WW2? As mentioned above, it is also usually hard and not lubricating anymore. Replace it with wheel bearing grease. IE: lots around the gear and the trough that the arm moves in.
If you are really brave, take the motor out and clean out the rust inside. All these things have made the wipers work again just like new, SLOW>
Jerry

 

[glemon]

I took my wiper motor apart and cleaned and regreased it, really not too hard. The wiper gearboxes were another story, the chrome nuts that hold them on from the top were very stuck, couldn't get anything to come off without twisting the sheet metal. I soaked the boxes with WD40 and maybe some brake cleaner to thin out the old stuff, then used some spray lube, but without getting in there to really clean everything out the wipers are, as Jerry said, SLOW

 

[JerryVV]

I rebuild my whole system when I restored my 4A and used new wheelboxes. I used a wheel bearing grease in the tubes and the wheelboxes and a white grease in the motor gearbox. They go really fast now, almost too fast on high speed. One caution, the wiper arms fit a bit too loose to the aftermarket wheelboxes and if anything resists the wiper action the motor strips the serrations on the wheelbox in a heartbeat.

 

[tinman58]

Jerry
How much tension or drag did you have after installing all new parts? I have installed all new parts and it seem's that I need to pull the cable a little to hard to get the wipers to go back and forth. The operation is not very smooth. Is that normal?

 

[JerryVV]

I really can't remember but I think it was pretty hard to move them by hand by just pulling and pushing the cable. That motor is very strong and geared for a lot of torque so it seems effortless for the motor.

 

[tinman58]

Thank you Jerry! That is what I had hoped. So now I can start on installing the dash and steering.

 

[alanjohnturner]

One thing that increases drag on the motor is poor alignment of the tubes that are clamped into the wheel-boxes.

Especially the one nearest the motor. This has a couple of tricky bends and need to be rotated and jiggled about to get a smooth run into the motor.

A good indication is that the big nut on the motor should be easy to engage and do up by fingers alone.

Another problem is a bent connecting shaft between the wire-rack and the crank-pin on the big gear in the motor.
This makes it grind against the top-plate.

Guys get lazy and lever these up to get the rack free rather than unclipping the retainer on the crank-pin.
Hence shaft is bent up and drags.

If you have a two-speed motor remember this is like overdrive, you get less torque but more speed.
You need a low-friction build and a wet screen to get the motor to pull the faster speed.