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DR2 wiper motor repair

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NutmegCT

NutmegCT

Great Pumpkin
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Tomorrow is forecast to be crummy (rain, wind, 90 degreees, humidity, etc.). So I'm going to try to fix what I believe is a broken wire in my wiper motor - the wire that runs from the autopark commutator to somewhere inside the motor. Motor and wipers work fine, but don't autopark. Manually grounding the autopark commutator terminal causes the motor to run (when the ignition is on and the wiper switch is off).

After I've removed the assembly from under the bonnet, how do I open up the motor's case? Any advice, caveats, etc.?

Thanks.
Tom

On a bright note, I drove 100 miles today, more than all my previous mileage since I received the car in February. TeeYah ran like a finely-tuned, well-oiled machine - which it is. Altho' I had to hold it under 50mpg due to the bent rear wheels, it was an absolutely wonderful drive on Rts 171, 190 and 140 between Putnam Connecticut and Bradley Airport at Windsor Locks CT.

I love this car!
 
NutmegCT said:
Manually grounding the autopark commutator terminal causes the motor to run (when the ignition is on and the wiper switch is off).
Click to expand...
In that case, the wire must be OK, and it's the park switch that is the problem. Undo the 4 screws that hold the gearbox lid and lift it off to see what's going on under there. (It will still be attached by the wire.) Should be a brass finger attached to the crankpin on the gear, that reaches up at a funny angle and rubs on the commutator in the lid. The finger fits over the pin with a piece through the slot, and then is held there by an E-clip.

This is easy to do on the car, but if you're going to work on the wire I would suggest removing the motor from the car first.
 
Tom:
I just did a refurb on my Wiper motor, It too had a frayed park wire I had to replace. The job is fairly easy. Remove the four little bolts holding the top on the gear head, Un solder the wire from the autopark commutator {the round cap} then remove the two screws on the end on the motor {where the wires connect} Carefuly remove the motor end cap. Be very careful NOT to loose the brushes, brush holders and spring that holds them together. Remove the outter motor case from the gearhead you`ll have to feed the park wire through the little hole on the gearhead side motor case as you remove the field case {outter motor case} Un solder the park wire from the brush holder. when you re assembl make sure to solder the park wire back on the same brush holder terminal as you removed it from. Be sure to feed the wire through the gearhead motor case hole and then through the ghearhead cover and then solder it back to the autopark commutator. A pair of tweesers will help you place the brushes back in the brush holders {this can be done after you place the field case back in position.} Put the Motor end cap back on and it should be good to go.
Don`t do what I did. If you decide to use spray cleaner to remove the grease from the field case be sure to remove and safeguard the brush holders and spring before hand to avoid a Geeze where did that go situation like me.
P.S. I have everything extra you might need EXCEPT the brush holders and spring DO NOT LOOSE THEM.
 
Thanks Randall. I remember when I cleaned that gearbox last month, the brass finger does touch the revolving commutator. For some reason there are two wires on my gearbox terminal, not one - like an extra was added and taped right next to the original. See below:
 
Kerry - if the motor runs when I ground that gearbox terminal, does it sound like a wiring problem that I'd need to tear the motor apart for?

Tom
 
If you do replace that wire... all the original ones I've seen are red. Not bright red but sort of a faded Brick Red.
 
Aloha Tom,

That is what Randall was telling you. The wiper motor circuit has power to motor and the dash board switch provides the path to ground. So before you remove or tear apart the motor, loosen the the four screws on the gear box enough that you can turn the parking switch cover. Twist the cover and the motor should run until brass arm reaches the new park position. The motor should run for a short period then stop (the dash mounted switch is in the off position). This is how you set the park position. If this happens you only need to adjust to the desired park position.

The motor should only have one wire to the parking switch cover. That wire and the terminal on the cover need to be insulated from the metal cover. Check that the extra wire connection has not inadvertently been grounded to the cover. I believe that if this is the case, this would defeat the parking feature.

If you determine that you need to replace the wire, Kerry has given a good description of the process and Geo has identified the color for you. The wire should be a stranded not solid piece of wire.
 
At an artist's supply shop I spent about a dollar and bought a bottle of bright orange acrylic paint and painted the dull grubby brownish wire for the self stop wire. It's back to the original orange colour that it was originally.
 
Tom: If you ground that park wire the W.W. motor will run continiously. {makes a complete circut} The park comutator actually opens the circut {interuption in the current} to park the wipers. So if the park wire is grounded because of bare insulation the W.W. motor will not turn off. If the Wipers will park but just not in the right place, it is a simple matter of adjustment by loosening the four gearhead bolts and turning the parking comutator {cap} to the desired parking place. If this will not work then you may need to replace the parking cap {which I can/will send you if need be I have an extra}.
Let me know.
Kerry
 
Aha! the culprit has been found. The copper contact which revolves on the circular gear is loose, because the circlip (?) which is supposed to hold it is broken. There's a leg of the circlip missing, so the contact flops around. See pic of broken (?) circlip below.

I wiggled the contact, re-assembled the gearbox, and the autopark autoparked - once. The contact came loose again, and the broken (?) circlip was lying on the geared wheel.

Kerry - do you have the correct circlip available? I think my parking cap is fine - but not the clip which holds the parking arm. I assume that's all that's needed - or is there also supposed to be a washer on that hub with the contact arm and circlip?

Thanks.
Tom
 
I'd have to pull one apart to be certain, but my recollection is that there is only a flat washer below the brass contact, not above it.

I'm pretty sure a hardware store circlip would work fine, but if you'll give me a few days, I'll find the "TR wiper" box and see if I've got a spare original.
 
Thanks Randall. I notice that with a standard e-clip on the hub, the contact arm is still quite loose. The domed contact point has about 1/4 inch up and down play - that's why I wondered if I'm also missing some sort of spacer or washer.

Interesting how my broken clip is so different from a standard c- or e-clip.

Tom
 
Re: DR2 wiper motor FIXED!

It works!

Put a slight bend ("twist") in my generic e-clip, slid it over the copper arm on the hub, re-connected the battery. That slight twist holds the copper arm tight, no flopping around.

Ignition on - the wipers immediately moved AND STOPPED at the rest point.

Yes!!!

Wiper switch on, wipers move normally. Switch off, wipers move to rest point and then stop.

Thank you for getting my brain (and wipers) back in gear!
Tom
PS - at least on my car, the "dimple" on the contact cover goes toward the front of the car, not toward the windscreen. Dimple at windscreen side, wipers stop at highest point on the screen. I slightly rotated that cap to get the wipers to stop at exactly the right point.
 
Geo Hahn said:
If you do replace that wire... all the original ones I've seen are red. Not bright red but sort of a faded Brick Red.
Click to expand...
I agree. Also, the insulation appears to be rubber rather than PVC; looks exactly like old Simpson meter leads. Most likely a much brighter color when new, but they fade.

Glad you got it going, Tom. I did not mean to imply that a standard E-clip was identical to the original, only that it could possibly be made to work. If it takes another washer to make it snug, then put in another washer.

Now that I think about it, the original may have had a tab to engage the slot and keep it from turning on the shaft. I'd guess that the original clips were made to Lucas specification and never available otherwise, but that's just a WAG.
 
TR3driver said:
...Also, the insulation appears to be rubber rather than PVC; looks exactly like old Simpson meter leads...
Click to expand...

Amazing that you would say that for that is exactly what I used to replace the wire on the 3's wiper motor.

Found it when going thru my late father's garage. The meter was pretty much shot but I saved that positive lead 'cause it loked so much like the old wire on the wiper. Does seem to have a rubber insulation sort of molded around the wire strands making it very flexible.
 
Tom:
The circlip you need is on its way. There was no washer on this one. I`ll have a look at the other one I have just to make sure. If there is a washer I will send it. But I really don`t think there is. There is no tab on the circlip either, but I am sure that the circlip I removed was O.E.M. {Looks just like your pic, with the exception of not bieng broken}
Kerry
 
Tom:
Update:
On second look, there actually IS a washer But it doesn`t go under the circlip. Instead it was located under the actuator arm {on top of the gear}. remove the circlip, remove the brass contact arm, remove the actuator arm. Place the washer on the shaft then replace all components in the reverse order. NEVER FEAR I managed to recover the original package and have repackaged everything and I will send in the morning post.
Kerry
P.S.
I forgot to mention, placement of the circlip is crutial in order to obtain a snug fit {No slop in these parts}. On the brass contact arm you will observe two tiny tabs protruding upwards slide the circlip over these tabs so that the rounded portion of the clip is contacting the tabs. NOT from either side like you might be tempted to do. If need be I will send a pic of the placement if it isn`t clear to you, let me know.
 
Thank you Kerry!

Sure - please send a pic of the clip placement. I need all the help I can get!

Tom
 
Tom:
Here are the pics of the circlip orientation as promised for the bennefit of you and others
Img_0003.jpg


Pic #2
Img_0001.jpg
 
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