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Wedge TR7: Wiper & blower won't work!

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stubear

Freshman Member
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Hey Guys,

I've got a '77 TR7 (the one with the 4 fuse box). When I bought the car, everything worked. However, a week later, the blower motor and wipers both died. I checked the ground for both the motor & washer pump. Their grounds check out fine. It's almost like nothing has any juice. All the fuses seem to be fine. Any ideas?

Thanks!
Stuart Bear
 
You're going to have to be a tad more accurate when you say "It's almost like nothing has any juice".

Let's start with what exactly is working and go from there.

Sounds like a fuse. Maybe a previous owner fitted an inline fuse on those items.

Are the switches to those items functional (check that they open and close circuit by testing for 0/1 resistance on a multimeter.?

Have you tried hot wiring each device individually with a known hot lead from another supply just to check the devices are functional and properly grounded?

Get yourself a wiring diagram and see if the two items are in any way related to each other by fuse etc.

Hope I've been of some help.
 
Dear Glen,

Thanks so much for you help. I'm pretty new to auto electronics. I've found two inline fuse holders. One fuse looked about a hundred years old, so I replaced it.

I have a wiring diagram for the car. (There seems to be about 4 different diagrams for the whole TR7 series!)

I'll try your suggestion - hot wire the blower motor directly. That will give me some idea if it is indeed functioning.

Thanks!

Stuart
 
Hi Stuart--

The same thing happened with me (not on the wipers, but just about everything else) when I first got my TR7, and just about every time it was a bad switch (or gauge). Cleaning the contacts sometimes helped, but not always.

--Saul
 
Hooray! I found the problem!! I also solved about half-dozen electrical gremlins at the same time.

I checked back at the fuse box-I couldn't believe that two accessories failed on their own. All the fuses looked good. However, after checking them for continuity, the last one was faulty. The wire wasn't burnt at all. I guess internally, it just wasn't connected. Kinda like a light bulb w/ a broken filament.

Thanks for all your kind help,
Stuart Bear
Montgomery, AL
 
congrats on the find. Those old fuses tend to fracture at the base over time and you can't see the break...I know from experience...
 
Don't assume new fuses are good either. I had a fuse blow on my GT6. Popped in a brand new one - nothing! Checked continuity on the new fuse, and it was faulty. Stuck in another fuse and problem solved. Moral - when troubleshooting, assume nothing.
 
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