Slow Wipers

[SilverBullet]

1963 Convertible

First, thank you to everyone that has helped so far. I just got done replacing the flasher and all interior lights, battery cables, installed LED lights in the back, Halogen in the front and put the correct Amber bulbs in front signal lights. I can now see people and people can see us .

Now, I need to see why my wipers are slow. And I mean SNAIL slow. I've read that the hydraulics are connected somehow to the power steering. I have no issues or leaks with power steering.
Where should I start looking for the issue? I am guessing (and hoping) that all I need to do is replace the motors.

Anything else I should look for?

Also -- who carries the motors? I've search the normal places, Macs, Pats, Larry's, but unable to locate the ones for 1963.

[Karl]

G'day.
Maybe it isn't the wiper motor.
The switch on the dash has a small rack and pinion as the internals. As you rotate the knob right to left the rack pushes and pulls on a bouden cable. The other end of the cable then operates the switch on the wiper motor.

I think from memory you get to the wiper motor by removing the grill in front of the windscreen. There is also a small inspection hole in the firewall, can't remember what the hole is for, maybe to get to the other end of the Bouden cable.

I would disconnect the cable at the wiper motor end and move the lever - switch by hand and see what happens.
Karl.

[SilverBullet]

Interesting thought. I will give this a try. Wipers are not used much here in Phoenix, Az as we never get rain.

Hoping this works as I am having a very difficult time finding these motors in the first place.

Thanks Karl! I appreciate your time and expertise.

G'day.
Maybe it isn't the wiper motor.
The switch on the dash has a small rack and pinion as the internals. As you rotate the knob right to left the rack pushes and pulls on a bouden cable. The other end of the cable then operates the switch on the wiper motor.

I think from memory you get to the wiper motor by removing the grill in front of the windscreen. There is also a small inspection hole in the firewall, can't remember what the hole is for, maybe to get to the other end of the Bouden cable.

I would disconnect the cable at the wiper motor end and move the lever - switch by hand and see what happens.
Karl.

[MN63Tbird]

I don't think you are going to find any replacement motors easily anywhere. I have never seen them reproduced since I believe this pump is unique to a 63. If yours is bad then the choice is to have it rebuilt. Since the wipers are moving at least your pump is currently somewhat functional. One other source of failure that is a lot cheaper to fix is the cable attachment to the pump under the grill may have become loose. If that is loose then you have limited adjustment of the pump flow rate and consequently speed of the wipers.Since your wipes do move that may be the issue. I think there may be a small inspection port to tighten it but if the cable has come loose there is no way to move the cable to fix it unless you remove the grill as Karl said. To do that is a bit of a pain. If you want to try this fix set aside a nice cool afternoon to do so.

The tools you will need are a regular screw driver, Philips head screw driver a box wrench set. As you look at the job you will immediately see that you need to remove the windshield wipers. They are a little tricky but as you play with them I think there is a retaining clip that can be removed and then you can get them to pull up and out. If you have an antenna hooked up you may need to disconnect the antenna cable to allow slack to remove the grill. The easiest way to do that is remove the grill on the radio and then the speaker. You should have access to the back of the radio. You can pull out the antenna cable from the back of the radio. I don't think there was any way to remove the cable at the antenna connection under the antenna so you needed to go back to the source at the radio.

With the wipers off and antenna disconnected there are a dozen Philips screws you can see that attach the grill to the body. Remove all of those. Gently remove the grill so you don't scratch the car. I attached a picture of the motor mounted with the grill removed. Unfortunately the cable connection is under the lip . You need to remove the pump to get to it.To do that you remove the brackets on the pump, the windshield wiper arms as they connect to the pump and the pipe connection to the power steering fluid. Be sure to put something under the connection to collect the fluid as it drips. The pump then can be pulled back and you can check the screw connection that holds the cable to the pump. You can carefully twist the wiper knob to see what kind of travel you have on the cable. Also check the wiper arm travel and lube pins to ensure they are not adding any extra friction. You can adjust the cable travel at the pump and then test it out by reinstalling the pump ,hooking up the power steering lines and then hooking up i the wiper arms. If it sill does not work to your satisfaction then you are well on your way to being able to remove the pump and sending it out for a rebuild. Good Luck

MN63

[Karl]

G'day.
I would only undo the hydraulic lines at the last resort. Getting them back together can be a pain. Very easy to start them cross threaded and there goes your fittings.

Have a look on page 31, group 10 in the 63 workshop manual - You do have a workshop manual don't you? In that it tells you how to adjust the cable using the small inspection cover on the firewall.

If you do undo the hydraulic lines, when you go to reconnect them have the motor unbolted in the car. This will make it easier to reconnect the lines and lesson the chance of cross threading them.
When I did mine I even loosened the other end just so I have more movement on the pipes.

As per MN63Tbird photo's, the screw that you see to undo the cable is very small, one blink and it disappears for ever
Karl.

P.S.
MN63Tbird, did you replace your wiper cable? On the end there is supposed to be a very small washer and the cable should be crimped over to hold the washer on.

[RAVEN]

This post is a repeat of another of same topic back 5 pages and noted.
The Trico hydraulic motor is a simple assembly with a control spool valve and an oscillating cycle actuator. Not overly difficult to open with the correct tool.
I tore one apart several years back and resealed the spool valve o rings. The unit I opened had a small piece of shrapnel from a failed hydraulic supply hose that damaged the rings causing a non stopping motor.
To my understanding the same Trico motor was used thru to 66, with some minor plumbing differences so some should be available at suppliers like Bird Nest or Pat Wilson's.
I would check the cable and knob first as Karl suggested, avoiding the full teardown.

[MN63Tbird]

The Shop manual on the 1963 addition section does show you can adjust the screw from the inspection port. If your manual is like mine the photo is not very clear. Karl I dont remember the washer on the end. It was 6 yrs ago. The dirty wiper motor photo is the original as I removed it from the car. The wiper switch had half the housing gone and was not repairable. At the time I had a parts car that I took out the wiper motor switch, cable ,and pump and installed it on my car. I had the motor from that parts car rebuilt at Larrys which I believe does not do rebuilds any more. The rebuilt parts car one is the one I installed but I dont have a picture of the final cable hookup on it. Silverbullet If you can get an adjustment from that port in the firewall it is far more recommended then removing the pump.

As regarding the previous post 5 pages ago I do remember that but I also know if you do a search and do not have the exact wording it may not pickup all the posts that are related to the topic.

Raven regarding the pump it is a one off for 63. The inlet and outlet are 90 degrees to each other. That makes unattaching the the line that is under the grill a pain as Karl said. You can only reach the top half of the nut. The 64 -66 also are Trico units but have the lines parallel and extend into the engine compartment to remove. Much easier to work with. To use one of those you would need to drill into the firewall a new supply hole and repipe one your lines to the power steering system . Since Silverbullets pump is still functioning I would highly recommend working with that if you need the pump fixed. If the main culprit for leaking is old O rings then that I would agree that should be a relatively easy repair once you got the pump apart. I think I still may have my original pump stored somewhere. I may try to pull that apart this winter and try to rebuild it. Finding a new or used one on the market is difficult. I think Ebay may be one of the few choices now. I have not seen one at any of the Tbird vendors for any 63-66 units.

As I mentioned before the linkages from the pump to the wiper arms could also be a problem. After years of crud landing around them a little lubrication can make the whole system work better. That too may be a simple fix.

MN63

[RAVEN]

My thoughts were directed on first checking, as Karl said the cable assembly and associated fitment. Next was verifying that Hyd Motor was OK. Then the possibility of the actual unit being checked/ exchanged.
In regard to swapping the Hyd Motor that was a last chance situation, but perhaps using the major parts/castings redo/rebuild the existing Hyd wiper motor.
Everyone has knowledge/abilities to their personal level, or need to source help. The info provided is to help/assist all members.
Your comments are very valid, and I support.
Glad we all can help, that is the ultimate goal.

[Karl]

G'day MN63Tbird.
Here is a photo of the cable end that attaches to the wiper motor.
I tried to source some replacement cable some time ago but I was unable to find some that was the same dia. It seems it is a unique small dia.
The inner cable diameter is 0.041" and the washer thickness is 0.045". The washer dia is 0.163"
The washer just slides along the wire.
Even though the inner wire is high tensile you are still able to squash the end flat using a hammer and flat punch on a block of steel.

Karl.

[SilverBullet]

Thanks guys -- I am going to start on this project next weekend. You all have given me a lot of information to work off of and I sincerely appreciate it!

[RAVEN]

Here to help and try to keep the Bird alive.

[SilverBullet]

I removed the cowel and got into it today. Manual movement was very easy after spraying some WD-40 on it. Everything worked smoothly after that (manually). However, I noticed that the switch itself was hard to adjust, so I am going to look at that next.

Stupid question of the day: How do you activate the spray on the wipers? I am able to turn the know right and left (albeit difficult) , but how is the spray activated?

[Karl]

G'day.
By pulling the knob out. With age the die cast that the switch is made from fails and sometimes the electrical switch on the back of the wiper switch falls off.
This is how I repaired mine by fixing a new switch onto the old body. Be careful not to squash the die cast.
https://www.vintagethunderbirdclub.net/ ... 059#p61059

Also you are not able to remove the inner and outer cable from the switch. They are crimped into the dicast body.
If the electrical switch has fallen off the back of the wiper switch you will be able to get some WD 40 into the rack and pinion inside the switch.
Karl.