Bench testing 63 wiper motor..need adult supervision please.

[Tracy C.]

I am attempting to bench test my wiper motor and need verification that I am performing the procedure correctly.

Here is the procedure as written in the 63 shop manual.





This is what I'm doing...red and black leads are connected to a fully charged 12V marine battery. I touch the ground lead to the #1 terminal and alI I get is faint click from the motor.

IMG_1176_zpsspp7oezo.jpg

If this is correct I may need to open up the motor case and clean up the brushes and armature. From reading the shop manual this will be much more difficult than the headlight motors I just restored. An archive post from Gene Manno suggested cleaning up the thermo breaker too.

Any and all advice appreciated. I am no "Sparky"

tc

[Michael G.]

Re: Bench testing 63 wiper motor..need adult supervision please.

Maybe this will help you Tracy. Believe these to be the directions (furnished byTim Ehlers) I've used to test my motors. It's a little jumbled up as I did the old 'copy and paste'.

The test procedure detailed below is specifically written for 1966 Corvette windshield wiper motor and washer assemblies but is probably applicable to other midyear Corvettes as well. To begin, a fully charged 12V battery will be needed plus 4 jumper wires with small alligator clips on each end (or alligator clips on one end and a female terminal connector on the other).

To bench test the Wiper Motor:


Light Blue.......Brown........Yellow
Firewall Side of Connector

• Locate the 3-terminals that supply power to the wiper motor.

• With a jumper wire, connect 12v+ (hot, positive battery voltage) to the Brown (center) terminal.

• With another jumper wire, connect 12v- (ground, negative battery side) to the wiper motor case.

In this sequence:

• With a jumper wire, ground (connect 12v- to) the Yellow (firewall side) terminal. This is the wiper park position.

• With another jumper wire, ground (connect 12v- to) the Lt.Blue (engine side) terminal. The motor will run at LOW speed with BOTH Yellow and Lt.Blue grounded.

• Remove the ground (jumper wire) from the Yellow terminal. The motor will run at HIGH speed with ONLY Lt.Blue grounded.

• Reconnect the ground (jumper wire) to the Yellow terminal. The motor will again run at LOW speed.

• Remove the ground (jumper wire) from the Lt.Blue terminal. The motor will PARK with only Yellow grounded.

• Repeat as many times as you like.

• Ensure you DO NOT accidentally touch Brown (hot) with a jumper wire or you'll create a monster spark and possibly damage the windings.

[Tracy C.]

Re: Bench testing 63 wiper motor..need adult supervision please.

Thanks Mike, Seems to be the same. Power to the center terminal and ground the two outside terminals and it should run on Low. I can't seem to make that happen.

I will try again tomorrow using the steps in your method.

tc

[Tim E.]

Re: Bench testing 63 wiper motor..need adult supervision please.

Here's a clean version of the document if it helps. Tim

C2CorvetteWiperMotorBenchTest.pdf

[Edward B.]

Re: Bench testing 63 wiper motor..need adult supervision please.

I touch the ground lead to the #1 terminal and alI I get is faint click from the motor.

Make sure you have a good path to ground - just "touching" may not carry the current involved to move the motor.

[Tracy C.]

Re: Bench testing 63 wiper motor..need adult supervision please.

Thanks to all for the responses. I was able to solve my problem with the help of the "troubles and remedies" section found a few pages after the wiper motor section of my 63 shop manual. Among the causes for an inoperative motor was a "Wiper unit latching mechanism binding" I removed the cover and discovered that this was in fact my problem. I wiggled the latching lever back and forth several times and sprayed some electronics cleaner on the hinge point to free it up. It was gummed up and stuck pretty bad after 15 years of storage.

Here is a pic of the trouble shooting section.


IMG_1183.jpg

And here is a picture of the offending hinge point of the latching mechanism.

IMG_1184.jpg

It now works like a champ !!

tc