Wiper motor pulls a lot of voltage Please Help

Tribalwars

Tribalwars

Ron Smith
Can someone help me. I had a 55 amp alternator on my car. I put a Camaro alternator on my car it puts out 105 amp. It makes my lights brighter and my system run a lot better. but my wipers still have this problem. Please watch this video I made .
http://youtu.be/wSvhMeBLZ7w
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I tried a relay mod. but I am no good at wiring. I plugged it in and nothing happened.

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Weird, if they sweep fast. You did the relay and still see voltage drop? I'd guess the motor is tired and simply is drawing too many amps. I'd guess pull it and "clean it up" as much as you can, not that I know what that entails. You are still running the relays right? I'd leave those on even if it didn't help the voltage drop, it sure helps in other areas; switch load and wiper performance.
 
Check your grounds. There are several ground tree's in the car and the ground strap that goes from the transmission to the body. You might want to look into the brown wire mod also.

John
 
May not be the motor

It could be a rusty linkage or at the wiper Arm posts. I would pull the motor and linkage and see if there is a seized bushing. Also I have seen these motors half full of water as well.

TonyK.
Grimsby Ontario Canada.
 
wiper relay

I did this wire diagram first.

wire1.jpg



And thin I tried this one. Do you think 1980 x19 would be wire different because I plugged it in the wipers would not work at all.


wire2.jpg
 
wiper motor

I thought It would be the motor so I changed it off my parts car and it did the same thing. Could be both motors bad? they are old.
 
Good call on cleaning up the grounds, not sure where that circuit is grounded though.
Brown wire mod (BWM) is adding another line from the battery straight to the ignition harness or the fuse block or both. It's pretty easy and just give the electricity an easier path. Not my forte though I did it to my car early on, as I did the wiper relays, headlight relay, hot start relay and GM alt. conversion. Search should bring up a ton of stuff, maybe have to search the "old site"
Good wiki article on it.
BTW, I have NO electrical problems anymore......now mechanical.......that's another story.
 
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A few tips for ya Ron,

All on the cheap....

1. Replace the poor (stock) ground line from the battery to the chassis with a 4Ga ground line. (cost around $6 at most auto stores)
Include a good clean star washer underneath the screw that holds it to the chassis.
1a: Check underneath your dash, left side, there is a ground loom.
This is part of the ground to your wiper circuit. Be SURE that all connections AND the loom itself makes good chassis contact.
Doesn't hurt to loosen the nut that holds the ground loom "a little", twist the loom while it's somewhat snug in order to help the star washer (that sits behind it) "bite" into the metal a bit. Re-tighten afterward.

2. Run another 10Ga wire from the Pos. of your battery to your fuse block. This essentially doubles the current to your car.
You'll need about 3 feet of Brown (or Red) 10Ga wire and a large female Spade connector to do this.
If you have an 1984 or later car, the fuse block contact will be in the forward left hand side of your fuse box area. (big brown wires there.)
If you have a 1976 to 1983 car, you'll see a large white junction block inside your fuse box area. (again, to the left)
In all cases, the large female Spade connector will plug into one of these spots.
Cost is (again) around $10 (you probably have to buy a larger piece of 10Ga wire to get what you need) for this addition.
Fishing the wire from the battery through that damned rubber seal is the hardest part.

3. (Most involved) Make a relay box setup to aid your wiper motor. (You already have the instructions for that) But before you do,
Check the results of Mod 1 and 2. You might be satisfied with the result. But I see your wipers appear to have a heavy draw.

A note:
The headlights are the heaviest drain on the X1/9's wiring harness.
The windshield wipers are the second heaviest.
Some might argue their Stereo is the heaviest, and they might be right. :whistle::)

FYI - Your Wiper mod (insert) looks fantastic. Take another look how it's wired, or send it to me for a fix.
Be sure the relays have an adequate ground to the coils. (I don't see a separate ground in your assembly)

Let us know how you make out.
 
Also in addition to the wiring, dissembling the wiper mechanism and cleaning and lubricating everything is key to proper operation, especially after 25+ years. Youd be surprised how a little drag from old parts adds up and drags everything down. Wiper motor should be an easy task to disassemble too. Should be just like the headlight motors. THe motor im sure could use a cleaning, brushes are prolly fine, but cleaning the bushings on either end of the armature and re-oiling, then cleaning and repacking the gear end with grease will do wonders.
 
cleaned up

I got the motor cleaned up and it is working much better. The motor was very dry. I greased it all up. It runs so much smoother. Thanks so much for your help.:)
 
wiper mod

That was some VERY GOOD ADVICE! Thank you so much. I got some electrical cleaner and cleaned the electrical fuse panel and relays and now my voltage drop is not so bad now. I am still going to do the brown wire to the fuse block. I am still having problems with my relay mod. If I made another video Mr Brown would you look at it for me? I want to make sure I am pointing out the right spot for the brown wire mod. And I would show my relay mod to. To see if it would be a quick fix. If not I would love to send it to you. Sorry I am no good at wiring I just don't want to melt all my wiring. Thank you for being so patient with me.:help::)
 
Yes, bring it on

Tribalwars said:
If I made another video Mr Brown would you look at it for me? I want to make sure I am pointing out the right spot for the brown wire mod. And I would show my relay mod to. To see if it would be a quick fix. If not I would love to send it to you. Sorry I am no good at wiring I just don't want to melt all my wiring. Thank you for being so patient with me.:help::)
Click to expand...

Hardest part is getting the wire from the battery side into the fuse box area. The rest will be easy.
 
Cleaning the wiper 'mechanism'...

I am pretty sure I overheard one of the local club Spider owners talking about doing this a few months ago. I wasn't listening to the entire discussion, but I know he said there was a huge difference after cleaning everything, lubing it, and reassembling it... not sure if he had added relays or anything like that...
 
wiper mod

Finally got my wiper mod done. My wipers are AWESOME! Very fast with NO voltage drop. I got alt with 105 amp done. Got wiper mod done. Now on to the brown wire mod and the headlights mod. I want to change all my bulbs to LEDs do anyone know what should I get?:jedi::king: Thanks Mr brown for all your help. I will be making that video on the brown wire tomorrow. And to everyone thanks for your comments. :thumbsup:
 
Question for Bob Brown...

Hello Bob,

I hope you're well. Just about to do some electrical work on my 87 X1/9.

Job number 1 is the Brown Wire Mod. In the fuse box on the left hand side, is there already a spare terminal for the large female spade terminal/new wire to fix onto?

I'm off out now to buy some 10 gauge cable and a few other bits.

Best wishes,

Mickey
 
Tribalwars said:
I want to change all my bulbs to LEDs do anyone know what should I get?
Click to expand...

Here's Bob's work on it, bit old but info still good. I've done the 4 main lights and it makes a huge difference. You do have to remove the plastic "dome" diffusers to fit the LEDs but that's not a huge deal. I tried some shorter LEDs but the hit in brightness made me go back to the big ones. I didn't bother with the little idiot lights but I did make a few LED harness to replace the fiber optic lines which also made an incredible difference.
 
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