Wiper problems

[dan2286]

I have been trying to get all of the electrical stuff connected in my car and noticed something weird with the wiper motor. I tried to make sure it worked and I heard the motor trying to work but nothing moved. I thought nothing of it and decided to figure it out another time. I just happened to be in the area of the motor and smelled something burning and felt some heat. I felt the wiper motor and it was very hot to the touch and luckily nothing was smoking yet.

What could have caused this? Is there any differences in the wiring between pulse and non-pulse wiring? I know the wiper motor and switch are for the pulse wipers. I think the wiring that goes from the bulk head connector to the motor is for pulse wipers, but not positive. All I know is that the connectors are the same. I have no idea what type of wipers the dash harness was wired for. All I know is that it was from a base model V6 car.

Also, could I have hooked up the linkage wrong and it won't let the motor return the wipers to the regular position?

Thanks for the help.

 

[megaladon6]

you could have jammed the wipers, i doubt the wiring is the problem.
i'd manually try to move the wipers up and if they move, then run the wiper motor.
if it still won't go you probably have a bad motor.

 

[Bonnewagon]

I would pull the wiper motor off the car and test to make sure everything is working right. That would also eliminate the wiper linkage from the equasion, or point to it. The pulse wipers need a pulse wiper motor since the delay circuit is on the motor housing. They also need the pulse switch in the car. I'm not sure if they would work if they were pulse/non pulse used together. Maybe they would, since the non pulse harness is four wires and the pulse is five wires, all the same except the fifth green one is for the delay.

 

[dan2286]

Can someone explain to me how the linkage should be connected? I believe there was two ways it could have been connected to the motor and I am not sure if I picked the right way. I know the motor and switch are both pulse because they came from my old Cutlass and they worked fine. Do both systems use the same connectors?

 

[Blake442]

Delay and non-delay wiper motors have different electrical connectors.
Unhook your linkage from the motor to see that it moves freely.

If you swap the connectors though, you can operate a non-delay motor with a delay switch, and a delay motor with a non-delay switch. The don't work properly, but they work.

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

Actually, I have to disagree, at least with my car. My car was originally a non delay car, but I swapped out the column and the motor, and it all works quite well together, no cutting or splicing required. However, it may be year dependent as I know of at least 3 wiper motor variants and 2 switch styles. The FSM delineates a specific set of test voltages from specific wires at specific settings. If I remember (or don't get lazy), I will post them up tomorrow. However, my manual set is for a 1985 so I do not know if it is relevant to your car or not. If it is an 86 as in your sig, I think it will be the same, but again: no guarantees. Also, I may be wrong but I think the only real difference between a delay and non delay motor should be the PC board under the black cover that is on the motor transmission. You may have the wrong year motor, but from what I have seen the bottom plug will be totally different and should not interchange between them. I have an 87 MC motor that would not work on my 85 at all. As for the year of the motor in it now, that is lost to history. It was the only one of the three or four motors I have that worked.

 

[dan2286]

I now have an '84 Cutlass. I gutted my '86 and am transferring all of the parts to the '84 except most of the wiring. The dash wiring is for an '84. The light harness which has the wiper wiring is from an '86. The wiper motor and switch are from my old '86. The only thing I do not know if it was wired for pulse wipers is the '84 dash harness. Would there be a certain amount of wires that connect to the column for the wipers?

 

[Bonnewagon]

This is giving me a headache imagining wiring diagrams in my head! I'm converting to pulse also. OK, my 83' has non pulse, and my ? year column has pulse. I looked up on RockAuto steering column switches and the pictures showed pulse with 5 wires and non pulse 4 wires that go to the steering column connector. The connector on my 83' had 5 spaces, and the 5th was a green wire- that is the pulse circuit. So the inside harness up to the firewall seems good for both. Then I went out to the garage and eyeballed two wiper motors, pulse and non pulse. Pulse had an extra wire spade connector on the motor. I then looked under my hood and my non pulse wiring had the third wire in the motor connector- and it was green. So I should be able to swap the pulse stuff in and all the wiring is there. Love GM. The linkage is held to the motor by a clamp with two 10mm nuts that allow for about 1/2 " adjustment. Check your motor ground-mine had a dedicated ground wire installed by prior owner for your reason.

 

[dan2286]

I finally had time to pull it out of the garage and look at it. The wipers were binding on something and the motor was trying to return them to the "park" position. I removed the linkage and tried the motor and it works fine now.