rebuilt the vac wiper motor on my 57 Fairlane, reinstalled, worked, now a short time later (just as I'm about to get the car inspected and registered), it seems like the motor is just not strong enough to operate the wipers.

I've greased the cable/pulley assemblies as much as possible; the assembly turns by hand ok,  but when I install the motor, it just barely will move, and then, not completly thru one cycle without some help...

have I lost some vac pressure somehow? how much should I need? the line comes off the intake and goes straight to the wiper motor or can be plumbed thru the fuel pump... either way gets the same weak result... HELP

please don't tell me to get an ele motor after I have taken the time to buff and hand-bend steel lines to plumb this thing!!

thanks,Mark

"God Bless Texas"location: Houston,TX

The only thing I can suggest is to "swell" the "paddle" inside the unit- they can dry out.



You can do this by pouring some brake fluid (not silicone) in a small glass jar. Stick the hose going into the wiper unit into the brake fluid and manually operate the windshield wipers through five or so up/down cycles. Let sit for twenty four hours. Hopefully the wipers will work. I know a couple of guys who have done this and it worked out great.



What the brake fluid does is swells the leather( I think) paddle in the unit which will seal it against the walls of the unit. Put some plastic on the floor mat directly under the wiper unit in case of any leakage. Another possibility is some white smoke out the tailpipe for a short while.



Some use other liquids for this - ATF, MMO. I think the brake fluid works best.



Let me know how this works out.

54 Victoria 312;  48 Ford Conv 302, 56 Bird 312
Forever Ford
Midland Park, NJ

good idea, but my "paddle" has rubber edges, not leather; rebuild calls for silicone grease in the "tank" in which the paddle rides back and forth; I've done this during the rebuild; the unit seals up nicely, works freely when actuated by hand and will run the wiper mech. without the blades in place, but when I put on the blades, it acts like it just doesn't have enough power to run them back and forth...

I wonder if I have enough vacuum to operate them.  I know from my childhood memories that vac wipers are not as consistent as electric, that they slow down when you step on the gas and are generally slow, but I can't seem to get mine to even work enough to pass inspection here in Texas.  Don't plan to get the car out in the rain, but I've got to have wipers when its inspected...

any more ideas fellas??

thanks,Mark

"God Bless Texas"location: Houston,TX

Install the tomato juice can with a check valve like power brake units have.  You can put it anywhere, but preferably close to your Trico unit.  It will sustain good vaccuum for a little while longer, through accelleration.  Hope this helps.

  - Dave

Royal Oak, Michigan (Four miles north of Detroit, and 12 miles NORTH of Windsor, Canada).  That's right, we're north of Canada.

Ford 292 Y-Block major overhaul by simplyconnected

sorry... "tomatoe juice can..."??

guess I'm not old enough for that term... please elaborate...

thanks,Mark

"God Bless Texas"location: Houston,TX

Check that you don't have a collapsed or obstructed vacuum line. Also, is your cam stock or near stock? Aggressive cams often have low vacuum. Is the fuel pump vacuum diaphragm working o.k.?

Paul

Vacuum can.

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)

Did you ever look under the hood and see a can, usually black, that looks EXACTLY like a big tin can?  It looks like a big V8 or tomato juice can so that's what we call it.

I guess you can say it's an old term.  We started using them with the onset of power brakes.  They accumulate vacuum so the brake booster still works for a few pumps, even if the engine is off.  They can do the same for your Trico motor.

Royal Oak, Michigan (Four miles north of Detroit, and 12 miles NORTH of Windsor, Canada).  That's right, we're north of Canada.

Ford 292 Y-Block major overhaul by simplyconnected

If you don't have one, you might try a dual-action fuel pump.

BrodieSavannah, GA

I thought brake boosters had their own vacuum reservoir and a check valve in the 3/8" vacuum hose that supplies it.  I also thought the tomato can was for the heat/air cond. system so that it wouldn't switch from cool to hot when you stepped on the gas.  Seems the tomato can only had a 1/4" feed hose, which isn't much to supply vacuum to the brake booster.  Guess I'd better check my manual and see if I'm thinking correctly.

John - "The Hoosier Hurricane"