No high-speed wiper...Wiper motor connections?

[JLT]

This seems to be my day for posting anomalies. A search of the forum didn't provide an answer, so here goes:

My windshield wipers work on low speed, but not on high speed. I replaced the switch with another used one I had, but the problem remained. So I figure that it's got to be either in the motor itself or in the wiring.

So I look in the Bentley. it shows five wires going into it from the switch. #31 is the ground, which is obviously OK since otherwise the motor wouldn't work at all. The others are labeled 53a, 31b, 53, and 53b. I guess that one is for high speed, one for low speed, and the other two are for the "parking" mode for the wiper blades.

Is there a guide for which wire is for which function?

[kreemoweet]

Wiper motor&switch wiring diagrams at following link (along with mods by T. Dorr):
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewt ... 54#8956954

[JLT]

I'm assuming that this image is for the '71 bus:

[image]https://www.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/679693.jpg[/image]
That was a wiring for an intermittent switch modification, but shows what the connections are, anyway.

I found this on another forum

[image]https://proxy.imagearchive.com/7c0/7c01 ... fcb378.jpg[/image]

It seems to make the wiring a little clearer.

[JLT]

I finally got around to removing the instrument panel and the glove box (which, in my bus, actually has gloves in it) and trouble-shooting the problem. Surprise... it works now. so I figure that it had to be a bad connection. What makes this problem so weird is that my motor doesn't look anything like what the manuals say... it has this sort of square box attached to it from which the harness wires protrude. I showed some pictures of it to Justin at Kombi Haus, and he said that he hadn't seen anything like that before. He guesses it might have been some sort of aftermarket motor, perhaps for another car altogether. Anyhow, everything seems to be working now.

[JLT]

Update. I replaced all the stuff I had to take out to get to the motor... and now the high speed doesn't work again. My friend Justin said that it was probably a bad ground, but if it was that, I would think that the low speed wouldn't work, either. I guess I could go back in there and find out which wire the ground was, and ground it directly to the chassis. But should I be looking for another cause?

BTW, I don't seem to have the standard motor for the bus, so the wiring diagram described earlier probably won't be much help in searching for the ground wire. I do have another used motor on hand that actually looks like the one in the Bentley, and if I go through the trouble of dismantling the dash stuff again, I might as well swap it out if there's no other clear alternative.

[Amskeptic]

Update. I replaced all the stuff I had to take out to get to the motor... and now the high speed doesn't work again. My friend Justin said that it was probably a bad ground, but if it was that, I would think that the low speed wouldn't work, either. I guess I could go back in there and find out which wire the ground was, and ground it directly to the chassis. But should I be looking for another cause?

BTW, I don't seem to have the standard motor for the bus, so the wiring diagram described earlier probably won't be much help in searching for the ground wire. I do have another used motor on hand that actually looks like the one in the Bentley, and if I go through the trouble of dismantling the dash stuff again, I might as well swap it out if there's no other clear alternative.

Get forensic here. It worked until you re-assembled. Justin threw that suggestion out as a guess. Get 30 bridged to 53b without taking apart other wires. If it energizes, switch is where to start looking.
Happy New Year.
Colin

[JLT]

Well, I've already swapped out the switch for one I knew was good back in the first round of trouble-shooting, and both switches resulted in no high speed. And the same switch that gave me the high speed when everything was disassembled is the one that is not giving it to me now.

But mostly it's this presumably aftermarket wiper motor that I'm beginning to suspect.

[Amskeptic]

Well, I've already swapped out the switch for one I knew was good back in the first round of trouble-shooting, and both switches resulted in no high speed. And the same switch that gave me the high speed when everything was disassembled is the one that is not giving it to me now.

But mostly it's this presumably aftermarket wiper motor that I'm beginning to suspect.

I heard <gossip ON> that replacement wiper motors have recently been only single-speed <gossip /OFF>

[JLT]

I heard <gossip ON> that replacement wiper motors have recently been only single-speed <gossip /OFF>

Well, the existing motor had two speed right up until last fall. So I'm pretty sure at this point that it's a wiring/ground problem. I think that if I have to take the radio and glove compartment out to get to that, I might as well replace the motor with a used one that at least is stock and works on both speeds (tested on the bench).

[JLT]

And guess what.. the high speed motor function has returned, without me doing anything. It's one of those ghost things that I've had with every bus I've ever owned. So I'm calling it good until it fails again, in which case I'll give it another grounding point. If that doesn't work, I'll take the motor out and replace it with the other one.