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Wiper Motor Tutorial on removing, diss-assembling, cleaning
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rlutterb
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 29, 2012 2:05 pm    Post subject: Wiper Motor Tutorial on removing, diss-assembling, cleaning Reply with quote

Took my slow running but otherwise functioning wipor motor out to clean it up, thought I'd put it in pictures for others to use. I'll tell you up front I don't know all the names of the parts, but I got it cleaned, re-lubed, and running again, so I didn't screw it up too bad!

First, remover the fresh air box cover. I have a 73sb so it's a metal box with a metal cover screwed on. Even after you have the screws out, the cover has to be carefully yet forcefully pulled off due to the adheasive sealant. Here is mine all cleaned out, but it will likely be full of crap.
Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


Next, remove the main nut that holds the motor to the wiper mechanism, and remove the nut below the motor. Note that the bottom nut has a ground wire runto it, but there is a rubger washer that keeps the bracket and ground wire from touching the brace. The motor self grounds, so you want to ensure that rubber washer stays intact and in place. Use a big screwdriver to seperate the thread coming out of the motor from the wiper assembly. It'll probably be tight, so pry hard without bending the wiper assembly
Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


Here is the wiper motor removed. This is my AFTER pic when I painted it up. To get it off you have to cut the five wires. I have not yet re-installed my as I am working on fresh air box rust issues still, but plan on using a electical connection block to re-connect the wires
Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


Take the four screws off of the gear box cover. In this pic the cover is off and you can see the red gasket and the main gear that is white plastic as well as the worm gear that is metal that comes up out of the motor
Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


Be careful with the wires, they are old and the insulation will come off if you twist them too much
Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


First we want to remove the plastic gear. I don't know if it makes a difference or not, but I noted the exact position of the gear teeth so that I could put it back exactly as it came out. Helps to back out the worm gear play screw so that everything loosens up a bit. Keep track of the stacking order of the washers
Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


To get the housing off of the motor, remover the two screws, #8 in this diagram. Note exactly the position of the housing to the gear box so you can put it in the exact same position when you re-assemble
Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.

The screws grab a nut that free floats
in the motor case, so be careful as they will fall out and you will loose them.
Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


With the plastic gear out, pull the black motor housing away from the gear box, and it should look like this. clean all the grease off of it.
Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


What you see inside the black housing is called the armerature from what I understand. It's only held in there at this point by magnetic pull. Grab the worm gear and pull hard out, you won't break anything.
The bottom will look like this and should have a white plastic 'thurst cone' in the end . This I think is essentially a bearing. It's part number FIVE in the diagram above
Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


On mine, these three contacts where full of grease. Clean it off, and lightly sand the contact ends so they ride well and make a good contact to the metal part on the white plastic gear.
Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


Clean all the grease off of the work gear and clean all the old grease from the inside of the gear box, off the plastic gear. Remove the worm gear play screw all the way from the gearbox housing and grease it up a bit so it will not lock up.

While you have it all apart, you might as well sand and paint the housing
Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


Next you want to clean the split ring commutator. Its the brass thing that the three brushes ride on. Put it in a drill and take a high grit piece of sandpaper and clean 'er up. I also lighly sanded and cleaned the larger shiney metal part that rides by the magnets. When finished i use compressed air to blow the entire armerature clean.
Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


Time to re-assemble. Take the armerature and push it back into the gear houseing. Make sure you have the thrust cone in the right spot, with a tad of grease. I actually used wheel bearing grease on mine.
When the commutator hits the spring loading brushes (actually they are magnets, don't know why they are called brushes), it wont go in all the way. Gently put the commuatator on the brushes, apply lightpressure, then use a small screw driver to wiggle each brush back out of the way, till finally the commutator will click down and the brushes will ride on the side of the commutator. This was a pain in the ass.
Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


Now the worm gear is in place. Pack it with grease, then go ahead and push the white plastic gear into place. I put it back in the exact position it came out, ie I kept track of where the white gear teeth where aligned and put it back that way.


Grease the shaft on the white gear an put it back in place.
Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


Now it's time to put the black motor housing back on. Make sure the white plasticthrust cone is in place. I waited till last to do this so that I could get that damn commutator between the brushes.
Firmly grasp the housing, and with the other hand use your thumb to hold the worm gear in place. push the housing back on in the exact position in which you removed it so that the screws line up with the slots where the nuts will go in. Hold that damn worm gear in place because if you don't the magnets will pull the armiture out and your have to screw around with getting the brushes around the commutator again,which is a PITA.
As the housing slides on, you have to get the end with the thrust cone properly seated in the bottom of the housing. Wiggle it, it will eventually click in and the housing will be seated properly on the gear box. Holding the entire unit vertical, with the housing UP and the gearbox DOWN, slide the square nut into the slot, then pusht the screw up in there and get the thread started. Do them both, then tighten them.

Put the newly cleand and lubed gear box back together now. Insert the worm gear screw and lighly tigten it, then back it off a quarter turn.

Time to test it to see if you screwed it up.
Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.

Black to ground, hot to either black/Yellow or solid black, those should verify the slow and high speed for the motor. Here is the wiring diagram.
Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.

As the notor is running, tighter the worm gear screw till you hear it start to drag the motor, then back it off a bit.

Does it work? Mine did.
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Last edited by rlutterb on Sun Jan 29, 2012 2:19 pm; edited 1 time in total
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gore666
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 29, 2012 2:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thank you very helpful I think I'm doing this tomarrow
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Boble
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 29, 2012 2:50 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Great tutorial. Should be a sticky!

Thanks!
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mnussbau
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 29, 2012 6:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks for the tutorial. I'm going to have to try this, the motor in my vert is pretty slow.
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Snollygoster1
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 30, 2012 12:24 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Did the clean-up make it run any faster ?

Cheers
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rlutterb
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 30, 2012 5:51 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I have not re-installed it yet, waiting until I resolve the fresh air box rust issues I have. Hopefully this week.
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65'1300Deluxe
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 30, 2012 12:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The brushes and magnets are 2 separate things. The brushes riding the rotating commutator are made of carbon and deliver the current from the battery through the commutator to the wire windings that make up the armature. Current flowing through the windings interacts with the magnetic fields supplied by the magnets that go around the bulk of the armature. Like inside your generator, these magnets will be attached to the inside of the housing. It is possible that exposed contact to magnetic or electromagnetic fields caused the brushes to have a little magnetism to them. Just my rant of the day. Rolling Eyes
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rlutterb
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 30, 2012 1:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

65'1300Deluxe wrote:
The brushes and magnets are 2 separate things. The brushes riding the rotating commutator are made of carbon and deliver the current from the battery through the commutator to the wire windings that make up the armature. Current flowing through the windings interacts with the magnetic fields supplied by the magnets that go around the bulk of the armature. Like inside your generator, these magnets will be attached to the inside of the housing. It is possible that exposed contact to magnetic or electromagnetic fields caused the brushes to have a little magnetism to them. Just my rant of the day. Rolling Eyes


Thats a good explaination. So the larger 'chome things' as I called them are the magnets, and they rotate withing the housing passed the magents attached to the sides of the housing?
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65'1300Deluxe
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 30, 2012 5:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The only magnets in there are the greyish-black half-circle things inside the housing. The chrome or silver part of the armature (the middle) is where the electromagnetic field is generated, and that field is attracted to the fields coming off the big magnets inside the housing, pulling the thing around in a circle. The breaks in the commutator allow the polarity to change through the armature as it spins, so that the polarity of the field in the armature is different than that of the magnet it is close to, causing it to want to move toward it. The exact opposite of this occurs in a generator (or at least it does when it's hooked up right Rolling Eyes ), whereby the magnets induce an electric current in the armature, and that current is sent in and out through the commutator and it's brushes to your battery and car electrical system.

Edit: yes, technically the chrome thing in the middle IS a magnet (electromagnet), but only when the power is turned on.
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PostPosted: Sun Feb 05, 2012 6:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Got the motor reinstalled today......much faster!
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65'1300Deluxe
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PostPosted: Sun Feb 05, 2012 6:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I haven't experienced this, but do the wipers run faster with the engine above idle?
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PostPosted: Sun Feb 05, 2012 6:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I would guess if you had voltage issues due to a failing alt or en, but mine does not have this issue
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PostPosted: Fri Sep 21, 2012 11:57 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Did the one on my 73 super today. Couple things:
1. You don't have to cut any wires, just unplug it from under the steering column.

2. Be sure to mark the position of the gear teeth to the housing with a marker. I used a pencil and it wore off. So I just put it in whichever way, now my wipers stop in the middle of the window. Now its a guess and check with me.. Good thing I found this forum as rlutterb has a nice photo I can use to guesstamate where the gear lines up.
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PostPosted: Fri Sep 21, 2012 2:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Never thought to unplug it from the steering column! Woulda saved some work
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PostPosted: Fri Sep 21, 2012 4:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Ae0187 wrote:
Be sure to mark the position of the gear teeth to the housing with a marker. I used a pencil and it wore off. So I just put it in whichever way, now my wipers stop in the middle of the window. Now its a guess and check with me.


It's really easy to correct.
run the wipers and turn them off so you know the motor is stopped in the park position.

pull the crank arm off the motor spindle and put the wipers back down in the parked position then reattach the crank arm to the motor.


With the wiring it's a pain in the arse but yes it's a good idea to unplug the wipers from the steering column (also one wire to the fuse box too) rather than cutting the wires.
The fresh air box is subject to a lot of moisture unless your bug is a fair weather car so any extra joints are potential weak links, especially if you use those crappy Kmart crimp joiners or terminal strips.
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PostPosted: Fri Sep 21, 2012 6:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=396934
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PostPosted: Sat Sep 22, 2012 11:07 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Joel wrote:
Ae0187 wrote:
Be sure to mark the position of the gear teeth to the housing with a marker. I used a pencil and it wore off. So I just put it in whichever way, now my wipers stop in the middle of the window. Now its a guess and check with me.


It's really easy to correct.
run the wipers and turn them off so you know the motor is stopped in the park position.

pull the crank arm off the motor spindle and put the wipers back down in the parked position then reattach the crank arm to the motor.


With the wiring it's a pain in the arse but yes it's a good idea to unplug the wipers from the steering column (also one wire to the fuse box too) rather than cutting the wires.
The fresh air box is subject to a lot of moisture unless your bug is a fair weather car so any extra joints are potential weak links, especially if you use those crappy Kmart crimp joiners or terminal strips.


Ha good idea, never crossed my mind. I was about to pull the motor out and rotate the gear.... Something so easy, everyone has a dull moment every now and than lol
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PostPosted: Sat May 11, 2013 9:59 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Inspired by your tutorial to dissemble my slow running wiper motor. all nuts and bolts removed and motor free, but cannot pry the motor out of the L-shaped bracket that connects to wiper mechanism. Is there something I can't see. Is it notched. Tried damnest to pry it out.
Thanks!
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rlutterb
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PostPosted: Sat May 11, 2013 5:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

It is a bitch. I dont remember it being notched or splined. Try puttung the three boltsback in that hold the motor in place. This should give you better leverage. Use your biggest flat screwdriver after you let some liquid wrench sit on it overnight. Dont pry it loose, instead put the screwdriver in there and twist it.
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PostPosted: Sun May 12, 2013 4:32 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks! And your photos for the tutorial are awesome, clear and sharp!
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