74 Super Wiper Motor/Pivot Cleanup/Rebuid w/Pics

[vamram]

Hello Samba,

I'm in the process of getting my "new" '74 Super road-ready. Part of that is cleaning up and lubricating the wiper arm assembly. I can't figure out a good way to undo the nut at the base of this pivot. It's 17mm but my 17" wrenches are too fat and can't get beyond the lip of the bracket. Any suggestions?

Thanks,

Victor
_________________
Eventually, "we are what we pretend to be.’”
Give peace a chance - Stop Russian-Soviet Aggression!!

'74 Super 9/16 - present, in refurb process.
'73 Super - 6/18 - Present - Daily Driver!
'75 Super Le Grande...waiting it's turn in line behind '74.
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Save the Supers!!

[60ragtop]

pull the c clip off the other end and the pivot will slip out. why do you want to mess with that nut?
_________________
Rick
Certified Mechanic by the State of Michigan in 1977
ASA certified in 1987
Certified Hunter Wheel Alignment Master Technician 1986

[vamram]

[60ragtop]

yes, there should be a clip there to remove and let the shaft slide out.
like this pic borroewed from the gallery. Not a bug shaft but same clip

_________________
Rick
Certified Mechanic by the State of Michigan in 1977
ASA certified in 1987
Certified Hunter Wheel Alignment Master Technician 1986

[vamram]

Thanks, I'll look for that this evening.
_________________
Eventually, "we are what we pretend to be.’”
Give peace a chance - Stop Russian-Soviet Aggression!!

'74 Super 9/16 - present, in refurb process.
'73 Super - 6/18 - Present - Daily Driver!
'75 Super Le Grande...waiting it's turn in line behind '74.
Click to view image
Save the Supers!!

[vamram]

Rick, that was right on the money, thanks for posting the pic.

What grease do folks recommend for re-assembling it? I have a sprayable white lithium - would that be good? Ball bearing grease seems to heavy for this.

Thanks,

Victor
_________________
Eventually, "we are what we pretend to be.’”
Give peace a chance - Stop Russian-Soviet Aggression!!

'74 Super 9/16 - present, in refurb process.
'73 Super - 6/18 - Present - Daily Driver!
'75 Super Le Grande...waiting it's turn in line behind '74.
Click to view image
Save the Supers!!

[johneliot]

White lithium grease tends to harden over time. I have a tube of Tri-Flow silicone grease that I use. Tens years and the wipers still move smooth.
_________________
John

There is no distinctly American criminal class - except Congress.
Mark Twain

69 bug - "The Grey Ghost"

[vamram]

[johneliot]

I think you'd be better off if you used the tube grease instead of the spray. The tube tri-flow is stickier and will last much longer. I would use it inside the motor as well. Here's what I'm talking about:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Synthetic-Grease-3oz-Clr-P...2226125500

That tube will last for years!
_________________
John

There is no distinctly American criminal class - except Congress.
Mark Twain

69 bug - "The Grey Ghost"

[vamram]

I ordered the Tri tube grease and began taking the motor apart tonight.

I can't get the armature out, but it looks really clean.

I have to admit as well that I regret taking it apart. I should've just cleaned up the arm assembly and hoped for the best, and then saved $$ to buy one off the wiper guy. I don't think I'll be able to get this back together. Am I supposed to take the gear section apart as well? That's REALLY nerve wracking.
_________________
Eventually, "we are what we pretend to be.’”
Give peace a chance - Stop Russian-Soviet Aggression!!

'74 Super 9/16 - present, in refurb process.
'73 Super - 6/18 - Present - Daily Driver!
'75 Super Le Grande...waiting it's turn in line behind '74.
Click to view image
Save the Supers!!

[Tim Donahoe]

The armature should pull right out. There is a heavy-duty magnet in the can, but it seems like I had no trouble pulling the armature out of it. If you do get it out, don't lose the little white cone thing on the end that rubs on the interior of the bottom of the can. Although, your cone may be an integral part of the armature shaft, so don't worry if you don't find it. Some of those are permanently attached to the shaft.

Your brushes look like they have plenty of meat left on them. When I put the thing back together, the magnets in the can made it very difficult; but I tied a thread to the brushes and had my wife pull back one of the threads while I held the other two and installed the knurled end of the armature home.

The upper part (toothed drive gear) doesn't need anything other than some dielectric grease where the fingers contact the ringed metal counterparts. I did grease (using Valvoline red bearing grease) the area where the drive gear spindle spins through the drive housing.

I also used the same red grease on all shafts and pivots.

Once you get that armature back through the brushes, the rest is easy.

Tim
_________________
Let's do the Time Warp again!

Richard O'Brien

[vamram]

What did u do about the threads? R they part of your wiper motor's guts now? Speaking of guts, did u clean the gears before relubing them? And didn't take.apart the section with the plastic gears where the wiring enters?
_________________
Eventually, "we are what we pretend to be.’”
Give peace a chance - Stop Russian-Soviet Aggression!!

'74 Super 9/16 - present, in refurb process.
'73 Super - 6/18 - Present - Daily Driver!
'75 Super Le Grande...waiting it's turn in line behind '74.
Click to view image
Save the Supers!!

[Tim Donahoe]

P.S.

I tied the threads to hold the brushes back, where the braided copper brush wires attach to the brushes.

Also, when opening the upper drive housing, be sure not to break off any of the soldered wire attachment points. But if you do, just resolder.

Two main issues: the first, be sure your drive crank is positioned about 90 degrees when looking at the end of the drive shaft--and only do this when you have hooked up the motor to power and run it for about 15 seconds and let the shaft park in its off position. You can do this by simply not hooking up the drive crank when first operating the assembly. The second, be sure you reinstall that rubber grommet where the wiper assembly attaches to the air box. It's got something to do with not grounding at that point.

By the way, when I first stated up my wipers, I had attached the wiper arms in what I thought was the parked position. Big mistake. My drive crank was not in the correct position, and the wiper arms cut into my cowl. So, I repositioned the drive crank and, instead of reattaching the wiper arms to the spindles, I used some chewing gum to hold tooth picks on the ends of the spindles. In effect, these toothpicks were like temporary miniature wiper arms; but, they wouldn't scrape my cowl paint if they were improperly positioned.

Tim
_________________
Let's do the Time Warp again!

Richard O'Brien

[Tim Donahoe]

Victor, I just cut and removed the threads. And I most certainly opened and used dielectric grease on metal rings of the drive gear.

I removed the drive gear because I wanted to clean and regrease the hole in the drive housing where the drive-gear spindle passes through.

I really needed my wife to help with one (maybe two) of the brushes, because when I kept trying to shove the armature shaft through the brushes, the damn magnets in the can (armature housing) kept messing with my progress.

It's not a lot of fun, but I know you can do it. When done, you won't believe the speed (both speeds) your wipers will work.

Tim
_________________
Let's do the Time Warp again!

Richard O'Brien

[vamram]

Tim, there's no way I can see to remove the armature from the casing on this thing. I would have to knock out the two tabs that the 2 phillps head screws go to hold the assembly together. You can see them in one of the picture above.
_________________
Eventually, "we are what we pretend to be.’”
Give peace a chance - Stop Russian-Soviet Aggression!!

'74 Super 9/16 - present, in refurb process.
'73 Super - 6/18 - Present - Daily Driver!
'75 Super Le Grande...waiting it's turn in line behind '74.
Click to view image
Save the Supers!!

[vamram]

Disassmbled the flat section of the motor housing.

Simpler than I recall the one from my '72.
I believe the brown grease in this section is still good. It's thick, but not dry at all. VW may have been a bit sloppy w/this assembly, though, as you can see only about 1/3 of the teeth had an grease on them at all, the rest were completely clean.

Johneliot, is this the grease you recommended I replace w/the tri-flo synthetic? Tim - did you replace all of the grease in this section w/dialectic grease, or just apply some directly on the face of the sliver rings?

I spread some of the grease in the housing over the teeth. But the silver rings in the gear wheel had a film of grease on them.

I can't imagine that a film of this brown stuff is good for conducting electricity so I've cleaned that off since I don't know if it's dialectric grease.
_________________
Eventually, "we are what we pretend to be.’”
Give peace a chance - Stop Russian-Soviet Aggression!!

'74 Super 9/16 - present, in refurb process.
'73 Super - 6/18 - Present - Daily Driver!
'75 Super Le Grande...waiting it's turn in line behind '74.
Click to view image
Save the Supers!!

[johneliot]

Yes, that's the grease. If it's still soft, it's your choice as to whether you want to remove and replace. If you have it apart, I'd just change it.
_________________
John

There is no distinctly American criminal class - except Congress.
Mark Twain

69 bug - "The Grey Ghost"

[Tim Donahoe]

Victor, I used dielectric grease only on the face with the silver rings where the three fingers touch.

I cleaned out the old grease from the gear housing and greased--with the red Valvoline--the drive gear driveshaft, as it enters the gear housing.

I didn't grease the armature's knurled shaft, since the drive gear was greased. You don't want any grease getting down into the can.

If the armature housing looks clean, don't worry about removing it.

Tim
_________________
Let's do the Time Warp again!

Richard O'Brien

[vamram]

Here's one more pic of the case w/the factory grease:

I used CRC spray to clean the silver rings and the contacts, then I applied the dialectric grease to the contact tips.

I grabbed the armature's shaft w/my drill and carefully spun it using 400 grit sand paper to clean the copper collar that makes contact w/the brushes, washed everything out after w/the same CRC electrical contact cleaner.

This part I'm kind of pleased w/myself about. Wifey wasn't around to help and I couldn't find here sewing kit. So I instead used scotch tape split into thin pieces and loosely wrapped a length around each brushes copper wire. The I used a small flathead screwdriver and my fingers (w/a headlamp on) to get the spring into its slot. Next i worked the brush in and wrapped the length of scotch tape around the body to hold the brush in place. Did all three, and it worked pretty well.

Once I got the case back on the collar to clear the brushes, i pulled the tape strips out. I'm pretty sure no pieces were left inside. Tightened it down, motor done.

I cleaned out the arms and reassembled everything. I lubed the pivots and joints w/the tri-flow grease. I'll post a pic of the assembly later.

QUESTION BEFORE REINSTALLING THE COMPLETE ASSEMBLY INTO THE BUG:

Which wire do I need to energize for the motor to be in the park position? I have the car battery out and would like to connect it to get this correct before rather than later.

I have the arm assembly all facing per the pictures I took before disassembly, but I'm pretty sure this is controlled by where the 3 rings are located in the plastic gear and I didn't line those up per my before & after pics.
_________________
Eventually, "we are what we pretend to be.’”
Give peace a chance - Stop Russian-Soviet Aggression!!

'74 Super 9/16 - present, in refurb process.
'73 Super - 6/18 - Present - Daily Driver!
'75 Super Le Grande...waiting it's turn in line behind '74.
Click to view image
Save the Supers!!

[vamram]

_________________
Eventually, "we are what we pretend to be.’”
Give peace a chance - Stop Russian-Soviet Aggression!!

'74 Super 9/16 - present, in refurb process.
'73 Super - 6/18 - Present - Daily Driver!
'75 Super Le Grande...waiting it's turn in line behind '74.
Click to view image
Save the Supers!!