Wipers barely moving

[Ellie]

Hi, so when I was caught in a tropical downpour last week, I discovered my wipers barely move, but did slowly wave after I turned the radio off and revved the engine. I knew they were slow but it wasn’t really safe in the heavy rain. This is probably a common issue and I’ve read a few different threads on wiring and the electrical issues we experience. While I am handy with a screwdriver and set of sockets to tackle most mechanical maintenance, electrics are a magical mystery to me and I was wondering if there was a particular thread or simple explanation I could follow to get my wipers functioning adequately.

[spider2081]

often it is the mechanical mechanism that has too much friction that causes slow wipers. First remove the wiper blades and arms from the car. Remove the cowl and flip it over to expose the wiper linkage. Remove the little spring clip and wave washers on the shortest linkage at the motors arm. Then separate the linkage from the motor. The portion that passes through the cowl for the blades is where the binding often occurs. I use penetrating oil to free them up. very little effort should be needed to move them completely around 360 degrees. I also remove the chrome nuts and the black dress piece for the outer portion of both assemblies, and rill a 1.8 inch hole through the white metal portion in the area where the threads end. This allows future lubrication of that wiper portion of the linkage.

[Ellie]

Hey thanks for that, it’s often hard to know where the sticking points are and you’ve given me a great guide to get started. A little bit of fun for a Sunday arvo.

Cheers
Mike

[18Fiatsandcounting]

I learned a new word today: "arvo". Thanks for that!

Back to the Fiat though. In addition to the lubrications suggestions by spider2081, check the electrical connections to your wiper motor, especially the ground. If the wipers slow down as you turn on other electrical items (or rev the engine), you could have some dodgy connections.

-Bryan

[TX82FIAT]

The mechanical assembly for the wipers under the cowl does tend to bind. The fact that they work real slow and when radio off and when revving the engine points leads me to believe you have both a mechanical and electrical issue. On these cars the electricals for most components runs through the ignition switch. The ignition switch is a know failure point on these cars as the internal contacts can increase resistance. You need to clean grounds and connections to provide enough downstream voltage to the wiper motor. If resistance is supposed to be 1.2 ohms in a 12 volt circuit to produce 10 amps and the resistance is 2 ohms the voltage required to overcome the resistance jumps to 20 volts. Clean connections and grounds, clean and lube mechanical assembly, consider ignition or wiper relays. I cleaned the assemble and connections, installed an ignition relay and a headlight relay and the wipers move like modern wipers now.

[reidyyz]

1.8 inch? Maybe 1.8 mm?

[AlexD]

1.8 inch? Maybe 1.8 mm?

I would imagine spider meant 1/8 inch unless I'm mistaken and those little wiper nub mechanisms require a $hit-ton of lubricant...

[spider2081]

Yes AlexD is correct i drill a 1/8 inch hole for lubrication. Also I knew drill starts with a d not r when i typed my 2 cents.

I'm mostly a 2 finger person on the key pad so I make lots of type errors. Sometimes I read what I type before I hit submit, often if I do that I forget to hit submit and then wonder why my reply isn't there.
Life get harder with age LOL

[dimitridodys]

What wiper relay kit is recommended for a 1974 Fiat 124 Spider?

Thanks

[wetminkey]

Autoricambi has this one in stock,...
https://autoricambi.us/wiper-relay-kit-1971-78/
and Vick sells this kit:
https://www.vickauto.com/FIAT-PARTS/FIA ... KU-20-7309
Best of luck with your Spider! Happy Motoring!
Todd.