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Windshield wiper motor lube and refit, '82 GTV6.

6K views 18 replies 8 participants last post by  chairmankaga 
#1 · (Edited)
Hello, fellow addicts. I have spent the last hour fruitlessly searching for a tutorial on how to clean, lube and repair my windshield wiper motor so that I can have more than two speeds (slow-motion and glacial), and so that the wipers will park themselves properly. Yes, I know about how to add a relay that also helps with the window motors. That's not the thing I read. I read (and my memory is faulty, maybe) about how to clean and grease the guts of the motor/transmission, AND how to make sure all the speeds work and the wipers park properly by doing some electrical voodoo-stuff to the motor. Look, I'm about to sacrifice a goat to Beelzebub to figure out how to search this site more effectively. I'd sacrifice a maiden, but as we all know, those really don't exist any more. Along with it being illegal, blah, blah, blah.

Can somebody please help me with at least the searching part? I really do prefer to figure it out on my own and not ask questions, unless they are detailed follow-ups when I get stuck and there really is no good documentation.

Heck, if I can get the wipers moving correctly, then I can tackle the lack of window washer hardware on the car. The only things left (from what I can tell) are the nozzles in the hood. :surprise:
 
#2 ·
Hmm. I disassembled, cleaned, lubed, and reassembled mine with no instructions and as evidenced by my 1,000-page thread on my non-running car, I'm totally useless in the garage (although maybe that's the reason the car wouldn't run...) and got it done with no disasters. I think it was a simple matter of removing the mechanism, pulling the motor, breaking it down, scraping out all of the petrified grease, squirting in some fresh grease, and screwing it all back together. Maybe someone has a build thread?

FYI - the site search is a little wonky at times. I've had better luck finding the EXACT posts with the information I'm looking for just using Google. Just make sure to include "site:www.alfabb.com/bb/forums/alfetta-gtv6-1972-1986" in your search string.
 
#3 ·
OK, you made me laugh out loud.

I distinctly remember reading a thread and seeing pictures as to the electrical voodoo part, so I know the [expletive deleted] posts exist. The clean/lube part might just have been text for sure. I'm going to try Google advanced search right now.
 
#6 ·
HI all

One tip I will share is to replace all the spade terminals in the connectors. I cut off and replaced all the spade terminals male and female in my gtv6 forward of the firewall after a small bingle. With the grill, headlights, bumper and indicators off of the car to repair the panel damage. I cleaned all the earth points and replaced all the spades. After replacing all the spades the headlights are twice as bright and the wiper motor works better than ever with no extra relays. I regreased the gearbox and cleaned up the ameture of my wiper motor 2 years ago and it made a small difference to its performance when I replaced the spade terminals the performance improvement was noticeable with strong intermittent strokes and much faster LOW and HI speeds
You can buy a crimping tool and spades terminals for the same money as relay's fuses and wire.
Sorry to ramble on I had to share my experience because it works and is easy to do
 

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#7 · (Edited)
#8 · (Edited)
I agree I have a relay on my ignition and starter and that keeping connector terminal clean is all part of good maintenance. Cleaning the outer surfaces is not hard, cleaning inside where the wire joins the spade can only be done by replacing them. The only way to really maintain 30 year old terminals is to replace them and if you do you will notice an immediate improvement in performance

cheers
 
#10 ·
For the wiper relay install - did you only put one relay on the ignition switch powered circuits? The main power to the wiper motor comes from the fuse box, but there are some return wires back to the wiper switch which I assume means the power goes back to the switch from the motor and back to the motor for the different speeds. Is there a worry that there is a lot of load going to and from the wiper switch?

Thanks,
 
#11 ·
#13 ·
The switching relay is a different kind of relay. It doesn't provide a separate power source in lieu of the power running through the switch. I believe it is of no consequence in separating the power sources.

Unless you are suggesting that this relay be replaced with a power switching relay? I don't know how that could be done. If so, let us know because I don't understand what happens inside that relay in order to change the circuit.

Thanks,
 
#14 ·
Hey Glen (sportiva):

With your connector replacements, were you able to get the connectors out of the block and new ones back into the block? I'm referring to post #6, picture #2. If you did, how did you pop them out? I was trying with no success. I see little holes where a pick might fit to release, but not sure.

Or did you just cut them off and leave them out of the final configuration?

Thanks,
 
#15 · (Edited)
Hi Stefano
You can use the original connector block, The spade has a tang that acts like a barb on a fish hook you push it into the block and it is locked in by the barb and can't be pulled out easily. I insert a micro screwdriver into the recess in the block and push the tang down this allows the spade to be pulled back out of the block connector.
I crimp the new spade onto the wire then put a small dab of solder for security.


Cheers
 

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#16 ·
Sportiva, where did you get the terminals? I just replaced the connector on our trailer and it made a massive difference, I would live to try this trick on my Alfas too but I want to get thr same style terminals with the little tang. I see some on Amazon cheap, but I can't tell if they have thr little holder tang.

Thanks!
Ian

Sent from my ONEPLUS A3000 using Tapatalk
 
#17 ·
Motorcycle Terminals, Connectors, and Wiring Accessories

Excellent source of brass spade connectors and terminals! All sizes, insulated, uninsulated, just what you need! I bought some recently for mirror repairs and interior lights. Be sure the ones you get male/female have the tang to lock them into the plastic connector block.
 
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