Window wipers not stopping!

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geirooye	Window wipers not stopping!		Lead	[-]
Registered Member Posts: 5 Wed, 22-Jul-2009 17:51	Tags : None Hi folks in the Marcos world. I have a 1969 steel chassis Marcos that has developed a somewhat strange (to me) electric problem: When I try to turn off the window wipers they just don't stop!! Turning off the ignition helps of course and then the wipers don't come on until I click the button again. Does this suggest something internal with the wiper motor/mechanism or something wrong inside the (rocker) button? Suggestions appreciated
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OldNoccer		#1	[url]	[-]
Registered Member Posts: 692 Wed, 22-Jul-2009 18:45	It sounds like the car is trying to tell you something about the British weather ! Wiper motors have two supplies, one is from the wiper switch, one is a permanent feed while the ignition is on that powers the wiper until it is parked, at that point some gubbins inside the wiper breaks the contact (like a contact breaker I suppose). I haven't heard of one failing this way, but unless you have recently fiddled with the wiring and swapped the wires (or they have shorted together), then I would say it is the contact breaker inside the switch. Though Marcos wiring might just suggest the short is the favoured cause. Steve There's a lot of talk these days about green transport. Well, I am ahead of the game, I already have green transport ... British racing green.
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OldNoccer		#2	[url]	[-]
Registered Member Posts: 693 Wed, 22-Jul-2009 18:47	Sorry - too much ale - delete "it is the contact breaker inside the switch", and insert "it is the contact breaker inside the wiper motor". Obviously that is where is is located... Steve There's a lot of talk these days about green transport. Well, I am ahead of the game, I already have green transport ... British racing green.
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martineztop		#3	[url]	[-]
Registered Member Posts: 1354 Wed, 22-Jul-2009 18:51 Chief mechanic	could well be what noccer says, or the 'delay' module ist kapput, if you've got one that is http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/MINI-WIPER-MOTOR-PARK-SWITCH-GENUINE-LUCAS-PART_W0QQitemZ140333363359QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM?hash=item20ac85309f&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=65%3A12%7C66%3A2%7C39%3A1%7C72%3A1683%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A50 incase you need one, think they're all the same but do check
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Adrian2		#4	[url]	[-]
Registered Member Posts: 38 Wed, 22-Jul-2009 19:05	I would agree that odds on that it's the parking switch on the wiper motor but it's a very strange way for it to fail.You can buy a replacement on eBay. One way to prove this would be to carfully remove the Blue/Lightgreen wire and Red/Lightgreen wire from the rocker switch (remember where they go) while the motor is still running. If it keeps going it is definatly the parking switch. http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/MINI-WIPER-MOTOR-PARK-SWITCH-GENUINE-LUCAS-PART_W0QQitemZ200363192881QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM?hash=item2ea693b231&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=65%3A12%7C66%3A2%7C39%3A1%7C72%3A1683%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A50
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geirooye	Thanks for quick and valuable tips	#5	[url]	[-]
Registered Member Posts: 6 Wed, 22-Jul-2009 19:31	Thanks a lot folks - this is obviously a VERY quick and good place to find information about a somewhat "obscure" car :-) It's getting a bit late for mechanical work now but I'll see what I can find using your tips tomorrow. But the park switch on eBay that you linked - looks like a separate unit. My wiper motor doesn't look to have a separat switch like that. We're talking Lucas of 1969 here :-) The wires go into a single 5 pin plug that attaches directly to a male 5-pin on the body of the motor......
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Martyn123		#6	[url]	[-]
Registered Member Posts: 143 Wed, 22-Jul-2009 19:51	Have you tried hitting it with a hammer ?
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geirooye	Not allowed ;-)	#7	[url]	[-]
Registered Member Posts: 7 Wed, 22-Jul-2009 20:21	Sorry but I'm not allowed anywhere near the car with a hammer - the wife cares too much about it
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marco mantara		#8	[url]	[-]
Registered Member Posts: 143 Wed, 22-Jul-2009 23:00	Hi -a follow on in the came vein--my Mantara windscreen wipers only operates at one speed (relatively speaking ,l'd say "slow"-not good enough for torential rain or motorways-more a "frendly wave"! l presume it should operate at 2 settings (maybe "intermittent" as well?)---Has anyone got any ideas as to how to sort the problem/what to check/where to look etc. ? Thanks--------need to be ready for Marcos extravaganza in August-don't fancy a slow lane haul up the motorway if it rains,amongst the juggernauts and caravans!!!!!
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OldNoccer		#9	[url]	[-]
Registered Member Posts: 695 Wed, 22-Jul-2009 23:36	Intermittent for older cars normally means an external trigger that sets it going and then relies on the parking operation to bring it back (a bit like flicking the wiper switch, it just starts it going and the wiper parks itself). I have an external unit like that and every time I am driving in drizzle I make a mental note to fit it - then I promptly forget when I get home ! Normally 2 speed is continuous wiping - it is just one setting is a bit more frantic than the other. However some cars in 60s/70s, like the Rover P6, had a diaphragm vacuum delay unit - which I am pretty sure was tacked on the motor. A small tube with a bleed screw led to the dash, so by adjusting the bleed you could adjust the wiper delay - it worked fine until the diaphragm gave out. And that is completely everything I know about wipers - modern ones are no doubt controlled by a computer which counts the rain drops and adjusts the speed automatically. Steve There's a lot of talk these days about green transport. Well, I am ahead of the game, I already have green transport ... British racing green.
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tewitt		#10	[url]	[-]
Registered Member Posts: 58 Thu, 23-Jul-2009 08:49	switch in motor works off cam -sounds like it's permanently closed- tap with hammer first(cheapest, easiest option), next strip motor off and get rid off all the old gunk in motor gear- if all else fails and your desperate to use the car for this years sunny spell find the perm live and disconnect it then just judge when to turn wipers off (top bodge)
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marco mantara		#11	[url]	[-]
Registered Member Posts: 144 Thu, 23-Jul-2009 09:42	l'm relatively new to the car and as yet have not dared or needed to poke around behind the dashboard (site of motor? ) How do l access and locate the motor?
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Mike009 Gardner		#12	[url]	[-]
Registered Member Posts: 359 Thu, 23-Jul-2009 12:13 Junior mechanic	Could just be a dry joint or dirty contact. I had several electrical gremlins develop on my Mantara in first few months of ownership , no doubt due to lack of use by previous owner. One such problems was wipers sometimes not self parking, sometimes not working on intermittant only on fast speed. I set about checking all connections , relays etc , cleaning terminals and applying copiuos amounts of WD40. Hey presto ! everything worked fine. Not sure about early cars but the Mantara has more relays than you shake a stick at hidden in all sorts of places . Good hunting and good luck.
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marco mantara		#13	[url]	[-]
Registered Member Posts: 145 Thu, 23-Jul-2009 18:55	"Good luck !"----Might need it!---l've given in and am taking it to an Electrical Auto specialist tomorrow-------hoping -clutching at straws (or stalks) that the problem is a connection /contact on the steering column.as suggested. Is the control/steering column -Sierra sourced? The Auto place might need the info ----------
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OldNoccer		#14	[url]	[-]
Registered Member Posts: 697 Thu, 23-Jul-2009 21:09	A good leccy should get you there - but if he is into new stuff and this is old stuff, he may have to ask his dad. They sometimes use the easy get out route that they can only check components, but there is unknown gubbins in a Marcos. The good ones will see it as a personal challenge - and even then it can depend how you approach them and how they are fixed. It is surprising what you can do yourself - ever since I had my first motorbike there was always the risk that Joseph Lucas < Prince of Darkness > might cast a spell and leave me with electrons in the wrong place. I found that in the end 12volt electrics was fairly easy - in most case you had 12 volts or not, a bulb with two leads tested for that - but I have now got an Avo, so I can track for that last great mystery - THE LOST EARTH !! Surely the topic of a film soon. Steve There's a lot of talk these days about green transport. Well, I am ahead of the game, I already have green transport ... British racing green.
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marco mantara		#15	[url]	[-]
Registered Member Posts: 146 Fri, 24-Jul-2009 17:17	Update--took Mantara to electricians this morning. He took off the wiper arms and started wipers in mode 1 and then 2 ---you could hear the increase in the motor revs !!!! l felt a bit of a prat---it had 2 speeds !!! However, he was sympathetic and pointed out that with the friction of the new wiper blades ----the sweep would be slow with an old designed motor, and as he saw the change in speed was minor (on my other cars -the faster speed is obvious-almost frenetic) Not much could be done except replacement of the motor . Maybe lack of use has "slowed" it down?-----dirty contacts etc Do other Mantara owners have similar `weak wipers---is it a trait/weakness?.
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geirooye	Stopping now = bodge	#16	[url]	[-]
Registered Member Posts: 8 Sun, 26-Jul-2009 07:23	My wipers that didn't stop are stopping now. But not parking.... I made a preliminary bodge that will last until winter season when I'm not using the car. I live in Norway and will definately not use the 1969 Marcos on the snow and ice that the road construction guys insist on sprinkling with warm water with an extremely high content of salt. The bodge was just to remove a wire on the back of the switch, so now the slowest version of slow is not working but when I turn the wipers off they stop. There and then. Which means I have to - as was said - judge when to turn the switch off. At least it will take me to England this August. :-)
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brian coleman		#17	[url]	[-]
Registered Member Posts: 243 Sun, 26-Jul-2009 08:00 Apprentice mechanic	You won't need your wipers in England geiroove, they have forecasted a two week heatwave starting 12th August
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martineztop		#18	[url]	[-]
Registered Member Posts: 1357 Sun, 26-Jul-2009 11:30 Chief mechanic	marco mantara wrote: Update--took Mantara to electricians this morning. He took off the wiper arms and started wipers in mode 1 and then 2 ---you could hear the increase in the motor revs !!!! l felt a bit of a prat---it had 2 speeds !!! However, he was sympathetic and pointed out that with the friction of the new wiper blades ----the sweep would be slow with an old designed motor, and as he saw the change in speed was minor (on my other cars -the faster speed is obvious-almost frenetic) Not much could be done except replacement of the motor . Maybe lack of use has "slowed" it down?-----dirty contacts etc Do other Mantara owners have similar `weak wipers---is it a trait/weakness?. Marcos wipers are a real pain, some say that theirs work fine, but compared to other cars they are crap, I've tried all kinds of fixes for them, but the old rack & pinion drive is weak, and the change in angle required as it sweeps across the screen doesn't help. good luck !
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Aviator UK		#19	[url]	[-]
Registered Member Posts: 432 Sun, 26-Jul-2009 17:15	brian coleman wrote: You won't need your wipers in England geiroove, they have forecasted a two week heatwave starting 12th August Yeah, like they forecast a long hot summer and it's done nothing but P1$$ down all of July bloody weather forecasters, I wouldn't pay 'em in rusty washers.
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woody	Mantara Wipers	#20	[url]	[-]
Registered Member Posts: 21 Tue, 28-Jul-2009 08:49	The wipers on my Mantara were rubbish and as per a previous post, I had a damaged wheel box with splines badly worn away. To cut a long story short I removed the wiper motor, the two wheel boxes and the threaded rod from the car. It took about 4 hrs to get them out and about the same to refit. Work undertaken: Stripped the motor, checked and cleaned brushes, armature etc. Cleaned out all the old grease and replaced with Lite grease. Cleaned the threaded rod, thick with grease that had solidified. This is the most difficult to get out. Replaced the wheel boxes ( they are from an MGB) and cost £12 to £25 on Ebay (circa £45 from MHS!). There is a problem with the replacements as they have a different body and require modification using part of the body (which you have to saw off) from the old wheel boxes. I replaced the wiper blades, 10" on the passenger side and 13" on the drivers side and they know work OK cleaning the screen and not sticking unless the windscreen is dry. If anyone wants any tips or help re how to get this lot out and back in then let me know. Woody
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Window wipers not stopping!

Window wipers not stopping!