mstr_pete Posted June 17, 2014 Share Posted June 17, 2014 Is this a normal Subie thing, or should I start looking for problems? The wipers are very slow compared to other cars I've driven, like half the speed I'd expect. Also, the interval setting gets stuck sometimes. I have to pull the stalk towards me to get them going again. Dirty switch? Bad motor? Tired wiper elves? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jj421 Posted June 17, 2014 Share Posted June 17, 2014 The wipers on my Loyale are pretty slow. I'd be looking for a possible fix as well. But on the other side, I have not seen an old gen Subie with fast wipers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dee2 Posted June 17, 2014 Share Posted June 17, 2014 Sounds like a bad motor to me. But any of the items mentioned should be checked, especially those damn elves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted June 17, 2014 Share Posted June 17, 2014 you don't say what vehicle - probably not but in case it's an XT the wiper transmission gears have no grease by now and will eventually destruct internally. disassemble them and clean/regrease. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mstr_pete Posted June 17, 2014 Author Share Posted June 17, 2014 Sorry, 92 Loyale wagon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted June 17, 2014 Share Posted June 17, 2014 (edited) battery and alternator are good - poor electrical will slow them down? or motor. good call on older subaru's not having super fast wipers too. Edited June 17, 2014 by grossgary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scooner Posted June 18, 2014 Share Posted June 18, 2014 Mine are slow as well, i had been thinking about putting a different motor on or possibly even toying with some different gears or something. This is as far as that has gone. Just thoughts. Nothing more. Maybe when i finish all of the other 62 projects or when they stop i'll look more into it. Let us know if you come up with something! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jj421 Posted June 18, 2014 Share Posted June 18, 2014 That'd be awesome if there was a transplant possibility where you could swap a wiper motor from a different car. I'd imagine a Toyota or Honda from the same era would have a similar wiper motor that could be made to work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markjw Posted June 18, 2014 Share Posted June 18, 2014 Seems a extra ground wire from the wiper motor to the firewall (scrape some paint) usually helps with wiper problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jj421 Posted June 18, 2014 Share Posted June 18, 2014 (edited) I might give that a try. Do I connect the wire to the ground wire for the motor, or just attach it directly to the motor? Does it matter? I've never actually taken a good look at the wiper motor in these cars. I just tried adding a wire from the motor to a better ground. Changed nothing. Wipers are still slow. Edited June 18, 2014 by jj421 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markjw Posted June 18, 2014 Share Posted June 18, 2014 Sounds like ground isn't your problem, but I've had good results attaching one end of a new ground wire to a screw holding the plate on that covers the gears, and then attaching the other end to a bare metal spot on the firewall. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AWD J3wman Posted June 18, 2014 Share Posted June 18, 2014 Try the grease fix, I have heard of this happening a LOT 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mstr_pete Posted June 18, 2014 Author Share Posted June 18, 2014 Good ideas, thanks. the weirdest part to me is how the interval setting will stall. I'll have to do some poking around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazyeights Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 Try the grease fix, I have heard of this happening a LOT It really DOES work Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mstr_pete Posted June 19, 2014 Author Share Posted June 19, 2014 (edited) I'll need more time than I had to get into the motor, but I did find the plug terminals were showing some corrosion. I cleaned them up while I pulled the wiper arms off to spray-paint them flat black for smoother operation Things are better, though I didn't time the wipers before-and-after. ETA: Battery and alternator are fine, so I'm thinking motor or switch. Edited June 19, 2014 by mstr_pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bantum Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 (edited) If it has old style commutater brushes, they would be worn out by now ... Edited June 19, 2014 by Bantum Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SmashedGlass Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 I second the brushes thing. I cleaned my plugs and opened up the cover to the motor, cleaned up some of the grease that had got on to where the contacts rub on the drum(?) as well as took some fine sand paper to the contacts. Now I have intermittent wipers again; before, they would operate a few times, stop, maybe work again, maybe not. Now they work fine, except they'll move an inch or two...pause....complete the cycle up and down...move up an inch or two...pause...complete the cycle....etc. Better than being completely random! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scooner Posted June 20, 2014 Share Posted June 20, 2014 The brushes actually ride on the armature and what you cleaned with sandpaper is called the commutator. I have about 10 old Otis motor generator sets i have to replace brushes on all the time and its a pain! I loathe carbon dust! Another good thing to get is some QD Contact Cleaner from home depot (or wherever) and clean the entire thing out, this stuff also works great for.cleaning any electrical part. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jj421 Posted June 20, 2014 Share Posted June 20, 2014 So I put a bit of wheel bearing grease on the joints on the wiper transmission a couple days ago. Today it was raining, and they did seem to be a bit faster, especially at first. I'm gonna take it apart and put a metric f*** ton of grease on those joints. Maybe it'll speed them up more. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scoobiedubie Posted June 22, 2014 Share Posted June 22, 2014 The motors last about 250,000 miles. Used motors are easy to find for cheap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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