Adjusting clap-hands wipers

[Trabantdave]

Hi,

My first post here so be gentle with me please!

I have just bought a beautiful 1960/61 Minor Saloon and one of the few issues is that the wiper blades wipe too far, in other words they park properly at the bottom of the screen but go over the rubber at the sides; the arms are, or appear to be new.

I am wondering if the travel is adjustable and have read a few posts on the forum that describe park adjustment and was thinking that perhaps the best way of dealing with this would be to remove the arms and reposition them so that the blades stay where they should, and then adjust the park? I've attached a picture of the wiper motor as I am not sure if this has the ability to be adjusted as other posts referred to a domed cover..... if it is adjustable, I would guess that screws A should be slackened and the round pressing with the brown lead turned; should it be turned clockwise or anticlock?




Apologies for my lack of knowledge, hoping someone can help with this

Dave

[kittyfell]

Welcome to the forum. That is indeed how you adjust the 'park' position, but you say yours park correctly? It's very possible someone has fitted a later wiper motor which has a greater stroke built in. This is shown on the large gearwheel under that cover. Early clap-hands cars should have 100 degree gears, later have 110 gears, I think! So if you have a 110 degree gear in there the arms will wipe too far.

[mogbob]

Dave
You are right in that the wiper blades shouldn't go off screen.
Potential reasons why: !.wrong blades fitted i.e.too long
2 wrong windscreen motor fitted ( incorrect sweep angle )
(Your motor looks correct and of the right vintage but...could have been replaced )
3.incorrect adjustment of the parking stop.
Cures....1.if someone would kindly measure their wiper blades for Dave please, replace if wrong.
2.Try cures 1 and 3 first, fingers crossed it's not No 2
3.I'd slackened the screws as suggested and rotate clockwise first, just slightly, a bit at a time.
It really is a case of trial and error ...clock/ anti clockwise ,a little at a time until you get the park position correct.
Mark your start position by scribbing the dome and cover plate with a sharp pointed object so you can always
get back to where you started.
Wet the screen generously to reduce drag. Alternatively if you are feeling brave, remove the arms, WD40 the shafts first and then gently lever off.
Tape two small cardboard pointers to the knurled ends of the shafts protruding through the bulkhead.
Carry out adjustments, with the screen dry and then replace the arms on the shaft.

Good luck,let us know how you get on.
Bob

[Trabantdave]

Thanks for the info folks, watch this space for update on my attempts....

Regards

Dave

[charlie_morris_minor]

I have tried fitting a 2 speed motor with a 105 sweep (mg midget/mgb) and that hits the body work and touches the edge of the screen so i would have thought a 110 wheel would have gone a long way off the edge of the screen.. but as the lucas motors are used in lots of different british cars it is possible that the motor did not even start out in a moggy. The really late moggies have a 150 degree sweep.

[Trabantdave]

Well, just a brief update, I tried adjusting the park and no improvement; so I am thinking that a later motor, probably the 150 degree unit has been fitted. The blades go much too far to be a sloppy liknkage so am going to post a wanted notice on the message board

Thanks again

Dave

[charlie_morris_minor]

I would be very surprised if the sweep is 150. before buying anything i would check the sweep of your current wheel as suggested by kittyfell.. i.e. completely life the lid you loosened to adjust your park and you should be able to see a gear wheel like this..

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NEW-TRIUMPH-TR6-W ... _746wt_939

this one is for a triumph but as you can see it clearly shows the sweep as should yours, it might confirm what is going on before you spend any money

[kittyfell]

It was never going to be the 'parking' adjustment! How could it be?

[Trabantdave]

I will pop the cover off and have a look for the number; I note that on the image the number 115 is visible and I guess I am looking for a similar engraved/stamped number.

What I was attempting was to see if moving the park 'up' and then relocating the blades would work, if the 'swept arc' could be moved, but even if the park is moved up, when the wipers are next started they do a little downwards bob and then clean exactly the same area of screen (and pillars!) as before, so that cannot be the answer. I'm almost hoping that it IS a 115 motor and that fitting a 100 will remedy the situation; if however it has a 100 motor then I must be missing something. The blades are the right length (Tex branded with new rubbers) and there doesn't seem to be any slack in the linkage.... So it's pop-the-top time, most likely after work tomporrow.

Will report my findings then

Thanks for the suggestions and advice folks

PS I idly Googled 'Wiper motor gear 100' and Canley Classics stock a 100 degree gear for a Triumph; a possible cheap fix if my gear IS a 115degree...... Any thoughts either way on this?

Dave

[charlie_morris_minor]

I will pop the cover off and have a look for the number; I note that on the image the number 115 is visible and I guess I am looking for a similar engraved/stamped number.

yes you are looking for something like that, it should be very clear ( once you have cleared off all the grease )

What I was attempting was to see if moving the park 'up' and then relocating the blades would work, if the 'swept arc' could be moved, but even if the park is moved up, when the wipers are next started they do a little downwards bob and then clean exactly the same area of screen (and pillars!) as before

all moving the park will do is, as you have found is change the point in the "cycle" where the wipers stop, to prevent it bobing down as you say you need to change the position of the wiper arm on the peddle box ( sorry if i am repeating anything said before by others )

PS I idly Googled 'Wiper motor gear 100' and Canley Classics stock a 100 degree gear for a Triumph; a possible cheap fix if my gear IS a 115degree...... Any thoughts either way on this?

be careful the wheel might be from a 2 speed wiper motor not a 1 speed motor and the swap might not be that straight forward due to the different way they "park", whilst it is possible to modify a 1 speed wheel to fit a 2 speed motor by cutting it down i do not know if it is possible to do it the other way..

[mike.perry]

A common cause of incorrect wiper sweep is loose clamp screws on the wheel boxes. Remove the glove boxes and check the rack for movement.

[HarryMango]

I had this problem on my 1961 traveller in the dim & distant past & it turned out to be a very worn rack - a replacement & all was well again.

Rog

[rayofleamington]

3rded that the motor park position is completely unrelated to the wipers travelling over the rubbers.

Nearly always this turns out to be wear related. If it happens more in a headwind or when the screen is wet compared to when it is dry (dry screen = slow wipers = less overshoot) then my money is on a wear/backlash problem.

Wear in the motor gearbox (rack/pinion) or in the wheelboxes (also rack/pinion) puts a lot of backlash in the system and when moving at speed this the wiper travel to overshoot. The easiest way to find this is to see how much angle the wiper arms can move without the motor moving.
If you have too much backlash, then it will allow the wipers to overshoot the normal angle and without fixing the backlash issue, you can be fighting a loosing battle. Small adjustments to the wiper arm position can help even out the travel, but then you'll run the risk of running over the rubbers at both ends of the stroke.

[bmcecosse]

If it is wear (entirely possible) then very likely the other half of each gear wheel in the wheelboxes is completely unused - and the other side of the rack will similarly be new and unused. With care you can remove the rack, turn each spindle exactly 180 degrees and flip the rack over - and then refit the rack to the wheelboxes, and have 'brand new' wiper action!

[Trabantdave]

We had a super maiden voyage around Laleham and Richmond Park today and decided to have a look inside the wiper motor once we arrived home to see which gear was in there......

The mystery of the excess wiper travel is revealed! Having popped the cover off the motor it is apparently not the original motor as the gear is clearly marked ........ 140* - so who knows what it was originally fitted to!

I will repost on the wanted section for a used motor and see what happens before shelling out for a new one; even a burnt out one as long as the gear is the correct one which I think should be the 100* type as it is a late 1960 built car.

Would you guys agree on that being the likely one?

Thanks for your continuing input

Dave

[charlie_morris_minor]

well my clap hand 1957 has a 100 degree wheel but with the early motor. from the looks of it you have a later motor ( body at least ) fitted and I am not sire that you can change the wheels between the very early and later bodies.. no doubt someone will be along to confirm one way or another soon.

[bmcecosse]

Yes - you are looking for a 100 degree gear - or motor!