Removing wiper motor from 49 Cadillac

[cadillacman]

Need some help please, i would like to remove the wiper motor on my Cadillac and re-build it due to the wipers not working!
I can see the 2bolts in the blockhead but looking under the dash you can see the cables but how does this all connect, any help/pictures would be grateful

[John Washburn CLC 1067 Sadly deceased.]

Lets not over think this issue.

Take the two screws off, the wire feed for the switch, and the vacuum hose. It then comes out easily. The parts inside are not connected to parts outside. So to remove this unit life is good and it is easy.

The Johnny

[cadillacman]

thanks, to use to working on modern cars, where everything is twice as hard as its looks!

[Jeff Maltby 4194]

:<)

[cadillacman]

thanks and thats the part inside that stays attached!

[Jeff Maltby 4194]

Just remove the 2 motor screws and it will come right off the mount bracket shown above. Here's the inner linkage side which you don't have to touch.

[cadillacman]

thanks for all you help and images,
I've used a rebuild kit and so hopefully i will have better wipers no, but i have one question??

When i blow into it, the arm on the back does one cycle (does the up-sweep) but doesn't return (down-sweep).
Is it just a case of installing it back on the car now,

thanks in advance

[Jeff Maltby 4194]

http://www.wiperman.com/



First, check to see all available vacuum is getting to the motors.  Vacuum gauge readings should be the same at the intake manifold and at the motors.  Replace pinched, clogged, or leaking vacuum hoses.

Next, check to see if the motors are clean and lubricated. Outside air at atmospheric pressure enters the valving system through an air inlet that usually has a felt filter.  The filter may be dirty or missing. Not all wipers have a filter. The air inlet may be under the valving system cover.  If you can get to it without taking anything apart, be sure it is clean.  Put a few drops of sewing machine (light weight) oil in the air inlet with a vacuum source and the wiper motor turned on. You can help the motor but do not apply any amount of force.  Many times the fiber part that actuates the flipper valve to reverse the motor is broken and you are applying force against the motor's normal direction.  It would be a good idea to have a "catch" jar in the vacuum line so any "crud" (technical term) can be observed and prevented from going to the truck motor.  This may clean and lubricate the motor and restore it to normal operation.  I have heard of mechanics doing this by holding the vacuum motor in a tub of kerosene and just letting the kerosene be sucked into the engine.  Keep in mind, I'm older than any Power Wagon and have seen and heard many things.

So this doesn't work and you are going to take it apart.  WATCH OUT!   Vacuum motor design is older than all known space programs - even Buck Rogers - but a vacuum motor has several small parts that will launch themselves into a Moon orbit if they can escape.  There's a chance that a prior owner already participated in a parts launch.  This is why it is worthwhile to send the motors to a professional.  If you lose a part, you will need a replacement - and the auto parts counter at Sears can't help.  Disassembly of the motor takes you to the valving system first. There are tiny springs that fly or stretch, and resin impregnated fiber parts that are brittle and break easily.  How do I know this?   Guess!  A wiper repair web site that has been mentioned several times on the Power Wagon Page Forum is at http://www.wiperman.com   I have had no dealings there but those who have used it seemed satisfied.   

Hopefully you are lucky and you have a wiper motor that goes both ways. (This is not a moral issue.)  You have lubed it and it moves freely with slight resistance.  It works well in the test mode - engine at fast idle and maximum vacuum reading, and the wiper blades raised so there's no drag.   Spray some water on the windshield and see if the blades move well.  It is hard to find the correct blades.  Be sure yours are not too long.  Barely touching the windshield frame could be just enough to keep the valving system from working correctly.

If the blades sweep perfectly, you can be pretty sure the problem is related to the load on the engine.  If you have converted your differentials for speed runs at Bonneville Salt Flats, the engine is always going to be working hard and have low vacuum.  If your Bonneville modifications include a multi-carburetor intake manifold or a turbo or supercharger, you will need an auxiliary vacuum pump.  These engines are very forgiving about not having good tune-ups.   I've had them start more than once when I had the carburetor off and was checking fuel flow.  Gas from the fuel line squirted into the manifold and it ran - not well and not smoothly - but it ran.  Without the carb butterfly, there was no vacuum.   Be sure your carburetor is in good condition.  A butterfly that does not close properly can be compensated for with idle jets and other adjustments that let the truck be driven without developing full vacuum.  I doubt that many of you tune the trucks with the engine under load on a dynamometer.

Okay, the motor is tuned and running sweetly.   There's still the issues of valves and rings that affect available vacuum.   What more can I say?

The last thing is the simple fact that there is just enough vacuum for running the wipers on a level road at a steady speed.  You are fine until you accelerate.  My 1950 Plymouth had a double action fuel pump.   Both sides of the diaphragm were sealed - one side moved fuel and the other created vacuum.  The wipers had full vacuum at all engine loads.  My Power Wagon Parts List does not show a double action fuel pump.  So cars had them and trucks did not.   Roberts Motor Parts and others that supply parts for old MOPAR cars have double action fuel pumps - but you have to PAY for them.  From the late '50's, cars have had vacuum reservoirs to sustain the average vacuum in a system.   Mostly this was a requirement for vacuum boosted power brakes.  The reservoirs often looked like a Number 10 can from a food market with a single tube inlet/outlet.   It was "tee'd" into the vacuum line.  This might help during short periods of increased engine load.

What's the bottom line?

How often do you drive in the rain?  Is your trip so urgent that you not wait until a really heavy rain subsides?  Do you have windshield defrosters to keep the inside as clear as the wipers do the outside?  We are used to modern vehicles. We have to leave that behind when we climb into one of these great trucks.  Power Wagons were "low tech" vehicles where the various inconveniences of "the good old days" were accepted.  We can only bring them so far.  A good set of vacuum wipers with a well tuned and maintained motor will give pretty good service.  Some of us old folks had that as our only option for many years.

Electric wipers are better.  Converting to electric should cost no more than replacing a vacuum system - maybe less. If you can do a good installation that won't fail at the wrong time, you will be ahead over the many years you will probably continue to drive your Power Wagon. Your choice...

[Jay Friedman]

Personally, while I'm pretty good at fixing most anything on my own '49 Cad (have worked as a professional mechanic on and off over the years), I always send the vacuum wiper motor to a pro when it needs attention.  They are more complicated than they look and require specialized knowledge.  The best is Ficken Wiper Service in NY, tho' A and L in CT also does excellent work. 

Ficken did my '49's wiper motor a couple of years ago for $99 + a small amount for shipping.  The following statement is true--I couldn't make it up: The wipers now work so well that I can't turn the wiper control knob fully on or they'll go too fast, unless going up a hill or in some other low vacuum situation.  I usually only turn the knob halfway on.  In other words, they work as well or better than an after market electric wiper motor costing hundreds of bucks. 

[48ragtop]

Is it safe to assume that the 1949 and 1948 wiper motors are mounted the same and are also removed the same way?

Thanks, Ed Wisniewski
CLC No. 26482

[cadillacman]

thanks to everybody for their replies,
Will find out this weekend if they work... unfortunately we gets lots of rain the UK, its always the way go to carshow and then it rains on the way home, then it takes forever to clean the wire wheels   

[kkarrer]

I would agree that Ficken is the best.  The other option is to go with a Newport, electric model which bolts right on where you old one does and gives you a two speed wiper that does not vary with the vacuum availble from the engine. I've installed 4 of these units. One was on a 50 Cadillac 62 coupe.  You can use your original knob and you'll no longer have an issue with state inspections or the occasional rain shower which sooner or later gets us all.  The Newports need 12v, but you may already be considering converting to 12v.  A unit will generally cost between $180 and $200.
Ken Karrer (41 coupe).

[Jay Friedman]

According to their web site, the Newport wiper motor for my '49 Cadillac would cost $209.95.  As my car is 6 volts and the Newport motor is 12 volts, I would have to buy their power inverter, costing $149.95.  (If I converted my entire car to 12 volts it would cost even more.)  Total = $359.90 plus shipping, compared to $99 + $8 shipping or a total of $107 to have a vacuum wiper motor rebuilt by Ficken, a difference of $252.90.  As such, in my opinion the Newport wiper is not economical for a 6 volt car. 

It might be worthwhile on a 12 volt Cadillac from '53, particularly on a '54 or later car which has a more complicated vacuum system with the vacuum pump on the oil pump and one way valves that are known to  fail.  In that case the difference in cost would be about $100.

[cadillacman]

jay
I would agree that's alot of money, and there is no way i changing to 12Volt, its amazing i was given quiet a bot of stick for keeping with 6volts when i replaced the wiring loom.
My dad said we won the 2nd World War on 6volts....

I will have to have a think about it, given the cost what i find strange cars in the UK from the same time had electric wipers and so did the VW Beetle!!

[Jay Friedman]

Also, Studebaker had electric wipers as early as 1941 and Chevrolet, a GM marque, had them in '55.  Why Cadillac stuck with them through the '50s is a mystery to me.

[kkarrer]

There would be no problem using your 6v wiring loom in a 12v conversion.  There's a "genernator" available that looks just like your current generator, so for show purposes no one would ever know you'd converted.  We did win WWII with 6v systems and the original hydra-matics, but Caesar had remarkable success with chariots too...funeral by funeral man makes progress.  Seriously, getting Ficken to redo your old one is going to be your most direct and least expensive route.  If you have plans to keep the car and do some touring with it and would like a radio upgrade, elect. ignition, and perhaps AC then I'd think 12v would be for you.  By the way, if you go the 12v route you will not have to change your starter.
Ken Karrer

[Jay Friedman]

I agree in general with Ken Karrer that if you are going to do some "touring with [your 6 volt car] and would like a radio upgrade, elect. ignition, and perhaps AC then... 12v would be for you". 

On the other hand, except for AC, all this can be done with 6 volts, as I do with my '49 which I've driven to 13 Grand Nationals and 3 National Driving Tours.  Pertronix Ignition now has a 6 volt version and I installed a (cheap) Radio Shack 12 volt under-dash AM/FM radio which plays through the original rear speaker.  It's powered by a small 12 volt inverter I bought for $50 (more than the radio cost).  I still use the vacuum antenna which is controlled by a valve from an early ‘40s Cadillac that I hooked up.  A NOS radio delete plate meant for '49s bought new without radios (which were still optional) covers up the holes in the dash where the original radio mounted.  (I do admit that without AC I roast in my car in the summer.) 

As for the alternators that look like generators, they come in 2 versions that I'm familiar with: one, I think called the "Gener-Nator", costs somewhere around $800 if I'm not mistaken; there's also a cheaper brand, about $300 I think.  Some people who are less concerned with an authentic look just use a regular AC Delco 12v alternator with a special mounting bracket which costs $90-$120 or so.