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1969 MGB GT wipers died

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1969 MGB GT wipers died
#1
DaytonJulius Dayton Boorsma
Abbotsford, BC, Canada   CAN
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1970 MG MGB GT
Hey guys,

Driving through Vancouver last night in the rain, and of course, my wipers died. At first they stopped in the middle of my windshield and then I pulled over to try and adjust them, but I barely had to touch them to get them back down. They must've turned on again and voila, started working once more. It only took about five minutes for this to happen again, and after that, they still haven't started.

I've had the MG for a couple of years but I've never had wiper trouble until now. Where do you think I should start guys? Any help would be appreciated as it's my daily driver.

Thanks,
Dayton

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Re: 1969 MGB GT wipers died
#2
ErnieY Avatar
ErnieY Ernie Y
Albatera, Alicante, Spain   ESP
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1976 MG MGB GT
Assuming you've checked the connector on the motor in case it's worked loose likely suspects are the motor brushes or a dirty/contaminated commutator.

Will it run if you lift the blades from the screen ?

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Re: 1969 MGB GT wipers died
#3
DaytonJulius Dayton Boorsma
Abbotsford, BC, Canada   CAN
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1970 MG MGB GT
It won't run with the wipers away from the screen, no. Could you give me some idea on where to start? I've never taken apart the wiper motor so I'm not even sure how to get at the motor brushes.

However, I will say that there's absolutely no noise coming to the unit. So I'm thinking this is a problem pertaining to electrical in some way.

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Re: 1969 MGB GT wipers died
#4
DaytonJulius Dayton Boorsma
Abbotsford, BC, Canada   CAN
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1970 MG MGB GT
Also, the wiper motor itself is hot to the touch. Also, the washers still spray fluid. So I'm not sure where the faulty connection is.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2015-10-07 11:06 AM by DaytonJulius.

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Re: 1969 MGB GT wipers died
#5
DaytonJulius Dayton Boorsma
Abbotsford, BC, Canada   CAN
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1970 MG MGB GT
Anyone else? I could really use the help.

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Re: 1969 MGB GT wipers died
#6
OldBloke Avatar
OldBloke Jim Legg
Napa, CA, USA   USA
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1970 Rover 3500
1970 Rover P6 "Napa NADA II"
1971 MG MGB GT
Mine did the same thing in Portland last month. Seem to cure itself after I rapidly moved the stalk switch up and down several times to clean contacts as Ernie suggested.


"Not all who wander are lost." -J.R.R. Tolkien

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Re: 1969 MGB GT wipers died
#7
rntanner Avatar
rntanner Roger N. Tanner (Disabled)
Oxnard, CA, USA   USA
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1970 MG MGB
1977 MG MGB
Bring up this great set of MGB electrical schematics:

http://www.advanceautowire.com/mgb.pdf

If you are hard over keeping it a daily driver (I have driven my 1977 MGB 79,000 miles since 1983), I would budget the cost of a brand new wire harness for you MGB.

Same company:

http://www.advanceautowire.com/

Second item on the black bar on the left:

Wiring Harness

Roger N. Tanner, Professional Engineer, Retired
Oxnard, CA USA


Roger N. Tanner
Professional Engineer, Retired

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Re: 1969 MGB GT wipers died
#8
pippatch Avatar
pippatch John Sugden
St. Albert, AB, Canada   CAN
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1969 MG MGB GT
2016 Honda Fit
I see you are in Abbotsford. Have you thought of joining the Fraser Valley British Motor Club? Lots of help from the members there.

britishcarclub.ca


John Sugden

1969 MGB GT

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Re: 1969 MGB GT wipers died
#9
ErnieY Avatar
ErnieY Ernie Y
Albatera, Alicante, Spain   ESP
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1976 MG MGB GT
If the motor is hot then it sounds like maybe one of the wheel boxes is binding and overloading it.

You can test that quite easily.

Remove the cover from the motor.
Prise off the circlip holding the con rod to the pin on the big gear (don't lose the washer)
Lift the con rod out completely.
With a screwdriver or something in the hole try pushing and pulling the cable. it should move fairly freely and if the wipers are off the screen you'll see them turn.
If not on or more of the wheel boxes is seized, good luck deciding which one !
Also try switching the motor on to see if it turns freely.

Not the best photos but see here: http://www.mgb-stuff.org.uk/wipermotor.htm

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Re: 1969 MGB GT wipers died
#10
DaytonJulius Dayton Boorsma
Abbotsford, BC, Canada   CAN
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1970 MG MGB GT
Hey Guys,

Been looking at connections and everything seems okay. But I'm thinking it might be a bad ground? The motor continues to get hotter even when the switch is turned off, and it isn't moving at all. No noise, no nothing. Just heat. And a lot of it, considering I tried to drive and you could smell it burning the rubber gromit around it

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Re: 1969 MGB GT wipers died
#11
DaytonJulius Dayton Boorsma
Abbotsford, BC, Canada   CAN
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1970 MG MGB GT
I also checked fuses and I have no problems there

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Re: 1969 MGB GT wipers died
#12
ErnieY Avatar
ErnieY Ernie Y
Albatera, Alicante, Spain   ESP
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1976 MG MGB GT
It's probably getting hot because it's trying to park.

A ground problem would prevent the motor from running in the first place and without a ground it couldn't get hot.

In any case if you say you've checked the connections then the ground for the motor is only via the 5 pin plug, it does not need to be grounded to the car.

Take the cover off and see where the con rod is sitting, if parked it should be exactly like this.

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Re: 1969 MGB GT wipers died
#13
DaytonJulius Dayton Boorsma
Abbotsford, BC, Canada   CAN
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1970 MG MGB GT
I've been playing around with the connections. Disconnecting the unit entirely obviously stopped the heat but none of the reconfigurations I've tried have worked either. I've tried bypassing the switch to get the wipers to run whenever I turn the ignition but I haven't had any luck.

You referenced it trying to park? Can you explain what you mean, and tell me how to get the cover off so I can take a look?

Sorry for all the questions but this is one piece of the car I've never had trouble with before. I've never had to open it up.

I appreciate everyone's patience

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Re: 1969 MGB GT wipers died
#14
DaytonJulius Dayton Boorsma
Abbotsford, BC, Canada   CAN
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1970 MG MGB GT
Hey Guys, I'm throwing some wax on my windshield and hoping for the best. I'm going to get the car back to Abbotsford and stop working in a parking garage; when I'm back I'll look into trying to get the cover off the motor. Will I have to remove the motor to do so? I'm hoping not but we'll see. This is unfortunately making me miss a workday, when the car has already made me do that a couple times. Thankfully they are fairly understanding. But yeah, I'm just going to take this step by step and hopefully not have to rebuild the wiper motor completely.

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Re: 1969 MGB GT wipers died
#15
mdubash Avatar
mdubash Manek Dubash
Lewes, East Sussex, UK   GBR
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1968 MG MGB "Odysseus"
Might be worth replacing the armature (it's cheap - much cheaper than a whole new motor) as if that's previously got hot and has burnt out, it can cause those symptoms.


- If duct tape doesn't fix it - you haven't used enough duct tape

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