Wiper delay system on '76 C3

[Al G]

Can anyone tell me how the wiper delay system works on my '76 C3.

It is controlled by a potentiometer switch loated on the dash to the left of the steering wheel (RHD car). Unfortunately it has slowly stopped working on my car, the delay getting less and less until I now have constant speed wipe.

Do I just need to change the switch unit or are there some clever '70s electronics hidden some where?

Al G

[saint914]

Hi, on a rhd car, the contol unit for the intermittant wipers is located in the front compartment, between the fresh air fan and the fog lamp and heated rear window switch.
It is a small black box that has about 6 wires running to it and has the markings of SWF on the outside.

If you have a friend with one, try swapping them.
Geoff.

[RoninLB]

Originally posted by saint914

try swapping .
.

probably Geoff gave the best shot.. that whole electrical package can be fun to deal with.. but I think option 2 might be the variable control switch ...........Ron

[Superman]

You might also want to do a search here for past discussions. It seems to me that some problems with this system are traced to main wiper motors that are not "parking" properly.

[EdandQ]

My wiper delay does not work, nor does it park. That being said I have removed the wiper relay and cleaned as discussed on this forum. That didn't work, so then I ordered another one, it was a used part, but supposedly good, it still didn't fix the problem. I am going after a fuse I see in that same area next (it's an inline). Am I on the right track?

I have the blower motor out, etc.. and don't want to put anything back together until it's all working. HELP!

[john walker's workshop]

they won't park or have intermittent function if the park points in the wiper switch don't contact each other when the switch is in the off position. the switch needs to be removed from it's mounting in order to get at the points for an adjustment. a plastic knob moves under the lower one and pushes it into contact with the top one. tweek them both downward toward the knob a bit. another thing that happened on my 77 930 was a fat red wire from the wiper motor came off a connector block up by the clock.

[Rex Walter]

Al G and EdandQ,

I had a wiper delay/parking problem with my 1975 - turned out to be just dirty contacts in the wiper switch at the steering wheel. I have intermittent wipers, and my symptoms were that the intermittent wipers didn't work at all, and the regular wipers would not park.

The wiper switch consists of terminals # 53a, 53, 53b, 53i, 53e, and 53c. During wiper park cycle, 53e (blue wire) is connected to 53a (red wire, +12 v all the time), and this allows the wipers to continue to move until they get to the park position. The connection is made when the wiper switch is off and the wiper motor is not in the park position. The wiper motor makes the connection between 53e and 53a with an internal disk. The wiper switch connection between 53e and 53 puts the wipers into the slow mode, until the disk inside the motor turns to the park or off position.

53a Red = +12 v all the time
53 Red/Black = slow speed wipers
53b black/yellow = medium speed wipers
53i green = fast speed wipers
53e blue = park at slow speed
53c black = washer pump motor

Edand Q - You are local here in Seattle - let me know if I can help.

Rex