wiper questions

[Beck]

hi all,
i have to sort out my wipers in order to get a warrant of fitness for my 73 cuda.
at the moment i believe i have a three speed motor, three speed linkage, and two speed (factory) switch.
the wipers bang around at only one speed (very fast) and hit the window molding, and don't park.
the motor is pretty beat up and definitely needs replacing.

ok, should i get a new 3 speed motor, and three speed switch? will i have to do any work to the loom to get this to work?
the car is a factory two speed wiper car.

or should i get a two speed motor and two speed linkage?

any ideas, stories, advice, or recommended parts retailers would be very much appreciated!
i have to sort this out pretty quickly...

cheers,
aaron

[JayBee]

I'd just get a 3 speed switch, there should be plenty around of the '73 style. I don't know about '73 but for a '70 there is some change that has to be done in the harness. I'm in the process of switching from a 2 speed to a 3 speed right now ('70 style though). BTW, it just so happens that I have a 3 speed switch. It has some kind of capacitor on it so I think it's a '73 type. 

[quapman]

Your linkage looks like it's not hooked to the motor properly. It should be closer to the motor than it is now. The linkage and motor drive have a "D" shaped shaft and hole and theoretically only goes on one way. This might explain your overtravel. Just this fix might get you through your inspection.

Apologies if this is old news for you.


I think the two speed -vs- 3 speed setups have slightly different sized holes and don't interchange.

[Beck]

cheers for the replies,
quapman, do you mean that the motor mounting holes on the firewall are different, or that the linkages are different?
does anyone have any pics of how the linkage should look?

as i have (i think) 3 speed linkages i thought it would be easier to get a 3 speed motor and switch and save having to ship new linkages to new zealand as well.
also will i have to rework the loom to put the 3 speed switch in? i guess i'll need a new wiring plug to fit the switch, unless they interchange?

cheers,
aaron

[quapman]

Motor mount holes are the same.

The hole in the Z-shaped link that bolts to the motor is different. This is the piece I think needs to be looked into on your setup as well. You should be able to unbolt the nut, adjust the link and retighten.

[RT Dude]

Hey Aaron
Ive been investigating this myself.
Heres a bit of info for you.

Pictures of wiper motor.
http://www.cuda-challenger.com/cc/index.php?topic=65599.0;topicseen

How to test a 3 speed wiper setup
http://www.passion4mopars.com/pages/3speedbenchtest

3 Speed wiper kit
http://www.passion4mopars.com/product/217048/70-74-E-Body-DIY-Refurb-Kit_1050012.html

Im not sure what these guys are like, but the feedback looks good so far. 
Also, the test procedure from the website looks straight forward enough.

 

[JayBee]

If your car originally came with a 3 speed wiper motor I can't see why you'd have to re-work the loom. Am I right assuming that's the wiring harness your talking about. Please don't take offense, just different sides of the ocean.

[Beck]

my car originally came with two speed wipers, or at least it wasn't coded for 3 speed on the fender tag.
it has had a '70 challenger dash/instrument cluster (non-rallye) put in at some stage, with what appears to be a '70 two speed switch.
not sure what was done to the wiring harness when the dash etc was changed, but something dodgy going by the rest of the car...   ha ha ha

did the wiring harness connector to wiper switch vary much over the years/speeds?

i just bought a 3 speed motor off rockauto, so here's hoping i can get all this sorted!

cheers,
aaron

[JayBee]

Here's what I'm dealing with right now, going from 2 spd to 3spd. This IS for a '70 but there might be some "similar" alteration needed on your car if it was originally set up for a 2 speed. Ideally what you need is a picture of the wiper plug from a 73 - 74 with a 3 speed setup. Please remember, this is a 1970. Maybe, 73 and up were plug & play regardless of 2 or 3 speed switches  .

 

 

[Beck]

does anyone have a picture of the 73-74 3 speed (and 2 speed, if it's different) plug?
cheers!

[Beck]

looking at the image below, it seems i'm going to need a 73-74 3 speed plug and patch it into my wiring harness.
i have a 70-72 style 2 speed switch and plug and am changing to 73-74 3 speed gear.

does anyone have a spare 73-74 3 speed plug?

cheers,
aaron

[JayBee]

I found this schematic but it looks a lot like the one from my '70 manual. It also look like one of the brown wires was forgotten to be labelled with a "tracer". Hopefully someone will have the pic you need, or better yet, the plug.

http://www.mymopar.com/downloads/1973/73ChallengerB.JPG

[Slotts]

Sorry Arron, I am jumping on this thread late. Ok, so you need the wiring positions for your 73, right?

A: Brown with white tracer
B: Heavy gauge pink
W: Brown
P: Dark Blue
F1: Red
F2: Dark Green

The smaller style two or three speed switches used the same connector with all wires inserted. The two speed switch just doesn't have a terminal for the wiper motor (W).

Send me your address and I will send the connector to you.

Slotts

[dodj]

or should i get a two speed motor and two speed linkage?

Is the linkage different for two or three speed setups? Or just the motor and switch?

[Slotts]

Is the linkage different for two or three speed setups? Or just the motor and switch?

I posted pictures of the two at the bottom of this thread:

http://www.cuda-challenger.com/cc/index.php?topic=56250.0

Slotts