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MG MGA - slow wipers

The windscreen wipers on my car were always relatively slow although were always fairly effective.
The problem I had with them was that the wiper arms regularly fell off, almost always at the worst possible times. (I have some lasting memories of epic journeys in heavy rain without wipers and thanking the inventor of rainex)

Well I have changed the arms to the screw fixed type (from the midget I believe) instead of the original push on type.

They now look really secure but they do seem to move much slower over the screen than they did before ( I expect due to the increased pressure they apply to the screen ) and I am concerned they may not operate rapidly enough to clear the screen in anything over a light rain shower.

Has anyone else noticed this and can it be improved on? (eg fitting a 2 speed motor from the MGB?)

Cheers

Colyn
Colyn Firth

I think mine was the first 2-speed MGB conversion, you will find the details on Barney.

The issue with the arms falling off occurs if you have the Moss repro wiper spindles, which are rubbish. Find an original set and the problem will disappear. (I also found that with the Moss ones, the rack jumped teeth on the spindle wheels)

dominic clancy

Colyn, I presume you are running the wipers on a wet screen?
Lindsay Sampford

Colyn, I cured my slow wipers by taking out the wiper drive cable and wheel boxes and giving it all a good clean and then relubricating everything.
D Townshend

Exactly what I was going to say (or write!). It is amazing how much "crud" and dry grease collects inside the cables!
Barry Bahnisch

Relubricating everything is important. Also important is making sure all electrical connections are sound and tight inside the motor, and that your bushes and commutator are in good condition. If your brushes still have life left you can clean them up using electric motor cleaner. If the commutator looks to be in bad shape, it can be dressed using sandpaper or a commutator stone but if you've never done this before then I'd leave it alone. New brushes should be available somewhere. If you install new brushes, slip a piece of sandpaper between the brush and commutator, towards the brush. Pull the sandpaper through in the direction the motor will spin, and only in one direction. Do this about 6 times and that will seat your brushes.
Mark J Michalak

This thread was discussed between 26/01/2011 and 27/01/2011

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This thread is from the archive. The Live MG MGA BBS is active now.