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MG MGA - Wiper motor mystery

Whilst on the recent Tour of Britain, organised by the MGA Register, I experienced an unusual problem with my wiper motor..after some heavy rain in the Isle of Skye (a beautiful place btw), I went to turn the wipers off, and nothing happened..they kept going. Thinking it was a faulty switch, this was replaced at the lunch stop, but the problem continued. The only way I could get them to stop (with the ignition on) was to disconnect the earth wire to the motor. I can now turn the wipers on and off via the switch, although they do not return to rest. What can the problem be?
PS. the car is now on its way back to Australia, after a great/fantastic nine weeks in the UK.
Gary Lock

Gary,
Here is a link to Barney Gaylord's page on rebuilding the wiper motor. http://www.mgaguru.com/mgtech/electric/et217.htm

The brown wire shown in this picture goes to the park switch under the round cover.
http://mgaguru.com/mgtech/electric/pics2/wmr39.jpg If this wire is frayed and touching the frame, the wipers will run continuously. This is the most likely cause.

This picture shows the park switch inside the wiper gearbox. http://www.mgaguru.com/mgtech/electric/pics2/wmr42.jpg As long as the brass arm is touching the brass disk, the motor will run. Something could be bent or broken there.

Jeff

Jeff Schultz

Hi Gary

The motor works as follows

The supply is constant live through the ignition switch, the switch switches off the earth, the motor 'parks' through a contact inside the motor. I suspect that your internal contact is faulty . Disconnecting the motor's earth stops the motor but doesn't park the blades.

I hope you enjoyed youyr brief visit to my garage and
Fred Body's vintage collection

Regards

Terry
Terry Drinkwater

You might want to check the rubber mounts of the wiper motor to the car. This might cause the earth contact to make the motor run all the time. The mounts keep the wiper motor isolated from the ground of the car
JEFF BECKER

Gary, the problem is that the wire from the wiper park switch, that goes into the motor, has grounded out. I just repaired mine, I know the PO must have had the same problem, since the earth lead was disconnected. That wire, from the park switch to the motor, had electrical tape on it. Very suspicious. When I took it apart I found that the insulation had perished and was mostly gone. I replaced the wire and tested it, everything works fine now. I have some pics and a description of the process if you want them.
Wray

Wray, I'd be interested to see you pics & description. I had a problem with my wipers turning on spontaneously. Also blowing a fuse intermittently. I disconnected the wiper motor power lead from the fuse panel as a short term work-around, but I'd like to fix it properly before putting the car to bed for the winter.
Andy Bounsall

Andy, I'll certainly be glad to send stuff to you. I think the toughest part of the job would be getting the wiper motor out of the car. It's kind of hemmed in there by the MC.

Shoot an email to Groons72@hotmail.com and I'll send the info back to you.

Thanks to Barney Gaylord for his help, also. What a guy!
Wray

This thread was discussed on 05/10/2005

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