48 Ford windshield wiper issue

Bill

Bill

Senior Member
The control knob is increasing hard to turn on and off. I don't want to take the wiper motor unit down for close inspection because of the difficulty working under the dash for an 81 year old. Youtube shows disconnecting the vacuum hose under the hood and partly filling a small container with ****** fluid. Then work the wiper arms back and forth to make the fluid draw up into the wiper motor. The wipers themselves work typical action when they are in use. Assuming the ****** fluid makes it up into the wiper motor will the action controlling the on /off switch also be lubed from the inside? I doubt the on/off switch may be seized from the outside. I assume the small cable control from the knob to the wiper motor is not seized as it is short dry with no tight bends. The wagon never goes out in the rain but I still want the wipers to function as they should. Thanks for your comments, Bill.
 
Based on the design used in '46 (which was at best poor), the switch isn't going to be lubricated from the inside. I would remove the switch knob and try to drip some oil into it.
 
Lubricating as you mention with ATF will seal and improve the paddle movement. This will lessen the effort to operate the wipers, however you can see from the pictures, you may also need to lubricate the slide valve which will require minor disassembly, removing the tow screws holding the slide plate together.

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I used one of these to gently force atf into my wiper motor, go slow and easy.
 

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Squirmed under the dash and removed the wiper motor this week. Lubricated everything with ATF. Plugged the vacuum hose back on and started her up. What a differance. Even sourced two neoprene grommets and two spring steel retainer clips locally!Not an easy job for an 81 yr old with failing eyesight and stiff fingers...Bill.
 
The only way I do it is remove the speaker grille and there it is now you can remove the control & remove the motor for a good cleaning and oiling.after that test it with a hose to the engine vacuum and run it ___remove small cover for more lube
 
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