1980 Windshield Wipers

I know this really shouldn't be a problem, cause driving a vette in the rain isn't a great idea but...

My wipers stopped working. I have an 80 with the intermittent wiper feature, and they won't operate at any speed or setting.

I checked the wiring diagram, got confused and started checking what I could and found the following:

Fuse is good, replaced it anyway and verified power on each side.

Switch appears good, when actuated, I can hear clicking in the relay, and the washer still works.

I suspect the relay in the back of the passenger seat is bad, but can't figure out how to troubleshoot it from my wiring diagram (there aren't any wiring connections shown from the relay to the wiper motor on the diagram).

On the Wiper Motor, I have 1 plug with three vertical wires into the wiper motor (wires are red on top, yellow in middle, gray on bottom), one other plug with one (black?) wire on the lower part of the motor. The single plug appears to be the ground. The triple plug has 12v power to the center wire, and nothing to either upper or lower, no matter what position the switch is in, except when the key is off, then nothing.

I know we have some expert electricians on this forum, and your opinions are greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Steve

Anyone out there can give me a hand?

[c4ever]

I can scan a wiring schematic on the 82. I just don't know if they are the same. If you want the 82 diagrahms shoot me an e-mail. They are in color if memory serves me right. That may help.
Carlo

May want to check the plug into the wiper motor assembly. Under the hood in the center twords the glass. I have an 81 and probably every 4-5 weeks this plug works itself louse and the wiper go dead. I can usually get away with just pushing it back in and down for a quick fix. Im sure the connection on the plug is in need of replacement. It dosent see too much rain so Im not too concerned about it.

May want to check there, it may be somwthing comon with these.

Carlo, if it's not too much trouble, the wiring diagram would help. Actually you sent me one for an earlier problem, but my home computer has since crashed and taken all that info with it.

cmegga, thanks for the input. I have pulled apart, cleaned and reinstalled the plug on the wiper motor, and checked for power with it attached and removed, no differences, so I don't think that's it, but thanks for the suggestion. And I don't plan on driving it in the rain, but so far I've gotten caught twice in storms and I'd like to have them working properly.

My initial opinion is that it is the relay, I just wanted some way to confirm it before I started looking for one. So far in all the catalogs I have, I can't find it. Once I verify that it is bad, I'll go to the Chevy dealer or the GM Restoration website.

Thanks for your help guys.

Steve

[c4ever]

I'll get it over to you tonight. Shoot me your e-mail address.
Later

[c4ever]

Steve,
You've got mail.

Sorry folks, but I have to revive this thread.

I was finally able to get the Relay identified and bought it through the Chevy dealer ($16). The relay is mounted to a printed circuit board, that is not identified in the Assembly Manual.

Anyway, after replacing the relay, no dice. When I switch the wipers on, and change settings, I can hear the relay clicking, but nothing happens at the motor. I'm worried that the circuit board may be bad or maybe it's just the wiper motor. (I still believe the old relay was bad, because with it installed I get nothing.)

Carlo, thanks for the wiring diagram. Is that from an 80? Whoever put this thing in behind the passenger seat was a real masochist. There isn't enough wire in the harness to pull it up to where you can troubleshoot the wiring, so you have to hang your head into the compartment, then try to get your hands in there with a meter or test light, no fun at all.

I'll keep checking and post my results.

Steve

[c4ever]

Steve,
That was from an 82. Hope it offered some help.

Carllo

Carlo, yes it definitely helped. Only problem I'm having is figuring out this system on the 80. It seems that before it went to the full blown control module in the 81/82, they had this half-a**ed circuit board with relay assembly.

What brand is your wiring diagram, I need to get something like that for the 80? I bought the laminated plastic one, but other than finding which wires go where, its pretty useless.

Again, thanks for the help.
Steve

[69MyWay]

Steve,

ARe you sure the ground is good?

You might jumper one from the wiper motor to the engine block and give it a try.

[c4ever]

Steve,
It's from a GM service manual. Best money you can ever spend. E- bay has them from time to time at a decent price.

good luck in getting it solved.

Carlo

Carlo,

Thanks for the additional info. I need to get my hands on one now. I won't have time to work on it this weekend, going to NY to visit family, and the vette will have to wait in the garage. But before I go, I'll look around for that wiring diagram.

Thanks for all your help on this, one day I'll get it fixed.

Steve

I had the same thing happen to my 1980 corvette, and the relay and circuitboard actually caught on fire. In the middle of a rain storm, no less. I took it to my mechanic and they couldn't find a replacement, but what they did was cut the wires, past the connector, and hard wired everything together. The intermitent is now just low speed, and the low and high speeds work correctly. This might not be what you want to do, but this is my daily driver and I need wipers. Hope I helped.

[Zanimul]

Steve, take the black cover off the wiper motor and look for a resistor there. I had a similar incident on my '80 and I started with removing the cap and found the resistor there was completely burnt. Dunno what caused it, but I replaced it with what my electronics geek type friend thought it was ( and sorry I can't remember what it was). It works fine now!

Hope that helps.