1950s Trico windsheild wiper vacuum pump

[Daffer]

My windsheild wipers haven't worked since I bought my 1950 cadillac series 62, I turn the Knob they slightly lift up and then nothing. I tryed the marvel mystery trick and I didn't see any difference, what could be wrong with it? Thanks

-Joshua

[J. Russo]

If you find your wiper motor needs repair, this guy rebuilt my 1941 wiper motor.

https://rebuildingtricowipers.com/

[dn010]

By now, all of the grease inside the motor has dried up and hardened making it very difficult for the parts inside to move efficiently. If you're adventurous, you can open it up and clean out all the old grease and smear some new in it to see if that gets it going - but you risk damaging other parts like the gaskets, or, in my case, on one occasion my dumb a## dropped the paddle unit and the material on it broke upon contact with the concrete floor. 

Also make sure your vacuum lines are good as well as the vacuum manifold if your year even has one.

[TJ Hopland]

I have used electric conversion kits from these guys a few times and they have fit and worked well.  I have not used any of their Cadillac ones so I can't speak for their fit or looks.  Both cases the vacuum systems had been rebuilt at some point but lack of use seemed to kill em again so when you did need em they didn't work. 

https://newportwipers.com/product-category/cars/cadillac/

I don't know the exact time line of the failures or who did the rebuilds but knowing how often I get caught in the rain and find out my blades are shot from old age and I can't remember the last time I used em I can see it being years between uses for a lot of our cars.

[Mike Josephic CLC #3877]

Ficken Wiper Service has been the "go to" place for many
years for rebuilding Trico wiper units:
https://www.carsandstripes.com/directory/ficken-wiper-service.html

Mike

[Jay Friedman]

Ficken Wiper Service has been the "go to" place for many
years for rebuilding Trico wiper units:
https://www.carsandstripes.com/directory/ficken-wiper-service.html

Mike

I second the motion.  Ficken rebuilt my '49's wiper motor some years ago and it works perfectly.  In fact, I only have to turn the wiper button0 about halfway for them to go at a good speed. Their website is below:

https://rebuildingtricowipers.com/

[Daffer]

Thank you all for the suggestions, I saw rebuilding it seemed the most popular option and since I'm inpatient 😂 I decided to give it a shot in rebuilding it and might I say I did a pretty good job I degreased the whole thing and bought a new gasket for it. But now my question is what's the best grease for it? and when the gasket arrives do I need to do anything to it as it's a paper one? Thanks
-Joshua

[D. Mailan]

Rebuilding it yourself is incredibly easy and I have done it a few times for some of my Cadillac's (two 56's and a 58).

I used a thin coat of high temp wheel bearing grease inside the housing. Don't lather the inside too much or it will cause resistance for the paddle. I also added a few drops of marvel mystery oil just to keep everything smooth. If you are able to, drop some marvel mystery oil on the dash knob cable, they tend to rust stuck. And apply some grease to the plastic vacuum slider "modulator" that increases and decreases the vacuum.
All the best,
Derick

[CadillacFanBob]

Thank you all for the suggestions, I saw rebuilding it seemed the most popular option and since I'm inpatient 😂 I decided to give it a shot in rebuilding it and might I say I did a pretty good job I degreased the whole thing and bought a new gasket for it. But now my question is what's the best grease for it? and when the gasket arrives do I need to do anything to it as it's a paper one? Thanks
-Joshua

Please give us a update when you completed job.

Bob

[dn010]

I used whatever grease I had laying around, once was also bearing grease and the second time was marine spline grease.

[fmackan]

We have the same year end model car Joshua.  In my quest to have everything work on the car, i had my wiper motor professionally restored.  But more importantly checking all the vacuum lines from manifold to the dash.  My vacuum based options (wipers, washer fluid and aerial) all working and all of them required restoration

Having said all that and as we all know, they are useless at higher speeds in the rain.  It depends on how you want to use the car, whether you want original etc...the electric version is always out there

Cheers

Francis

[Daffer]

Please give us a update when you completed job.

Bob

After degreasing it I bought a bew gasket that day it just got in today. So I regreased it and added tge new gasket on tested it and the motor works! So good news I put it back together correctly. Bad news It seems slow and when I connected it to my wipers it doesn't have tge power to move them. Could it be a leak in vacuum tube system somewhere because I checked the tube for the wiper fluid and there is no suction. Any suggestions or help woukd be appreciated.
Thanks, Joshua

[dn010]

By now, everything is dried up and cruddy - with the wiper motor removed, how much resistance do you get when trying to move the wiper arms by hand? It is also wise to replace any/all vacuum lines.