Hi all,
I've got a '55 Eldorado and the wipers have stopped working. I have an older style Delco electric replacement (pictured).
The wiper motor is running, the central spindle is turning and there is the wiper swish-swish noise coming from the motor itself. However, there is no movement in the cabin at all - the main wiper pulley is not turning. The wipers are not jammed - you can move either wiper and it moves the other with very little pressure, there's a little slipping of the cables but nothing untoward.
My next steps are to take the wiper motor off and bench test it but has anyone had anything similar occur? The wiper motor is probably 25 years old and I know I can get a New Port replacement but need to prove that it's the motor and not the mechanism before I go down that route.
Any suggestions gratefully received.
Andy
p.s. It's an absolute pig to get to as I'm not gifted in the height department!
Andy,
I'm not sure what exactly the Cadillac electric wiper motor looks like, but the one you show in your picture looks like it's from a 55-57 Chevrolet.
The problem with these is that the park position is opposite of what the Cadillac has. The cables on the Chevrolet are crossed between the wiper transmission and each wiper arm shaft, so the arms operate like they should.
On a Cadillac these cables do not cross, they run straight from the transmission to each wiper shaft, so if you're using the Chevrolet motor, as soon as you turn it on your wiper arms are going to want to drop down instead of lifting from the bottom of the windshield.
Ask me how I know that, lol!!
It's possible to make the Chevrolet motor work, but it requires that you re-route the cables and cross them opposite of what they are now.
It's not a job that you want to get into with an assembled car.
You would be better off locating a Cadillac motor.
I hesitated in answering this as I'm not positive about your motor, but it looks identical to the one I have, and I know it came off a 56 Chevrolet.
Hope this is helpful and good luck with your car.
Rick
Hi Rick,
That's really useful. Thank you for taking the time to reply. It does indeed look like a tri-chevy motor. I'm hopefully going to have some time to remove it tomorrow and take a look. I think I'll probably go the New Port replacement route if it's not fixable.
Best regards,
Andrew
Have you checked the mounting on your motor, make sure that neither one of the screws that hold it in place has come loose, allowing the drive on the motor to pull away from the wiper transmission?
You said that it has stopped working, so when it was working, did the wiper arms make the full travel from the bottom center of your windshield out to the edge and back like they are supposed to? Or have you always had a problem with this?
You also mentioned that you could see that the wiper transmission was not moving. Can you see if one cable runs from the top of the transmission to the top of each wiper arm shaft, and the other one runs from bottom to bottom like they are supposed to, or if they have been crossed to make it work with a Chevrolet motor?
The motor itself may have an internal problem that is not letting it drive the wipers.
Just thinking of other things that it could be, in case I'm wrong about that motor being from a Chevrolet.
Rick
Hi Rick,
I took the wiper motor out today.
The motor was OK - the bracket has sheared off the shaft that attaches to the pulley in the cabin so I will need a NOS or used replacement as it's not fixable.
The Cadillac part number is "466 5839 Drive, Auxiliary, Windshield Wiper Motor".
The Trico part number is 88180-15J. I note that from 54-57 all Cadillacs had the Trico part that started 88180 and then ended 13J, 15J, 19J etc. Are they all the same part for these years or is a 88180-15J a one year part - any ideas?
Best regards,
Andy
This is the fixing onto the bulkhead where the fixing has sheared off the shaft. I don't believe this is original. I think it's off a '56/57 Corvette and it's a one year only part. Almost impossible to find a good replacement. Not sure whether to try and get it welded or to try and get an original part and replace the motor with a New Port one.
Andrew,
The transmission shaft end should have a rectangle piece "U" shape which the wiper motor mounts (you can see it on the attach picture), this is press mounted on the shaft so if you still have it you can try and weld it back.
Also the main issue with the conversion kit from New Port is the bracket where the electric motor mounts is generic for other GM models. So on the Cadillac the way it mount the motor will interfere with the air cleaner housing so it will not seat properly.
I did the conversion but had to modify the bracket (cut and weld it back yellow traces) so the motor will seat horizontally for the air cleaner to fit correctly (second picture with labels), also had to drill an access hold for the mounting screw (red circle).
If your motor is working and you can place the piece back on the transmission shaft I would just stick with that layout since it worked before. ;)
Good luck..!
Andy
If you're going to attempt to repair your part, just remember that if you get the connector piece off of the original location, it will cause the wiper arms to be out of position. There's no adjustment to this system unfortunately.
So just make sure that it's in the correct position on the shaft before you weld it.
I don't have any extra transmissions for the wipers, but it's probably the same one for 54, 55, and 56. Someone with a parts book can tell you for sure if that's correct. Clay has one I know, so he could verify that for you.
Good luck with your repair if that's the route you decide on.
I am not sure if it can be done on the car and be sure you get it in the right position. To be sure it's welded straight and in the right spot you're probably going to have to remove it from the car. And this way you can spin it to make sure it doesn't wobble. Any wobble can make problems for you, like it won't engage completely and could jump out of the drive.
Just things to consider when you make your decision.
Rick
Thanks Jose and Rick for the replies and the photos. Very much appreciated.
I've taken all the parts off the car and it does look repairable to my untrained eye - there's only one way it can go back on. I'm taking it to a specialist machine shop tomorrow or Friday to see if they can braze\weld it. It will be a whole lot easier than having to get an original pulley and a new wiper motor.
Interestingly although the pulley and retainer didn't look identical to the original, on the back it had the correct 1955 part number, so I assume it was a later generic GM replacement.
I will let you know how I get on.
Best regards,
Andy
Andy, I may have a spare 1954 one and I'm only in Essex. I may have a chance to have a dig for it tomorrow.
Phil
Quote from: PHIL WHYTE CLC 14192 on August 09, 2023, 04:57:36 PMAndy, I may have a spare 1954 one and I'm only in Essex. I may have a chance to have a dig for it tomorrow.
Phil
Hi Phil, that would be magic ta. I'm going to try and get mine repaired as it's the easiest thing for me to do but if I can't then that would be my only option. I'm down near Winchester in Hampshire but come from Essex originally.
A
Hi,
Good news\bad news. After a local machine shop rewelded the wiper shaft, I've spent a pretty gruelling day refitting it and all the cables back together (cables back correctly) The original issue is fixed. My passenger wiper is working fine, but the driver's side is not working correctly. One end of the cable is tight and the other end is loose. I think this might have been a problem all along that was disguised by the wiper shaft snapping and has now got worse.
I know for '55 you push the shaft in to retension the cables before fitting the wipers. I'm not sure this is working.
If you look at the video, you can see the wiper pulleys - one is slipping against the other - this obviously isn't right - is it fixable though?
Best regards,
Andy
Hey Andy,
From looking at your video, it appears that the wiper shaft lost its grip on the drive pulley, so any adjustment "distance" is just taken up by the lack of movement of the shaft itself, if that makes sense. I'm not sure if I'm using the correct terminology for this, but I can see what's happening.
You may need to pull that shaft assembly out and take a closer look at it. It could be something as simple as debris between the "clutch" and the drive pieces.
I've completely disassembled mine, even though they were not meant to be repaired. And I can probably explain what you need to do to accomplish this, but it'll have to be tomorrow as I'm out of town today.
Rick
Thanks Rick - I understand what you mean, appreciated.
I'll remove the shaft in a few days and take it apart in the workshop and see if I can see the problem- hopefully, it's just stuck on an internal ridge or something.
I'd do it tomorrow but we've got two events his weekend, one in the '55 so fingers crossed it doesn't rain. I've "upgraded" the autronic eye connections so I can just pull the dash in and out quite quickly, which helps.
I will post again when I've investigated further.
Best regards,
Andy
Andy,
Before you go ahead and pull the shaft, I was thinking about it and it might just be a sticky shaft in the bushings, maybe from dried up grease, or a groove worn into the shaft, hard to say. Have you tried to pull upward on the shaft after you pushed it down to center the cables? It might just have a point where it snags and won't go any farther without assistance. The spring that is supposed to push the shaft back outward/upward, could be too weak to move it past the snags.
Lifting the shaft should free it and lock up the "clutch" if that is in fact your problem.
Could save you some time, and it doesn't hurt to try it. If it doesn't work, well you were going to pull it off anyway.
Rick
Edit: to correct the spelling mistakes that auto-correct either didn't catch or actually inserted.
Ain't technology wonderful?
Ok, Andy, I'm home now and I just grabbed the box with my wiper system in it to look at the shaft.
I rebuilt 2 sets of these, one for the car and the other for backups if I ever need them.
Even though these were not meant to come apart, it is possible to do just that. I filed the bottom end of the shaft to remove the swedged portion so that the bottom piece that goes over the shaft will come off. But before you remove it, take several pictures of the end and the relation of the bottom piece to the shaft with the shaft rotated to the park position, that's with the cable on the top pulled all the way out which leaves the shaft and arm on the park position.
Then you need to mark both the shaft and the bottom piece so that you know which way it goes back on, otherwise you are just guessing and you might have to pull the shaft back off the car to correct the mismatch.
Here's a picture of how I marked mine so there was no mistake about how it goes back together.
20230811_145138.jpg
You can see there are two marks on the shaft and the bottom piece, plus I marked the larger diameter piece with a marker where it lines up with the guard for the cables.
Another thing that you need to do before removing that bottom piece is to drill a small hole through both parts for a roll pin. Do this before you file off the swedged end while everything is locked in the right place. This is what will hold it all together after you file off the swedged portion.
And if you happen to get the hole offset to one side just a bit, that's even better, because the pieces will only line up one way then. After putting it back together, if you can't see thru the hole in both pieces, then it's not positioned correctly and you need to take it apart and try again.
And the shaft and the bottom piece are both splines, so they don't slip once assembled, so you can't twist them apart.
(Word of warning, the bottom piece is pot metal, so it's fragile, be careful with it).
So there's a spring that acts as a tensioner guess, it's been far too long since I've taken these things apart, and even when I did it, there wasn't a diagram of parts with descriptions for reference. So unfortunately I'm relying on my memory for this.
And unfortunately I didn't have my phone with camera at that time either, so no pictures of the disassembled shaft assembly.
I did have a very small digital camera then, and I'm searching for anything I might have taken of this thing. I don't know if I can transfer a picture even if I find one though.
I'll let you know soon if I have anything.
And you let me know if you want to try to repair your shaft assembly yourself, and I'll do what I can to help you with it.
Get back to you soon.
Rick
Oh, and my motor has a squared off end where yours is rounded. I kept thinking that the rounded one was the Chevrolet motor, but it's the squared one that is Chevrolet.
Here's a picture of mine.
It's been too many years since I've even looked at this stuff, so I apologize for the mistake about yours.
20230811_143847.jpg
Wow Rick - huge thanks, really mate - that's awesome. There's so much there I won't be able to check until I actually take mine off and compare it with yours, but what a great reply.
A
Glad to be of assistance.
Here's another thing I've forgotten about. On the cables, the ends with the crimped lugs on them have two different colors for each shaft assembly, for the driver's side and the passenger side. One cable end is copper colored, and the other end is a silver, or a steel color.
On the driver's side, the copper one is the one that raises the arm and blade, while the steel-colored one lowers the arm and blade.
However, that's exactly the opposite from the passenger side. On it, the copper cable lowers the arm while the steel one raises it.
And on your transmission, the little brackets or clips that the cable ends go into are also color coded. Both copper ends go to one clip, and both steel-colored ends go to the other clip.
On mine, the clips are copper steel colored, but the copper is just a paint, and most of it has worn away, but you can still see it.
Here are more pictures of what I'm referring to. I kept looking at the transmission and wondering why I had marked it with a "C" and an "S", then I checked the cable ends and remembered it.
20230811_155441.jpg
20230811_155504.jpg
20230811_155545.jpg
Hope this helps out somewhat. Let me know what you are going to do and I'll try and help.
By the way, I went through 5 memory cards looking for anything on these and found nothing, so I guess I didn't take pictures.
Probably just as well, the screen on that camera is 1.5" X 2", so it's hardly worth messing with.
Rick
I just noticed that your transmission base mounting plate is a different shape than mine. But mine is a 56, so that might explain it.
I also noticed that yours looks like the threaded hole on the right might be messed up, like the screw was cross-threaded maybe?
Here's more information on the wiper shafts.
First though, I looked for any 55 parts I thought I had, but it wasn't until I located the spare 56 parts that I remembered that when I bought the 55 for parts, the guy I got it from had also wanted parts, and he had stripped it of the complete wiper system, supposedly because it had an electric wiper motor. So I don't have one to compare with the 56 parts.
Anyway, on the shafts, that big spring with the end sticking out to the side is a stop for the arm, although I'm not sure exactly how it's supposed to work. Even when it hits the stop, the shaft continues to rotate until the motor and transmission reverses. I think it is supposed to "give" when the arm reaches its maximum travel, but not sure.
The piece that it is attached to has another little wire end poking out, and if you move the end to the right, it releases the "cap" and stop spring.
See pictures for example.
Screenshot_20230811-180251_Gallery.jpg
Screenshot_20230811-180305_Gallery.jpg
In the second picture you can see the spring clip that keeps the cap that holds the stop spring in place. (What a mouth full) lol!!
Anyway, after you remove the cap, THEN you can drill the end of the shaft and the other piece that is left on it. In this next picture you can see how they locked them together.
20230811_174030.jpg
20230811_174048.jpg
Before you remove the cap and stop spring, you should probably mark the cap and the big flat piece below it so you can re-install it in the same position.
Then drill your hole, then file off the swedged end, then mark the shaft and the other piece so there's no mistaking how it goes back together. This is all to make it easier for you later.
Ask me how I know all this. Lol!! I learned that the hard way!
Then I promptly forgot it all, until I started messing with it again in order to tell you how to go about it.
Makes me wish that I had just written it all down somewhere. But at the time, I didn't know about this forum, and I never figured I'd be explaining the process to anyone else.
If I could only remember half of what I've already forgotten, I'd be a happy man!
Here's a few more pictures of the shafts. Mainly just showing the markings that the factory put on them to identify left and right. Hope this helps too.
20230811_173840.jpg
20230811_173848.jpg
20230811_173754.jpg
20230811_173800.jpg
These last 4 pictures are of a set I haven't rebuilt yet. I thought I had, but after looking at them again, I can see I hadn't.
Something else about these that I remember, is that there are 2 brass bushings in the shaft housing, and on the set I rebuilt, I believe I drove them out and cleaned up the shaft and the bushings, then drove the bushings back into the housings. Then before I installed the shafts, I added some lithium grease to the housing and bushings.
It's a bit of work, but well worth it in the end.
Rick
Andy,
I was just looking at your picture of the transmission with the drive end missing, and I noticed that it has a wear pattern on the surface from a thrust washer.
Both of my 56's have a thick thrust washer right behind the drive "head"? not exactly sure what to call it, but before you have that welded back together, you will need to find that washer or the drive end will not sit high enough to engage the motor drive. There is only a small amount of engagement between the two anyway, so if the transmission side doesn't extend out far enough, it probably won't engage at all.
Rick
Hi Rick,
OK - firstly the easy bit. The thrust washer was welded back OK - no worries. It might look like a screw is cross threaded but they're all OK. For various reasons I ended up assembling the motor and pulley assembly off the car and fitting it as a unit - this enabled me to get the best fit and make sure there was no play in the motor\pulley connection.
Now, I've taken the driver's side transmission out of the car. It doesn't look like yours. There's no spring on the end. The manual lists the original part number as 4665776 or Trico 88141-5J. The only visible part number I can see is 87052-6 but there is a "5" stamped on the flange. See pics for more details.
Also - see the video here:
Should there be that much play in the shaft? If I push the end I can feel the adjustment spring load and return, but it's really tight and I have to use a lot of force to push it down. It feels like it's too tight to work if that makes any sense?
Thanks again,
Andy
Hi Andy,
Yours is definitely different than mine. Both sets I have are from 56's, so I know they are correct for the year. And since my 55 was missing the complete wiper system, I just assumed it would have been the same as the 56, my error there.
As for the amount of travel in your wiper shaft assembly, it's definitely more than what mine have, but I don't think it's a problem. What I see though, is it seems to move back and forth (up and down) too easily, at least that's how it appears in your video. After you release it, it looks like it doesn't return to the fully extended position like it should, which would leave the "clutch" disengaged and would account for the lack of movement of your wiper arm.
Your shaft does not have the splines on the end that the cap I was referring to would engage, so it obviously wasn't something that was used in 55.
The more I got to thinking about what purpose this big cap and spring serves, about all I could come up with is it's an assist spring to help raise the arms when they are at the outer edge of the windshield and you're traveling at speed with the wind pushing the arms downward. With the little bit of extra pressure the additional spring provides, it's enough to help out a vacuum wiper motor bring the arms back towards the center again.
But that's just conjecture on my part, since I haven't found anything about the design of the system anywhere.
In your case, I think you would be miles ahead to locate another shaft instead of trying to fix yours. About the only thing I can recommend to try before you replace it is to drill a small hole through the housing to enable you to spray some lubricant into it to try and get the shaft to free itself enough to apply pressure on the clutch again.
I will take a picture of mine and show you where I think you should drill. It must be behind the mounting brackets so it's inside the car and water won't get to it.
I'm not at home currently, but will be in about an hour or so, and I'll post a picture for you.
Rick
Ok, first, here's the picture of my wiper shaft assembly and where I would drill a hole if I were going to try lubricating it.
There's a screwdriver tip right next to the dot I placed on the top of the housing for this purpose. I would do it on the top so that any lubricant you get into it won't just run back out that hole if it were on the bottom.
You may get some of it coming out around the bottom of the shaft anyway depending on how much clearance there is between the shaft and the bushing. If it's worn excessively, it will leak from the bottom anyhow. There are no seals on the shaft or housing.
20230813_104827.jpg
Secondly, I guess there is supposed to be some back and forth travel of the shaft within the housing, independent of the adjustment travel. Here is a video of how mine moves, I just show the free travel on the whole shaft within the housing first, then I show the adjustment travel. You can also see the teeth on part of the cable-driven hub that is part of the clutch.
On mine, the adjustment travel is much harder to push, as it should be
I also used one that I had already rebuilt so I know it would show you the correct travel for each part of it.
Well now the system is not letting me upload the video. Something about the wrong type of file.
So I don't know how to get you the video. I shot it with my phone, but I have no idea what the problem is. It's only a 12-second video. Any suggestions?
Edit:
I just noticed that you used YouTube for your video, I don't have YouTube, so that explains why I can't post mine. I have sent a video through an email before. I had to send one to Roger Zimmermann on an Eldorado hub a few years ago, but I thought I had also posted it here. Gotta check that again.
Anyway, if you would like, I can email you the video. PM me your email address and I'll send it out.
Rick
Edit: On this same line of thought, I noticed that in your video you were only moving the shaft within the housing, once the shaft was at the bottom end of the free play travel, you didn't apply any further pressure to disengage the clutch, if there is any travel left for that. Have you tried to push the shaft past where it seems to stop when you are moving it back and forth like in the video? If so, it's probably shot and you need a new one.
If not, try pushing it down against the internal spring and see if the clutch pieces will separate from each other. It should be very obvious if it will.
And thirdly, I relied on my memory when I stated that the cables were not crossed on this setup. In checking my service manual to double check if there was any information about what this extra spring was for, I saw my hand written notes about how the cables were crossed for the drivers side, but not on the passenger side, so I caught myself lying again!
I made that note because in order to use the Chevrolet motor, I have to cross the passenger side and uncross the drivers side, which is opposite of what Cadillac did.
Ain't memory a wonderful thing? Lol!!
Still didn't find anything about the spring though. Engineering notes are probably the only place you'll find that out, but I don't have access to those if they even exist anymore.
Rick
Andy,
I was just mulling over this problem, and another thought occurred to me that might make it easier when you go to put everything back together.
Because it's so difficult to get the cable ends into the center drive hub, (transmission), to make it a bit easier you can extend the cables from both shaft assemblies by pressing the shaft down to disengage the clutch and at the same time pull on both cables. This allows them to extend to their maximum length, allowing you more cable to work with when you're trying to reattach them to the center hub.
Once they are all connected, after you make sure that the motor is in the park position, then before you attach the arms, press down the shaft again to re-tension the cables and center the shaft in relation to the hub.
It's not much, but it'll help when you're working under the dash in low light and little room.
Rick
Hi Rick,
Well I think we're almost there. Great information Sir, pertinent and informative. Not just for me, but for those that come after.
I disassembled everything on the driver's side - it hadn't been apart in 20-25 years, not since the original restoration. I got the transmission on the bench and tried to free it up. Using large amounts of silicon lubricant and working it back and forth, I got it to loosen up and after about 10 mins it was working absolutely fine. Huge relief.
With my wife's help disengaging the wiper clutch, I reassembled everything. It's certainly tight under there. Turn the wipers on....
For five seconds it worked absolutely fine, then it lost tension and the wiper started making vague attempts at clearing the windshield in a very poor 5 degree arc. Oh well. At least the passenger wiper is working like a train.
I'm a positive person so it's been a reasonable week. The major fault with the wipers has been welded and fixed. This issue with the driver's side, the transmission needs to be replaced - I can't have the car off the road in show season, so will wait until a replacement arrives, dismantle everything again, and swap them over. I will take the old one apart eventually, if nothing else to understand how they work internally. In the UK though, it rains a lot, so operational wipers are unfortunately, an essential rather than an option.
I will post when the replacement arrives and is fitted - I'm putting the dashpad back for now though - there's a big cruise in South London next week. I'll be there, as long as it doesn't rain!
All the best,
Andy
p.s. Just about to post about my driver's door - that's next on the list!
It may be that the lubricant has gotten onto the clutch portion and is causing the slippage now, but I kind of doubt it. It isn't a friction material, it's got teeth and tension that keeps them engaged, but they do have a slop to them in one direction, so that if the arm should hang up, then the teeth will jump across each other until tension no longer has the force to make the clutch operate.
I'm glad you have found a replacement, that will make it much quicker to get back on the road. And then you can play with your original piece and find out what is wrong with it.
Feel free to PM me if you have any questions about how to take it apart. It's different, but not so much that it would matter. The 56 has more pieces to it, so your 55 should be fairly simple to do.
Enjoy your car show and happy motoring.
Rick
One alternative if it does rain (apply before it rains) - Rain-X. If you have never used it, you may be pleasantly surprised at how well it works and what a bother those silly wipers are! ;D
Quote from: 35-709 on August 13, 2023, 05:31:06 PMOne alternative if it does rain (apply before it rains) - Rain-X. If you have never used it, you may be pleasantly surprised at how well it works and what a bother those silly wipers are! ;D
I've got Rain-X outside and Rain-X anti-mist inside! That's part of the UK Cadillac survival kit.
;D
Yep!! Good stuff that Rain-X. And on a new glass it's absolutely amazing.
Andrew, it's unfortunate for us both: I have a set wiper transmissions for 1954 and a NOW wiper transmission for early 1956 cars with the part number #4687622 which is the small outside diameter like 1954 and 55. Later 1956 cars had a pulley with a larger diameter like Rick is showing.
I'm attaching the pictures from my '56 part; I have no idea if you could use it on your car.
Wiper tr. 2.JPGWiper tr..JPG
Hi Roger,
Thank you greatly for the photos. That is so close! My 4665776 is a Trico 88141-5J and your 4687622 is a Trico 88141-8J. They look identical apart from the small ring under the ferrule at the top but it's probable mine has been damaged at some time and that's been lost. Are they the same? I have no idea but probably not worth the risk of sending to the UK unless there's a Trico catalog or expert that can explain the difference. I actually exchanged emails with Trico Support this week saying if they have the catalogs from way back when they should put them online and what a great reference that would be but they apparently "no longer have that information".
Best regards,
Andy
Well Andy, if I had a '55 system I could compare. Basically the 1954 to 1956 body is the same but sometimes there are modifications which prevent the cross usage. I could take 100 pictures from that transmission, looking identical to the '55 and, the moment to install it, there is a "something" which is in the way!
On the other side, shipping to England is not that costly: 250 grams are costing 9 CHF or 0.5 kg are costing 14 CHF ( the exchange rate is 1.11 CHF for 1 £). I set the price many moons ago to CHF 120.00, but I'm ready to sell it for half that amount, gone is gone!
Roger,
Thanks for the information, I was unaware that the difference was a mid-year design change. The book wouldn't happen to explain what the additional spring on the 2nd design is for would it?
Very interesting though, regardless.
Thanks for jumping in.
Rick
Tha master parts list is always interesting to look at!
The '54 cars had the Trico number 88140/41-4, '55 models 88140/41-5J, the early '56 had 88140/41-8J before engine number 76135 and after engine 76134 88140/41-11J.
1954/55 wiper transmissions had a cost of $ 6.00; early and late '56 had a price of $ 8.95.
The early '56 had in addition a tension washer and a "C" ring; don't ask what it is, I don't know!
I know that there's a wave washer or spring washer under the cap and spring piece that is on mine. I think it's purpose is to keep the cap from rattling when the wipers are operating, but that's just my best guess.
All very interesting information, so now I know what I have fits just half of the 56's out there.
Thanks Roger,
Rick
Quote from: Cadman-iac on August 14, 2023, 12:09:13 PMAll very interesting information, so now I know what I have fits just half of the 56's out there.
Thanks Roger,
Rick, as there was no change to the body, you can certainly sell the later transmissions for a car with the smaller pullies. Of course as a pair only!
Quote from: Roger Zimmermann on August 14, 2023, 04:21:37 AMWell Andy, if I had a '55 system I could compare. Basically the 1954 to 1956 body is the same but sometimes there are modifications which prevent the cross usage. I could take 100 pictures from that transmission, looking identical to the '55 and, the moment to install it, there is a "something" which is in the way!
On the other side, shipping to England is not that costly: 250 grams are costing 9 CHF or 0.5 kg are costing 14 CHF ( the exchange rate is 1.11 CHF for 1 £). I set the price many moons ago to CHF 120.00, but I'm ready to sell it for half that amount, gone is gone!
Hi Roger, much as I'm tempted, let me see if I can get an original - there's a NOS for sale but it's a little more expensive - if it doesn't come to anything I will definitely be back in touch - thanks very much for the offer - be good if someone knew the difference between a 5J and an 8J though!
Best regards,
Andy
I found a NOS one which is now on it's way to the UK.
A
Glad you were able to locate one. You'll be down the road and killing bugs quicker than you think now. Lol!!
One thing that I noticed on both of my center pulley assemblies is a number stamped into the bottom of each pulley. It is simply stamped with 2.33, which is the diameter of the pulley when measured at the bottom of the groove for the cables.
I don't know if the earlier years have any kind of markings on them, but if so it might make it easier to identify the correct one.
I also noticed that in the 56 service manual the picture of the center pulley drive looks just like your 55 does, so that must be the difference between the 1st and 2nd designs.
I suppose it's possible to use the 56 1st design for a 55 if ever need it and you find one.
Rick
Hi Rick,
Very interesting. Mine was 1.28.
Quote from: Lockhouse on August 17, 2023, 05:58:46 AMHi Rick,
Very interesting. Mine was 1.28.
Really? That small. That's over an inch difference in diameter.
That might explain why the end broke off of your shaft. It takes a lot more torque to turn a smaller pulley.
This could explain why they increased the size on the 2nd design pulley in 56. Easier on the wiper motor too.
Rick
Hi All,
We have wipers!
The NOS driver's side mechanism that arrived from the US was beautiful. It even had the original collar on preventing tightening which meant not needing any help for the install. There's something lovely about fitting genuine NOS parts - it never fails to make me feel good. Little things, eh?
Thanks Gents for all your help, this forum saves the day again.
Best regards,
Andy
That's great news, Andy. Hopefully all those problems are behind you now, and you can get back to killing bugs. Lol!!
Rick