Wiper motor grounding problem/solution

So after I rebuilt the heater box and got everything back together, my wipers didn't work. I thought I must have bumped something loose behind the dash, so I tore into it again. All of the wiring seemed to be O.K., as did the motor and switch itself (fumbled around with the multi-meter for a while).

We had a spare used motor on the shelf, so I hooked it up along with a ground wire since the motor wasn't attached to the windshield, and it worked fine. Hmmm. Hooked up a new ground wire to the existing motor and it worked again.

Guess those window hinges aren't the best ground.

Since pictures of a ground wire aren't all that exciting, and not wanting to get in trouble with Big Walton, here are a few gratuitous grandkid shots. In the first, Jonah is supervising my electrical work. The second is in HIS new Jeep, courtesy of Mr. & Mrs. Beep. It you look real close, you can see his head gasket is leaking. He's a real Jeeper, that one.

YEP! Head gasket is leaking. GREAT PICTURES!!!

Don

Definately the head gasket.

And I usually found that rather than the Hinges, that the ground was through the windshield hold down bolts on the inside of the windshield.

I had a problem in the CJ-7 with the wiper motor breaking the traveler rods for the wiper because the pivot had worked loose from the frame. When I was trying to install new rods, I wanted to see how the motor rotated the pivots. But I got nothing.

Took me a while to figure out that it needed to be bolted in place for the motor to work.


Carl

Hmmm. That's interesting about the windshield bolts. I tend to smear anti-seize on pretty much everything that I can get apart. Perhaps I created my own problem. Wouldn't be the first time.