55.2-59 '59 Electric wiper motor switch

[Tod59]

Hi Everyone,

This question is regarding my '59 Chevy 3100 (what I believe to be) original 2 speed electric wiper motor & switch. My entire wiper motor and system is in place and connected under the dash. However, someone in the past broke off the two metal "tabs" on the back of my 2 speed dash switch.

Question:
Will another 1950's or even 1960's 2 speed switch work in place of my broken switch? Most ads on E*bay offering late car 1950's switch's have 3 "tabs" which I assume is for the windshield washer (which I do not have on my truck). For clarification, my wiper switch does not have the long cable system attached as I've seen in several aftermarket catalogs.

Will a 2 speed 3 prong switch work in place of my original 2 speed 2 prong switch?

Thanks,
Tod59

[dsraven]

I have a motor and switch from a 58 but it has the cable style. how does the wiring look going to the switch? if it is simply hot 12v, like battery voltage, and the motor is simply a single connection, then one would assume that the switch is going to have some sort of resitor built in to do a 2 speed thing. you could try hotwiring it and see what happens, like connect the two wires that go to the switch and see what happens with the motor. if thats the case, a single "high speed" then you would need to look for a switch that has a resistor in it or else look for a rotary switch with off-on-on style and wire a resistor inline for the low speed, like a heater would have. the other option, I guess, is to solder some wire onto the old broken off tabs of the old switch and then use those wires to connect the old stock wiring harness to. that woulld give you the totally stock look and function.

[dsraven]

since that looks like a rotary reostat i wonder if you could simply solder connections back onto the broken tabs and try it. otherwise look for something like what shows in the link

https://www.amazon.com/Electronics-S...37&sr=8-9&th=1

[mr48chev]

The one on classic parts says "not for use with original electric motor. https://www.classicparts.com/1939-87...ctinfo/67-095/

LMC doesn't show a switch that I can find.

This one from The Filling Station should be what you are looking for.

https://store.fillingstation.com/det...CH1_SPEED.html

With them Check and ask if they have it in stock or ask how long it will take them to get it in. My experience is that they don't have a huge inventory and some slow movers get ordered on stock orders and they send them out when they get them in. I waited several weeks for a park light lens for my 77 one ton but the price was right and it is a nice part. They are basically a mom and pop operation rather than a big outfit with a mega warehouse.

[_Ogre]

A 59 electric wiper motor has the switch on the back of motor and has a rotary cable operator on the dash. A single 12v hot feeds motor, I believe all are 2 speed and have a park function. I have one and you are welcome to it, but I'm traveling to Texas to snowbird for 4-5 months

Can you post a picture of the motor? Specifically the switch connection?

[leegreen]

yeah, I'd figure out the motor before buying a switch.

If you really have 2 speed wipers, the only way a 2 pole switch can work is if it is switching grounds, is that how they were wired in '59?

The generic aftermarket wiper switches like you see on Amazon have 4 poles
input
Low out
High out
Park - powered when the switch is off

[Tod59]

Thank you all for responding, your advice is greatly appreciated! In reading the responses, it appears as if I could do a better job describing the items.

The "switch" I am speaking about (and posted 2 pictures of) is the switch that is located in the dash without the knobs on it. The picture attached is what the "switch" is supposed to look like, as I mentioned, a previous owner broke the the two tabs off.

My plan was just to install a toggle switch under the dash so I can use the wipers in an emergency situation (I have been caught a few times in the rain). When I ran temporary jumper wires to the battery and toggle switch, I can hear a "clicking" sound coming from the actual wiper motor under the dash.

I also tried (as DSRaven suggested), hot wiring the plug ends together, but noting happened. One thing I had not thought of in reading all of your responses is that perhaps I should actually start the truck, then attempt my testing experiments?

I'll keep all of you posted! Thanks again for the responses. I'm attaching a picture of what the original dash switch should look like and also a picture of my truck.

Tod

[Tod59]

I screwed up and didn't attach the pictures! Here they are: what the dash switch is supposed to look like and my truck.

[dsraven]

ice truck. ogre will be in love, yellow with yellow wheels and 4 eyes.
since the switch is round with 2 wire connections I would assume that it is a reostat potentiometer on the inside. like an old fashioned volume control on an old fashioned radio. without seeing the wiper motor I would have to say the switch likely has an "on", which gives a straight through electrical pathway, and the when you turn it past that the internal connections on the switch go to the resistive coil winding and vary the degree of voltage thats allowed through by where the wiper arm connection inside the switch is rubbing on the resistive coil winding.
anyway, long story short, see what the connections on the motor look like and go from there. if it only has a single wire connection then the motor unit would be grounding through the mounts to the body of the cab. it goes without saying that you need to ensure it is getting a good ground in that case. you don't need to run the truck to check operation as long as you use a jumper wire that gets a fused battery power when the key is off. the motor unit may also have a "park" function switch so operating the wipers manually may help clean up that switch contact internally. I have personally only seen the vacuum operated wipers motors or the cable operated ones like ogre was talking about a few posts back. I have one on my workbench right now, actually, if you need a pic. possibly your electric unit was an aftermarket upgrade back in the day because the vac operated wipers were pretty much useless when the gas pedal was pushed down-pretty much no vacuu, then so the wipers didn't work.

[dsraven]

something like a rotary fan switch may also work as shown in the link below. some highway trucks or chool busses etc use them. ensure you get one that will habdle the load.
check to ensure the motor operates before spending money on anything. you should be able to hotwire it with a fused jumper wire to the terminal directly on the motor, that way you aren't relying on some old wire thats been under there for a long time. if only a single wire connection then jump the wire directly to that and see what happens. if nothing then check the ground, possibly add a ground jumper wire to the motor body. try possibly moving the wiper arms to make the motor turn and therefore renew a contact with the motor brushes on the motor commutator, park switch or whatever. also look for a broken off terminal on the motor which could be a ground wire or possibly a mate to the other wire on the switch-meaning the motor would possibly have a power wire to the motor and the switch on the dash would run the motor remotely to turn it on or vary speed-like the set up ogre talks about except with a reostat on the dash instead of a cable operated style. if the wiring was ripped off at the switch end it could be due to a problem with the motor so the previous owner, or operator at the time of trouble, may have simply yanked the wires off to stop the smoke coming from the motor.
just a thought

[dsraven]

https://www.partdeal.com/red-dot-var...6-4691-0p.html

forgot to post the link, sorry

[dsraven]

just read back through my posts.man, I gotta proof read before hitting submit. seems like a lot of spelling mistakes due to missed key strokes. lol.

[leegreen]

read this thread
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=522950

Sounds like there are a few options, but if you have 2 speed and the motor is not actuated by a cable, then the dash switch works by grounding to the dash, it grounds one wire for low, the other for high. There is always power to the motor when ignition is on.

you can probably confirm with your broken switch if the remains of the broken off tabs ground to the switch body when you move the switch

so if all this is correct, the two wires you ran to toggle switch from the motor, what happens if you touch one to ground when the ignition is on?

[dsraven]

Good info Lee green. That's why I mentioned to check motor connections and grounding. .
In the end it's just a 12v motor that needs power and ground to operate. Do that and see if it works before you spend that beer money. Haha.

[leegreen]

this is for a '59 car: http://chevy.oldcarmanualproject.com.../pdf/59car.pdf
it shows 3 different setups:
single speed = switch with one pole
single speed with wash = switch with two poles
two speed with wash = switch with 3 poles

so in all three cases the switch is the ground

[dsraven]

The old car manuals site is a good one to bookmark for sure.

[dsraven]

Good digging there LG, this site is great for having guys who are knowledgable and not afraid to share info. Also, most on here are not the kind to call someone down over a comment made that they didnt like.
Tod59, that's a great looking truck, is it all stock?

[Tod59]

Hi Again, with an update:

Dsraven, yes, this truck is all stock with original 235, rear end and 3 "on the tree" tranny. Truck was built in California and spent its life there until mid 80's. Talked to the 2nd owner a few years ago and she shared many fun and interesting stories from the late 60's during her ownership.

Here is what I did today:
#1. Ran "temporary jumper wires" from positive and negative terminals of battery to original 2 plug wire from wiper motor.[LIST][*]No luck and it did not work.

#2. Installed a toggle switch and mounted it to bottom of dash and connected two original plug wires to toggle.[LIST][*]No luck and it did not work.

#3. Wired original 2 plug to + and - of battery tried with truck running and not running.[LIST][*]No luck and it did not work.

#4. Started truck and let her run each time I tried an experiment. No change.

I'm attaching 3 pictures based upon Ogre's request. I tend to believe this wiper motor is original, but I have no way to verify. This thing has me stumped! I'll probably just make "Rain-X" my friend for now, perhaps one day upgrading to a RainGear system (kind of pricy tho).

Thanks for all your help, I greatly appreciate it!

[dsraven]

Can you get a pic of the connections on the motor? Maybe like LG says, the positive "hot with key on" wire connects to the motor and there would be another terminal on the motor that would go to the switch. The switch would then be screwed down to the dash and when turned on it would become the ground for the circuit. Look for another wire connection on the motor or connect the power to the motor and try grounding the motor housing to complete the circuit.

[Tod59]

One more picture of the entire system. I'll keep trying more tomorrow.

[dsraven]

Well, that looks pretty straightforward......

[leegreen]

Is there power at either wire when the ignition is on? What happens if you ground that wire?

[1project2many]

In an original installation the wiper switch provides a ground path to the motor. There is one speed built into the motor. The switch should have an internal resistor to lower current flow and slow the motor.

The same design was used until 63-64 ish? Later switches may have a push button in the center of the knob to activate the windshield washer pump. Later switches can be used if the center of the knob is drilled out for the button. A 12V washer pump from a later vehicle will operate the washers nicely if a set of washer nozzles are installed in the wiper arm bezel.

[dsraven]

My 57 and 58 both had washer nozzles built into the wiper arm pivots. Could easily find some stock nozzles.

[1project2many]

Most of the original bezels that I've seen had screws installed in the washer locations. When I was a youngster I scrounged through many salvage looking for a pair of nozzles for my '55. They were very hard to find.

More recently, Classic Industries or Brother's used to sell aftermarket nozzles IIRC.