Windscreen wipers keep blowing their fuse

[el_presidente]

I turn on the wipers, they struggle slowly once across the screen, then the fuse burns through. Any ideas?

thanks Ian

[California Dreamin]

Aren't the wipers on the same circuit as the heater blower? and the heater blowers tend to seize up creating excessive amp draw on the circuit. So my theory is the wipers are just the straw that broke the camels back and the real issue maybe the heater blower motor.
Does the fuse blow when the blowers are turned off?

Martin

[el_presidente]

Not convinced by that, took it for a spin this afternoon (no rain in sight) and the heater fan seemed to be working... but I'll double check.

thanks

[California Dreamin]

I maybe well off the mark but given the heater blowers reputation in these vans (age related) it is definately worth taking into consideration.

I have also known seized wiper boxes, basically corroded (where the wiper spindles come through and rotate) causing slow wiper operation. Strip, clean, grease, re-assemble.

Martin

[Cableguy]

Do a search and check out my post where I had the same problem

[bigherb]

If it blows the fuse without the blower on then good chance the wiper spindles are seizing up.
Remove the wiper blades and the plastic cover, flip off the circlip, then push the spindles down spray some WD40 or similar down the spindle to soften the old, grease clean out as mush as you can then use some spray grease to lubricate, the stuff for motorcycle chains works best as it's water resistant.

[el_presidente]

aha! after closer inspection it IS the heater blower & NOT the wipers..... I stand corrected & am in your debt gentleman. Now to work out when I can get a spare day to take the bloody dash off....

[CovKid]

Do my fuse mod (bottom of this page):

https://club8090.co.uk/wiki/Co ... eplacement" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

If you have the cartridge style fuses (1985 and before), its an almost essential mod to be honest.

Should sort it for you

If blower fuse still (excuse the pun) 'blows', you may need a slightly higher rated fuse as an interim measure (don't overdo it) until you can fit a new blower unit which is the inevitable solution. If it is original, it will certainly be in its Autumn years now and will need replacing. They tend to get worse, partially or fully seizing, drawing more current, and attempts to lubricate (whilst admirable) are at best a temporary measure.

Splitting blower from wipers on earlier T25s is a good idea if only on safety grounds. The original set up worked fine but relied heavily on ohms law being consistent with little headroom. By now that scenario would have changed - hence the fuse issue.

[el_presidente]

Thanks, I will do. At the moment the blower switch is taped over & set to 0.... presumably there's no issue with it not working, it's purely cabin heat and not cooling the rad or anything...?

Also, there's another rotary switch to the left of the slider controls - is this the fan as well or some seperate control of which I'm unaware?


thanks again

[CovKid]

Yep, just cabin heat. No idea on additional knob.

[islandboy]

I have a dead blower too and will be changing it over some time soon. However, the excellent instructions on the Wiki state that there are two screws that you need to access after removing the front grill.

I took off the grills but could not find the screws referred to !

Can anyone kindly post a piccie of their exact location.

Much appreciated.

My Van is 1987 Caravelle body, 1.9DG Water cooled, petrol.

[fairwynds]

Morning Islandboy,
have attached a couple of pics. The first one shows the blower housing exposed. I have marked the 3 x screws with yellow arrows (sorry, came out bit small!) These three on left hand side, similar on right hand side of blower housing. ALL the screws SHOULD be able to be undone from inside the van, but sometimes the middle ones are seriously rusted solid. An 'impact driver' type screwdriver might shift them, however, I had to drill out the two middle ones (left and right hand side) and later replaced them with nuts and bolts, accessing the fitting of the nuts by removing the front grille and the little plastic 'flyscreen' that lives underneath that. The problems arise because these particular fixings go through the bulkhead and then into the 'outside world', under the front grille, and get all the moisture etc over the years. The screw part (which is actually a cross headed bolt) fixes into its nut, which is welded in as part of the bodywork on these difficult ones....



Second picture shows the housing removed, and exposing the vent beneath. You will see the holes that the (middle) fixings go through in the bulkhead. Hope this helps.

[islandboy]

Fairwynds.

Brilliant pics.

Many thanks.

[bigherb]

I have a dead blower too and will be changing it over some time soon. However, the excellent instructions on the Wiki state that there are two screws that you need to access after removing the front grill.

My Van is 1987 Caravelle body, 1.9DG Water cooled, petrol.

It was the later ones that had the top screws behind the grill earlier vans are as fairwinds above, it changed about your year.

[islandboy]

My log book says first registered 5 Jan 1987 so it will have been manufactured 1986. Lets hope it is the earlier type as they look a bit simpler to remove.

Many thanks for your help folks.