wiper / washer issues.....

[midnite]

well when i started my truck tonight it was working as per normal... but after stoping and getting supper i got back to the truck and hit the wipers to clear the snow but the washer fluid would go as soon as i turned the wipers on... and would continue as long as the wipers were going ... i tried pulling on the lever when i turn the wipers on cause pushing it is suposed to make the fluid go ...

so the issue is that i cant get just wipers without fluid till i ran out of fluid

any ideas what to look at first?

thanks

[willett]

my '78 has the same problem, i think it is because the switch sh*t the bed.
for the time being my sprayer is just cycling back into the resevoir as not to cook the pump.

[midnite]

should be able to disconnect the pump at the motor shouldnt ya? i was thinking bout just putting a push button for the fluid or trying to find a washer switch

[68 TT]

Originally Posted by midnite

should be able to disconnect the pump at the motor shouldnt ya? i was thinking bout just putting a push button for the fluid or trying to find a washer switch

That is exactly what was done to my 78 when I got it. They used a push button momentary switch like you would use to start a race car and mounted it in the dash panel right next to the wiper switch.

I just picked up a delay wiper motor, steering column with turn signal stalk mounted wiper controls, the wiper arms with washer nozzles at the blade area and all the wiring & tubing to upgrade mine to delay wipers. I have a washer jar with the electric pump set into it that I will also install to complete the system.

[zac]

I did the conversion to a washer bottle/pump from a late '80's full size truck on my '79 yesterday. This conversion should be required for all these trucks. It took me about 90 minutes, and I wasn't trying very hard. I have battled so many GM washer pumps over the years. Never again. I just followed the info from threads on this board. The only issue I had was that the bolts that hold the integral washer bottle/pump to the inner fender are metric, and of course I didn't have metric tools at the junkyard. I had to walk around until I found one someone had already pulled off.

S-10's have the same set-up, but the bottle looked a little smaller, so I went with the the full-size truck unit since room is not a problem (just watch that you leave room for the hinge when the hood is closed). It' holds pretty much a full gallon of fluid and is wired directly to the original dash switch. When I first tried the new set-up it shot fluid over the cab, so I had to re-aim the nozzles. Everybody should do this.

[68 TT]

Originally Posted by zac

I did the conversion to a washer bottle/pump from a late '80's full size truck on my '79 yesterday. This conversion should be required for all these trucks. It took me about 90 minutes, and I wasn't trying very hard. I have battled so many GM washer pumps over the years. Never again. I just followed the info from threads on this board. The only issue I had was that the bolts that hold the integral washer bottle/pump to the inner fender are metric, and of course I didn't have metric tools at the junkyard. I had to walk around until I found one someone had already pulled off.

S-10's have the same set-up, but the bottle looked a little smaller, so I went with the the full-size truck unit since room is not a problem (just watch that you leave room for the hinge when the hood is closed). It' holds pretty much a full gallon of fluid and is wired directly to the original dash switch. When I first tried the new set-up it shot fluid over the cab, so I had to re-aim the nozzles. Everybody should do this.

Any pics of the bottle you used and the finished product installed? The jar I have is the smaller S-10 one.

[zac]

[IMG]Dean's grad. '09 & misc. 016[/IMG]

It's not the cleanest installation ever, but my truck isn't clean, so it works. I've seen some pictures posted here where it looks like a factory installation.

I don't know what year the bottle/pump came off of because most of the trucks I pick parts off are almost unidentifiable. Late 80's? I made sure to take as much of the wiring harness as I could. On mine the red wire from the pump goes to the white wire, and the black wire from the pump to red wire. Seems backwards, but someone else here figured out the logic and I just copied it. You push in on the wiper switch and out comes the fluid, just like it's supposed to.

The attachment bolt you can see is an original one in the original hole. The one in back I had to drill. The hood hinge still clears. The identation on the bottom is for access to the bottom bolt. I was going to skip it, but I could see the plastic mounting ears had cracks, and I knew the bottle would be pretty heavy when full, so I rigged something up. The inner fender kind of goes out away from the bottle on the bottom leaving a 1 inch or so gap, so that complicates things. I drilled a hole through the inner fender in the right spot and then came out from the backside with a long bolt, then put a jam nut on it to make it into a stud. Then I put another nut on it so that it would hold the bottle straight when it was installed. Then it was just a matter of putting the the top bolts in and a nut on the bottom "stud" and hooking things up. Trying to explain it is harder than doing it. You'll probably figure out a better way.

Someone in another post figured out the part numbers for all this stuff so that you can get it new. That way you could avoid the cracked plastic ears and have a really nice look for your truck.