Gary Lewis Posted March 21, 2023 Share Posted March 21, 2023 LOL! Yes, that stuff has caused many a fire, or at least lots of smoke. Glad you checked. Me too. Turns out, I’m a lucky idiot. Lucky in this case that I’m an idiot. There was nothing wrong with the blower stuff…it helps when you turn things ON. 🙄 I’m used to my 70 F100. Turn the blower to high and it comes on, no matter what everything else is set for. The 86 has this position called OFF. Funny thing, it means everything is OFF. LOL I had the blower on high but the system was OFF. I’m an idiot. I’m a lucky idiot though since that prompted me to solicit help and get the advice to check for fire hazards. I just pulled the blower motor and cleaned out lots of leaves. Thanks guys! Now to put this back together and figure out what I’m doing wrong with wipers…or maybe there really is an issue with them. 😜 All of us have done things like that. But glad you got the stuff out of the resistors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chirkware Posted March 21, 2023 Author Share Posted March 21, 2023 All of us have done things like that. But glad you got the stuff out of the resistors. I believe I have a bad wiper motor. I checked the wires at the motor per this post on another site, and had power exactly s described, but the motor doesn’t turn. Beating on it a bit, it makes noise but it is obviously not free. So I guess I’ll be sourcing a motor. Hopefully that swap isn’t too bad. Looks WAY easier than my 70 where it’s up inside the dash. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chirkware Posted March 21, 2023 Author Share Posted March 21, 2023 All of us have done things like that. But glad you got the stuff out of the resistors. I believe I have a bad wiper motor. I checked the wires at the motor per this post on another site, and had power exactly s described, but the motor doesn’t turn. Beating on it a bit, it makes noise but it is obviously not free. So I guess I’ll be sourcing a motor. Hopefully that swap isn’t too bad. Looks WAY easier than my 70 where it’s up inside the dash. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted March 21, 2023 Share Posted March 21, 2023 I believe I have a bad wiper motor. I checked the wires at the motor per this post on another site, and had power exactly s described, but the motor doesn’t turn. Beating on it a bit, it makes noise but it is obviously not free. So I guess I’ll be sourcing a motor. Hopefully that swap isn’t too bad. Looks WAY easier than my 70 where it’s up inside the dash. It does seem like you have a motor problem. But you could try the tests from Ford's factory shop manual on our page at Documenation/Electrical/Windshield Wipers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArdWrknTrk Posted March 21, 2023 Share Posted March 21, 2023 I believe I have a bad wiper motor. I checked the wires at the motor per this post on another site, and had power exactly s described, but the motor doesn’t turn. Beating on it a bit, it makes noise but it is obviously not free. So I guess I’ll be sourcing a motor. Hopefully that swap isn’t too bad. Looks WAY easier than my 70 where it’s up inside the dash. It could be the magnets have come unglued from inside the motor case. *** Or often the output bushing wears out and the transmission binds up. Changing isn't too difficult but you probably want to get new plastic bushings for the wiper linkage (Dorman/HELP has an assortment) Removing the cowl is a little tricky but you can prop the hood about 1/2 way and sneak it out. I common 'upgrade' is the '87-90 'polka dot' cowl. These help a lot in keeping those leaves out of the blower and plenum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mat in tn Posted March 21, 2023 Share Posted March 21, 2023 by all means take the resistor assembly out and inspect it first. the catch fire thing is real! on every truck brought back to life i pull the blower out and use a shop vac to clean all I can reach. I have not always done so and have stories to tell as a result:nabble_laughing-25-x-25_orig: ive even roasted a mouse or two. let me add that toasted mouse piss is NOT the smell that you want in your truck. chicks don't dig it. Aww come on! You’re just being dramatic! 😂 😳😳😳 dramatic huh?? light that puppy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chirkware Posted March 23, 2023 Author Share Posted March 23, 2023 dramatic huh?? light that puppy! LOL, it probably was about ready to light. Some of the leaves stuck to the resister already had burn marks on them. The more I work on old vehicles the more I realize it’s a balance of “Make it go”, “Make it stop”, and “Make it not burn itself down”. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mat in tn Posted March 23, 2023 Share Posted March 23, 2023 dramatic huh?? light that puppy! LOL, it probably was about ready to light. Some of the leaves stuck to the resister already had burn marks on them. The more I work on old vehicles the more I realize it’s a balance of “Make it go”, “Make it stop”, and “Make it not burn itself down”. I revived an f250 this winter. an 81 ranger camper special. on one of the test drives I decided to stop at o reillys and get fuses as I had found the one for the blower bad. while at oreillys I replaced the blown fuse. now I know better, but I still quickly turned the blower on and back off just to check if it would make any noise or movement. halfway back to the shop I realized just how quickly that tinder can ignite:nabble_smiley_cry:. everything is turned off. but I'm smokin. I get caught at the only light in town. then I come rolling into the lot and shut it down and bail out running for a 5/16 nut driver. the resister fell out as it melted the housing around it. I will tell these stories to make anyone laugh but mostly to say "DONT DO THIS". my childlike curiousity bites me sometimes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chirkware Posted March 24, 2023 Author Share Posted March 24, 2023 I revived an f250 this winter. an 81 ranger camper special. on one of the test drives I decided to stop at o reillys and get fuses as I had found the one for the blower bad. while at oreillys I replaced the blown fuse. now I know better, but I still quickly turned the blower on and back off just to check if it would make any noise or movement. halfway back to the shop I realized just how quickly that tinder can ignite:nabble_smiley_cry:. everything is turned off. but I'm smokin. I get caught at the only light in town. then I come rolling into the lot and shut it down and bail out running for a 5/16 nut driver. the resister fell out as it melted the housing around it. I will tell these stories to make anyone laugh but mostly to say "DONT DO THIS". my childlike curiousity bites me sometimes. Anyone know right off what this ground “blade” might go to? I’m guessing it’s what’s left of a broken connector that’s not used in my application but I’m not sure. I didn’t realize it was loose until I pulled the ground off the bottom (passenger side) screw of the wiper motor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chirkware Posted March 24, 2023 Author Share Posted March 24, 2023 Anyone know right off what this ground “blade” might go to? I’m guessing it’s what’s left of a broken connector that’s not used in my application but I’m not sure. I didn’t realize it was loose until I pulled the ground off the bottom (passenger side) screw of the wiper motor. Working Wipers! Yay! And they are intermittent now as I swapped in a different switch while the dash was apart. I used a Cardone 40-290 wiper motor I got from O’Reilly. No where near an exact replacement, but I’m in business again. I had to swap the arm over of my old motor as the new one was WAY off from what is needed. I also had to enlarge the hole on the old arm to make it fit on the new motor. As you can see, the arm that came with the new one was keyed 180• off from what is needed, and the stud the wiper arms connect to was way too short. Only other issue was minor, as the ground wire for the motor came with a fitting instead of an eye. I just swapped on adifferent wire (didn’t want to mod the original in case I had to return the motor). My grommets all seemed good so I returned the Dorman Help package I had picked up when I returned my core (whopping $6 core charge). I figured out that removing the lower bolt, and loosening the upper bolt where the hinges bolt to the hood helps get the hood out of the way to remove the cowl without having to remove the hood completely, which is great when working alone. I then put the instrument cluster and the steering wheel back on. I’ll leave the trim off until I’ve done done driving and am sure I’m done. Started making new nylon fuel lines using the stuff Gary recommended (thank you sir!). I sandwiched two pieces of scrap wood in a vise, drilled a 3/8 hole through the joint, then loosened it, fed in the nylon, then 10 seconds with a heat gun, and tapped the fitting in using a hammer against 3/8 socket I dropped in where the removable bit of plastic goes. Super easy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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