Wiper Motor Grease Question

[Larry & Nancy Solheim]

I have just about unwound from the official Amphicar
"pretzel position" removing the wiper motor. It
always "wiped" fine, but began intermittently not
responding to the switch for shut-off. It would take
a brief turn-off of the ignition switch (w/ wipers in
the park position). Always irritating when driving or
swimming at any speed other than idle, although the
engine always picked back up when the ignition was
switched back on.

I assumed there was grease or some other reason for an
intermittent contact on the secondary ground in the
motor.

It disassembled OK, but I was surprised (probably
shouldn't have been) to see the 37 year old grease
looking like a block of soft wax. I broke it out and
cleaned everything. Looks like I'll have good contact
now between the pin and ground plate on the main gear.

To the Question (finally): What grease should I use
for reassembly? I could crumble and soften the
original stuff, but that seems not terribly effective.
What ever grease is recommended, should it be packed
in solid as the original seemed to be, or sparingly
applied to avoid excessive propagation?

Thanks, --LarryS

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[Wayne A. Miller]

Larry, anytime I have seen something packed solid with grease, I suspect
the purpose is to leave no airspace for moisture ingression. I would repack
it with a good electrical grease like silicon grease. Sorry, can't be
specific as to where to get this.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Larry & Nancy Solheim" <amphi662001@yahoo.com>
To: <amphicar-lovers@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Tuesday, July 15, 2003 11:51 PM
Subject: [amphicar-lovers] Wiper Motor Grease Question


>
> I have just about unwound from the official Amphicar
> "pretzel position" removing the wiper motor. It
> always "wiped" fine, but began intermittently not
> responding to the switch for shut-off. It would take
> a brief turn-off of the ignition switch (w/ wipers in
> the park position). Always irritating when driving or
> swimming at any speed other than idle, although the
> engine always picked back up when the ignition was
> switched back on.
>
> I assumed there was grease or some other reason for an
> intermittent contact on the secondary ground in the
> motor.
>
> It disassembled OK, but I was surprised (probably
> shouldn't have been) to see the 37 year old grease
> looking like a block of soft wax. I broke it out and
> cleaned everything. Looks like I'll have good contact
> now between the pin and ground plate on the main gear.
>
> To the Question (finally): What grease should I use
> for reassembly? I could crumble and soften the
> original stuff, but that seems not terribly effective.
> What ever grease is recommended, should it be packed
> in solid as the original seemed to be, or sparingly
> applied to avoid excessive propagation?
>
> Thanks, --LarryS
>
> __________________________________