My windshield wipers on my 86 xj6 are tired. They will move about 6inches up the window then stop. If you give them a hand they will continue all the way back to home position then stop at the 6 inch up mark again. Is there a fix for this or do I need to find some replacement motors. I say motors because is there 2? One for each arm? How do you get to them? Do you take the dash pad off? I've taken of the grill on the cowl but the re is nothing in there.

 

Similar problem my side, not getting full movement, as for the wiper motor, mine is located at the rear left of the engine bay, next to the battery, but I'm not sure if all models are the same.

 

there is one motor only in the XJ Series 3 body-style and it is located on the side of the battery in Left Hand Drive cars. Is your car Left Hand Drive? then it should be there.

Start by removing the wiper arms;

inject a couple drops of 3-in-1 oil (ACE Hardware) into each wheelbox shaft.

remove battery to remove wiper motor. Once you have the motor freed from it's bracket and electrical connector plug, pull it away pulling with it the cable that goes into the car's Cowl.

Clean old grease and re-Grease the cable thoroughly, re-insert the cable into the tube it came out of and keep pushing it gently without kinking it or stressing it, you will see the wheelboxes moving as the cable passes under them. It is a very greasy job.

This should improve the wiper speeds, but don't expect modern efficiency, these wiper motors are lame and lazy even from new, they are the one complaint of all XJ owners since 1968. Cable wiper systems are obsolete, the pantograph systems used in modern cars are the best but there is no room in these cars to install a pantograph wiper system. Not saying you cannot, but it would require some serious modifications, cutting sheet metal, etc.

The next step if no improvement, is to check the wiper switch itself, especially if it is stopping erratically, they do wear out and lose electrical contact. The trick is to get a hand behind the switch wiring plug and push / wiggle each wire as the switch is ON and engine is running, to see which one is causing the issue.

 

Springer:


I got a kick out of the title to your post. I expected something
completely different.


A couple of decades ago, I bought a very nice 85 Ford short bed F150 4x4. Black with silver and blue graphics. Lots of catalog sourced add'ons.


Each wioer arm had two blades, parallel to each other!!! But, worn out. So, ,I went to the nearby CARQUEST. Friendly counterman
No can do. One each will do just as well. Less strain on the motor and gears. Made sense. got a fresh pair.


Hence the "tiered" wipers were replaced...


Oh, it also had a "light bar" ala "roll bar" in the bed. Garish, useless,
and restricted load space. Dumped it first off. Friendly junk man pleased. Junk man a customer of my son.


Carl

 

Interesting thread on tired wipers......on my series 2 they are horrible, they don't swing enough across the screen and seem short bursts of useless energy.
Know I know a good clean up and check may help, but are the series 3 compatible and better? Or is their an upgrade?...nothing worse than getting caught in some rain and can't see anything in front.

 

I hate to say that until this thread came up, I never knew we had cable-driven wiper systems. That's crazy to me. I just never had cause to go tearing into that system (not that my wipers are fast, just that there were always more important issues to take care of). I can't believe that's the system Jaguar chose to use.

Jess

 

As per Jaguar practice they simply used standard Lucas parts that (in the case of wiper systems) were also found on old MGs ,Triumphs and various and sundry British cars of that period 1955 - 1990 or so. Functional but old school and kind of clunky. Make sure you have good seals where the wheel boxes are ....maybe yours have some rust/dirt in those areas.

 

Does anyone know if the series 2 are the same? I can't seem to find any info.

 

Jim,
I've never actually had mine completely apart, but from what I've investigated for others, the above described by Jose is how they work.
(';')

 

Thanks Elinor, to check the 2 wiper boxes do I remove the top vent as in pick? Or do I take the dash top off?. Also is the vent held down by the washer head?
Many thanks!

 

Taking off the wiper arms and the top piece will only allow you to see the tops of the boxes... take off the dash pad and you can see then two the box(es) clearly.

Removing the wiper motor with the cable attached (the wiper arms have to be off the car) - will let you pull the cable out of the two boxes. Then the tops can be turned to assure there are no binds... lubing can take place easily.

Removing the wiper motor that is behind the battery (LHD) is easily done.

My biggest complaint on the S1 are the wiper motors not turning faster.. I thought the UK got lots more rain than So Cal -- the wipers should have been made to work better. When I changed my brushes in the motor it worked "as best as possible"... still much slower than a modern car.

Get the parts or service manual to know where the wires are located and the attaching bolts... plus the instructions for the R&R are located in there...

 

Thanks Roger, found this on the net for a series 3, I am assuming same for a series 2. Will wiper arms from a more modern series 3 fit, as the old ones I have have been bent it appears numerous times to make contact with windscreen firmer.

 

It is possible to use them.. just confirm they are the same length as the ones you have now...

 

The mechanism never changed from 1968 through to 1992 ! Having once owned an XJ6 for 14 years from 1988, I can confirm the wipers are a poor aspect of the car, realy heavy rain overwhelms them and the washers are pretty much useless as well. However they rarely if ever fail.

The one thing that did change was the motor was changed to a permanent magnet type but I don't know when, however my early Series 3 had the permanent magnet type which is a round magnet housing. The motor in the drawing is an excited-field type.