1957 slow vacuum wipers

[OhioTbird]

So I have the issue I've read about here, the super slow vacuum wipers. Does anyone have the link to the brake fluid "trick" that seems to help quite a few of you?

Thanks.

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[Douglemmo]

I treated my wipers with brake fluid several years ago and they still work well. It is very simple. Buy a bottle of brake fluid and affix a length of rubber tubing to the air inlet on the vaccuum motor under your dash. Put the other end of the tubing into the bottle of brake fluid. Start your engine and turn on the wipers. Run the whole bottle through the wiper motor and your problem should be solved. You will also emit a large cloud of smoke out of your tailpipes. This will lubricate the leather in the vacuum motor.

Good luck. Hope this solves your problem.

 

[OhioTbird]

Thank Doug. I'm sort of in no mans land. Halfway between Dayton and Toledo.

 

[doug7740]

I wouldn’t say that you are in no man’s land, but since I’m in the Cleveland area I’m too far east from you. I have club members as far west as Huron, as far south as Mansfield and as far east as Beaver, Pennsylvania. The Ohio Valley Early Birds are primarily located in the Dayton and Cincinnati areas and the Maumee Valley Thunderbird Club is in the Toledo area. It would be nice if you could join a Thunderbird club. In my opinion, the best part of owning my T-Bird is being a part of this special group of people.

doug7740
1955 Thunderbird Blue

 

[Ward 57]

I treated my wipers with brake fluid several years ago and they still work well. It is very simple. Buy a bottle of brake fluid and affix a length of rubber tubing to the air inlet on the vaccuum motor under your dash. Put the other end of the tubing into the bottle of brake fluid. Start your engine and turn on the wipers. Run the whole bottle through the wiper motor and your problem should be solved. You will also emit a large cloud of smoke out of your tailpipes. This will lubricate the leather in the vacuum motor.

Good luck. Hope this solves your problem.

So the brake fluid won't harm anything? I just assumed they were slow by nature. Especially when one would accelerate and the vacuum dropped. Ford loved vacuum actuators well into the '60-'70s.

 

[mike3121]

The only "trick" concerning slow windshield wipers is a conversion to electric.

 

[OhioTbird]

I treated my wipers with brake fluid several years ago and they still work well. It is very simple. Buy a bottle of brake fluid and affix a length of rubber tubing to the air inlet on the vaccuum motor under your dash. Put the other end of the tubing into the bottle of brake fluid. Start your engine and turn on the wipers. Run the whole bottle through the wiper motor and your problem should be solved. You will also emit a large cloud of smoke out of your tailpipes. This will lubricate the leather in the vacuum motor.

Good luck. Hope this solves your problem.

Success! I followed the instructions and was surprised to see it sucked down the fluid in about 60 seconds. A minute later, the wipers were firing back and forth like new.

Only thing I wasn't prepared for was how much white smoke I had. My white car in a light gray barn literally disappeared. Opened All the windows and doors and let it run. Took maybe 10 minutes to clear out. But now the wipers are good. Thanks for the advice.

 

[DennisC]

Success! I followed the instructions and was surprised to see it sucked down the fluid in about 60 seconds. A minute later, the wipers were firing back and forth like new.

Only thing I wasn't prepared for was how much white smoke I had. My white car in a light gray barn literally disappeared. Opened All the windows and doors and let it run. Took maybe 10 minutes to clear out. But now the wipers are good. Thanks for the advice.

I would recommend changing your oil and filter as both are now contaminated. Brake fluid and oil do not mix. Brake fluid will surely deplete the viscosity of the engine oil when it was sucked into the engine through the intake Manifold. So while this might make the wiper motor work better it will likely do permanent damage to the engine internals.

 

[Ward 57]

Thank heavens mine work as well as the day they were built.

 

[doug7740]

I have done this on many vehicles with a sluggish vacuum wiper system and have never changed the oil afterward. You are only using a pint of brake fluid and as the brake fluid enters the engine it gets burned off through the combustion process. The brake fluid does not mix with the engine oil, that's why there is some white smoke from the exhaust as the brake fluid is sucked into the engine. It will not hurt the engine and the smoke clears up after all the fluid is purged from the system.

doug7740
1955 Thunderbird Blue

 

[jim holden]

I treated my wipers with brake fluid several years ago and they still work well. It is very simple. Buy a bottle of brake fluid and affix a length of rubber tubing to the air inlet on the vaccuum motor under your dash. Put the other end of the tubing into the bottle of brake fluid. Start your engine and turn on the wipers. Run the whole bottle through the wiper motor and your problem should be solved. You will also emit a large cloud of smoke out of your tailpipes. This will lubricate the leather in the vacuum motor.

Good luck. Hope this solves your problem.

Where is the air inlet. My 57 has ac and wiper vac motor hard to access. Thanks
Jim Holden

 

[paul5456]

Where is the air inlet. My 57 has ac and wiper vac motor hard to access. Thanks
Jim Holden

You can do the same thing by accessing the rubber tube in the engine compartment.

 

[Ward 57]

You can do the same thing by accessing the rubber tube in the engine compartment.

That's not a bad idea. Even though the intake tube is on the bottom it is hard to get to with that huge radio in the way probably even worse with A/C. Just not sure how you would plumb it to suck the fluid into the motor.

 

[doug7740]

The rubber tube in the engine compartment is the vacuum source, you need to connect a length of rubber tube to the air inlet on the vacuum wiper motor. By doing so the brake fluid and be drawn in the wiper motor and out the vacuum source line into engine to be burned in the combustion process. The wiper inlet tube is located on the side of the wiper motor facing the radio.

doug7740
1955 Thunderbird Blue

 

[paul5456]

That's not a bad idea. Even though the intake tube is on the bottom it is hard to get to with that huge radio in the way probably even worse with A/C. Just not sure how you would plumb it to suck the fluid into the motor.

The way I learned is to stick the tube in a bottle of Dot 3, and work the wipers back and forth about 10 times so the fluid is sucked up. Best to have one person on each side to work the wipers

 

[Ward 57]

The way I learned is to stick the tube in a bottle of Dot 3, and work the wipers back and forth about 10 times so the fluid is sucked up. Best to have one person on each side to work the wipers

I just sprayed some PB max into the intake with the can snorkel while running and they have never worked better but they worked well before anyway but struggled under acceleration. No problem now.

 

[rspon]

The only caution I would add is to be VERY careful using brake fluid around painted surfaces....it can spoil your day if spilled and left unattended!!

 

[Charles M]

So I have the issue I've read about here, the super slow vacuum wipers. Does anyone have the link to the brake fluid "trick" that seems to help quite a few of you?

Thanks.

I disassembled my vacuum motor and cleaned out all the dried lubricant (or whatever the gunk was that gummed it up). Instead of brake fluid, I lubed the inside with silicone spark plug boot release. Nice and slippery. Wipers work fine, now.

 

[doug7740]

I have rebuilt many of these vacuum wiper motors and when I do I also use silicone grease and the motor works like it did when it was new. However, most people do not have the knowledge on how to remove and rebuild a vacuum wiper motor, when that is the case using the brake fluid trick to soften the leather seals inside the motor is totally acceptable.

doug7740
1955 Thunderbird Blue.

 

[Charles M]

I have rebuilt many of these vacuum wiper motors and when I do I also use silicone grease and the motor works like it did when it was new. However, most people do not have the knowledge on how to remove and rebuild a vacuum wiper motor, when that is the case using the brake fluid trick to soften the leather seals inside the motor is totally acceptable.

doug7740
1955 Thunderbird Blue.

View attachment 26250

Yeah, you might have a point there. I think it was harder to get the motor out of the car than it was to take it apart.