Wiper motor relays 1981 spider.

Gotta love that wiring . . .
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sida555
Posts: 36
Joined: Tue Jun 21, 2022 9:51 am
Your car is a: 1981 Pininfarina

Wiper motor relays 1981 spider.

Post by sida555 »

So I have been looking at the diagrams and going through the wiring to figure out on adding two relays to the high speed and low speed. Just kinda confused on how the power is been provided to the motor.
I saw another post about someone wire up the relay trigger wires from the white terminal solid gray and light blue wire.
When I did the testing.
Steering column stock 1st position and the speed selection switch on 1st position gets intermittent power to the light blue wire. Steering column stock 2nd position while having the speed selection on the 1st position. Gets constant 12v to the blue wire.


Back to steering column stock 1st position and speed selection on 2nd gets intermittent power to the gray wire.
Steering column position 2nd and speed selection on 2nd gets constant power to gray wire

Is my approach correct to get the relays triggered ? Is this how it's supposed to be ? I thought it would be 1 relay for low speed and 1 for high speed. But it seems like it depends on where the speed switch is selected which directs the current through one or the other wire. Anyone could shine some light on how it's supposed to wire up ?
spider2081
Patron 2024
Patron 2024
Posts: 3015
Joined: Fri Jan 27, 2006 11:45 pm
Your car is a: 1981 Spider 2000
Location: Wallingford,CT

Re: Wiper motor relays 1981 spider.

Post by spider2081 »

The gray/black wire on the speed switch is the output of the steering column switch to the speed switch. It is the output of the steering column switch if the steering column switch is in the delay or full run position.
I install a single relay under the dash mounted in the area of the dash grounding pod. I run a fused #12 wire from the alternator output post to terminal 30 0f the relay. I remove the gray/black wire from the speed switch and connect it to terminal 86 of the relay. ( the length of this existing wire sort of determines the relays mounting location.) Then fabricate a new wire from relay terminal 87 to the terminal the gray/black wire was originally installed. Fabricate a new wire from relay terminal 85 to connect to the grounding pod.
This may not be 100% as effective as using 2 relays at the wiper motor but its a quick and easy way to improve wiper performance.

Before relays are installed the wipers mechanical parts must all be clean and move freely through out their full range of motion.
I believe the wiper motor ground is a black wire that is routed to the ground pod under the hood on the passenger fender well.
Anbele
Posts: 179
Joined: Fri May 21, 2021 8:36 pm
Your car is a: 1979 Spider 2000 CS2

Re: Wiper motor relays 1981 spider.

Post by Anbele »

You two might have already explored this option, but in the event you didn’t; there are couple of vendors who carry a wiper motor relay kit, with all the bells and whistles, and easy to follow instructions. I just did mine this past weekend. Took me about 45 min.
sida555
Posts: 36
Joined: Tue Jun 21, 2022 9:51 am
Your car is a: 1981 Pininfarina

Re: Wiper motor relays 1981 spider.

Post by sida555 »

spider2081 wrote:The gray/black wire on the speed switch is the output of the steering column switch to the speed switch. It is the output of the steering column switch if the steering column switch is in the delay or full run position.
I install a single relay under the dash mounted in the area of the dash grounding pod. I run a fused #12 wire from the alternator output post to terminal 30 0f the relay. I remove the gray/black wire from the speed switch and connect it to terminal 86 of the relay. ( the length of this existing wire sort of determines the relays mounting location.) Then fabricate a new wire from relay terminal 87 to the terminal the gray/black wire was originally installed. Fabricate a new wire from relay terminal 85 to connect to the grounding pod.
This may not be 100% as effective as using 2 relays at the wiper motor but its a quick and easy way to improve wiper performance.

Before relays are installed the wipers mechanical parts must all be clean and move freely through out their full range of motion.
I believe the wiper motor ground is a black wire that is routed to the ground pod under the hood on the passenger fender well.

Thanks for the response. Yes i was tracing the diagrams and thinking about that option as well, But i didn't want to run the load through any switch contacts. Also yes have taken everything apart, cleaned and lubed up.
sida555
Posts: 36
Joined: Tue Jun 21, 2022 9:51 am
Your car is a: 1981 Pininfarina

Re: Wiper motor relays 1981 spider.

Post by sida555 »

Anbele wrote:You two might have already explored this option, but in the event you didn’t; there are couple of vendors who carry a wiper motor relay kit, with all the bells and whistles, and easy to follow instructions. I just did mine this past weekend. Took me about 45 min.
Thanks for the response. Yes i have seen those kits. I am in the process of adding a aux fuse block doing a bit of realys for a couple of things. Just wanted to add the wiper motor to the block as well. Which kit did you end up going with ? Do you have the diagram which they sent the kit with. I think they trigger those relays with the blue and the gray from the white socket. the rest of the connections are just jumped from one socket to the other and back to the motor.
Anbele
Posts: 179
Joined: Fri May 21, 2021 8:36 pm
Your car is a: 1979 Spider 2000 CS2

Re: Wiper motor relays 1981 spider.

Post by Anbele »

I ended up going with the AR kit…more expensive but the fact that came fitted with bullet style connections was the selling point for me. Unfortunately there was no diagram, just step by step instructions. But I think if you go to the AR website, the instructions are there.
sida555
Posts: 36
Joined: Tue Jun 21, 2022 9:51 am
Your car is a: 1981 Pininfarina

Re: Wiper motor relays 1981 spider.

Post by sida555 »

Anbele wrote:I ended up going with the AR kit…more expensive but the fact that came fitted with bullet style connections was the selling point for me. Unfortunately there was no diagram, just step by step instructions. But I think if you go to the AR website, the instructions are there.
Thankyou. Yes I have the wiper motor and a few others wired up now with a auxiliary fuse block.
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