Herald / Vitesse wiper motor upgrades.

[mk2vitesses]

When I restored my Vitesse over 12 years ago I wanted the wipers to cope with heavy rain, after phoning around it seemed the solution was to go to a two speed system.

I found a company who would do an exchange upgrade to my motor assembly fitting the two speed field coil, I used a Triumph two speed switch with the same manual pump washer function.

Fast forward to this year, I have added a Herald estate to the family intending it to be my daily drive (we don't need two modern cars).

I was out for a run when the heavens opened and just like the Vitesse the wipers were not up to it!

I thought easy I'll upgrade to two speed as b4.

I decided I would source a two speed "Field" coil and swap it over myself, I picked up a "spares repair" Mk1 / Mk2 Jaguar DR3A unit off fleebay.

The unit had six wires not the three + earth on the Vitesse unit, so I searched out the wiring diagram for the Jaguar and came across an article on the MGA forum.

There was an excellent write up there where I learnt that the "field coil" does not have an "extra winding" but a 10 Ohm nichrome resistance wound on the field bobbin. This reduces the energy to the field coil which makes the motor run faster.

Armed with this info I decided rather than trash the Jaguar unit I would add a 10 Ohm resistor making the single speed unit two speed, now those who aren't bothered about having the two speeds will still find the approx 50% speed increase useful as a higher single speed!

I detached the field coil wire from the switched tag 1, the other tag 2 is fed ignition switched power. The 10 Ohm resistor is connected between tag 1 and the now disconnected field coil, I put a small solder tag on the field coil former to make the connections.

There is a handy gap that houses the DR3A park switch on the Jaguar unit that is empty on the Herald / Vitesse unit. I used a Dremel to remove the ridge.

One of the pictures shows the jaguar six wire unit which I refurbished to sell on.

Now the big problem I found is getting a suitable switch!

As I write this I hope to receive one that will give the two speed option and an electric washer just like the original.

I will update with that info.

Remember the motor assembly must be connected to the car's ground so the park function works, the two speed option will make the motor park in fast speed, this would work well with an intermittent wipe function for light rain.

Hope this is of some use to you all, leaving the switch out the cost, I think it will cost < £10 to do, not the £130 asked by some!

 

 

Edited September 23, 2022 by mk2vitesses
Spelling!!

[Matt306]

Have you cleaned the cable drive and wheel box... I bet if you havent thats full of hard grease slowing everything

[mk2vitesses]

3 hours ago, Matt306 said:

Have you cleaned the cable drive and wheel box... I bet if you havent thats full of hard grease slowing everything

I have, complete strip and clean. New CV grease and wiring! :)

[mk2vitesses]

The wiper switch arrived but was not as described, it had three On positions which on first reflection would have given an intermittent wipe function.

Sadly the config would not allow this so back to plan "B"!

[Hogie]

Hi M2V,

The DR3 style motor is quite useless no matter what vehicle it comes from.

Your 6 wire DR3 sounds as though it may have a reverse park mode.

The slow speed is useful only in light showers and the fast speed runs out of torque.

I had one on my 4A and spent a fortune trying to get it working as I wished -it never did.

It   died on the Isle of Lewis and I  ended up with the wiper  blades being operated by my wife in the pax seat pulling strings. 

When I got home I fitted the 14W motor (TR6/LandRover).  This requires a dedicated toggle switch but recently I have been able to modify the original 2 speed pull switch.

The slow speed is useful in all but the heaviest down pour. The fast speed is fast - Hmmmmm

 

Roger

 

 

[mk2vitesses]

6 hours ago, Hogie said:

Hi M2V,

The DR3 style motor is quite useless no matter what vehicle it comes from.

Your 6 wire DR3 sounds as though it may have a reverse park mode.

The slow speed is useful only in light showers and the fast speed runs out of torque.

I had one on my 4A and spent a fortune trying to get it working as I wished -it never did.

It   died on the Isle of Lewis and I  ended up with the wiper  blades being operated by my wife in the pax seat pulling strings. 

When I got home I fitted the 14W motor (TR6/LandRover).  This requires a dedicated toggle switch but recently I have been able to modify the original 2 speed pull switch.

The slow speed is useful in all but the heaviest down pour. The fast speed is fast - Hmmmmm

 

Roger

 

 

Maybe there were other issues with the system?

I have had a two speed system on my Vitesse working fine for over twelve years, yes I make you right on the DR3A it was fitted to the MK1 / MK2 Jaguar, also has a thermal cutout inside!

I have now run it up and all is well!

[mk2vitesses]

 

I have drawn up the circuit to make the modification clearer, the resistor could be mounted externally, say on the wiper switch itself.

This is the switch I used.

[Hogie]

That is a nice simple circuit using a simple switch  - excellent.

Nice drawing of the circuit.

Roger