While checking over the wiring in my 500F I noticed from the wiring diagram that the window wipers should have two speed settings and should also auto-cancel. My car does neither of these things. I checked the wiring and both the switch and the wiper motor appear to be wired correctly, but the switch only has two positions (on or off) not three positions. Can anyone with a 500F or 500L confirm whether it should have two speed settings and auto-cancel or not.

Cheers,
Matt

Matt,

On my 1969 500L my wipers are single speed. The switch has only two positions, ON and OFF/PARK. My wipers auto park. I believe they all do.

The Haynes manual shows the circuit diagram for the auto park. I have fixed the auto park function on other old cars. There is a separate contact that keeps the motor energized until it reaches a certain position. Usually the contact gets dirty, worn or out of adjustment. You will have to remove the motor from the car and examine. It should be obvious what the issue is. Consult the Haynes manual for the way the circuit works.

John

Thanks John, I'll check it in that case, as mine stops the second you turn off the switch and definitely does not auto park.

Matt,
Mine are similar ('67 500F) - on/off, single speed and auto-park.
Chris

Hi Matt,

I had a look at the manual and despite saying that I have a three position switch - or at least, a two position switch with an extra indent - I only have a two position switch, off or on with no third option.

So I pulled apart a spare wiper motor that I had lying around the shed and I've attached a couple of photos as well as my interpretation of what happens.

My wiring is colour coded black (earth), black/blue (+12V), blue (to the motor) and blue/white which may be just white in some 500Fs.

The motor controller contains a cam-actuated switch. The base of the switch is connected via an internal blue wire to the motor armature. The other two poles are connected to either black/blue (12V) or blue/white.

When the dash switch is ON black/blue (12V) is connected to blue (motor) and the wiper motor runs at its single speed.

When the dash switch is turned OFF blue/white is connected to black (earth) and what happens next is determined by where the cam is situated.
If the cam is not touching the internal switch, that switch is spring loaded so that it is in a position that connects 12V to the motor and the motor continues to run via a second blue wire to the armature.
Once the cam actuates the switch, the 12V supply is cut and the armature is connected via blue/white to the earth through the dash switch and the motor stops (parks).

I guess you need to pull your wiper motor out and check the internal switch contacts or cam.

Hope this makes sense and that my amateur graphic is understandable,
Chris

Thanks Chris, that 's really useful. I guess I know what my next job is!

Matt

With all our wet weather, my wiper motor gave out yesterday. But after a good clean, it's back to running great.

Since my parking mechanism is different what Chris shows in his photos, I thought I'd just post what mine looks like (It's off a 500F). Mattsdad indicates that Matt's looks like the one I have in this other useful post:

https://www.fiatforum.com/500-classic/314059-fiat-500f-wiper-diagram-operation.html

The wiring in my wiper is just a little more complicated than what shows in Mattsdad wiring diagram but it does describe how the motor gets power and parks the wipers after the switch is thrown into the off position.

Morning Matt;
On my 500L (1971) I have a single speed with a off/park position. Surprisingly, despite their small size, the wipers work very well--maybe it is that they don't have the chance to lift off the screen at the terminal velocity that we manage to reach with the cars!