Today I fried my windshield wiper control cable.
I had been squirting drops of motor oil down the cable to loosen it up a little after having not been in use for more years than I care to count. I had those wipers working nicely and was preparing to take the car for inspection on Monday. Well that ain't going to happen
While I was troubleshooting something with a hot wire, I accidentally touched the cable and poof. Instantly the cable busts into flames and about a three inch section of the metal cable burnt right out and disappeared. No other damage was done except that it put soot on that area of the white firewall. The soot washed right off with a damp cloth.
All of this happened in a split second. I never had something like that ever happen and it happened so fast that I couldn't get to a fire extinguisher. It went out just as fast as it started.
When the smoke cleared, a piece of my cable was gone.
Is that cable something that can be easily removed from windshield wiper switch or is the whole thing a fixed unit? Thanks jay
Wow Jay that should have been posted on "I cant believe I just did that thread". As far as separating the two, I think I remembered trying and gave up in fear I was going to have to post on "I cant believe I just did that thread". HRD
How hard will it be to replace the cable, and where will you find another one?
Well I just punched in, 57 ford wiper motor cable, and there's two on the first page on Ebay, I checked Macs site and they don't stock them. HRD
Jay....First...I should have my old cable/knob around somewhere....I'll look for it and mail it to you unless you'd rather look for a new one. let me know.
second....a trick Bill told me about when I was working on my shifter cable...teflon lubricant..I'll look for that thread and post it here. It would be much easier to use this stuff on the wiper cable when it's out so you can hang it up and let the stuff run thru like an I.V. very fluid..after alcohol ovaporates just leaves teflon coating..perfect for a long cable.
Rich
Re: 4.6 being installed now
? Reply #282 on: December 15, 2013, 08:55:09 PM ?
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Rich I found some Teflon lube at Lowes that did the trick with the heater control cables on the Edsel. It is in a small plastic bottle, looks kinda clear with white stuff in the bottom. Have to shake it up really good to mix all the white stuff into the clear fluid (alcohol I think) and the put it in what ever you want to lube. Made those old cables move as slick as can be!
Quote from: RICH MUISE on 2014-04-20 07:48
Jay....First...I should have my old cable/knob around somewhere....I'll look for it and mail it to you unless you'd rather look for a new one. let me know.
second....a trick Bill told me about when I was working on my shifter cable...teflon lubricant..I'll look for that thread and post it here. It would be much easier to use this stuff on the wiper cable when it's out so you can hang it up and let the stuff run thru like an I.V. very fluid..after alcohol ovaporates just leaves teflon coating..perfect for a long cable.
Rich
Thank you very much Rich
I would like very much to have that one when you find it. This time I'll do a better job of freeing it up and lubricating it with the Teflon as you stated. I thought that mine was good, but after it was already on, it felt sticky. I dripped all kind of oils into it in place. As a result,it became highly combustible. Jay
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The burn mark on the vacuum motor is visible in the picture. It's hard to believe that a steel cable like this could evaporate in a split second.
Wow, Jay. You were lucky not to burn down the whole ecode !!! Glad it didn't ruin more than the cable. In case you can't find an original replacement I think that all those fresh air/vent duct cables used by Fomoco are also the same style. I didn't check, but you should be able to find those, maybe from earlier years, 56? my 62 Comet had heater unit cables like this. there should be plenty of cores to make do. Falcon, Mustang, Galaxie...?!?
The Teflon thing that Rich stated is one of the best stuff for cables. I use it on all my restorations, although mine is a liquid Teflon/oil lubrication mixture.
Günter
It happened very quickly and went out just as fast. The problem was only in that one spot and did not travel fortunately.
I'll just do a quick repair with something like a choke cable so I can get it inspected and do the permanent repair with a good original piece later.
Rich said that is going to look for his unit that he did not use on his 57. Jay
Found it! It appears to be in good shape, although I couldn't find the knob for it so I couldn't check it for the cable movement. I've got your address, I'll get it in the mail, may not be until Wednesday though. You do have a knob at the end you didn't burn up, right?
These cables are different than the other dash mounted cables...obviously a turn-the-knob setup as opposed to a push-and-pull.
Quote from: RICH MUISE on 2014-04-21 12:06
Found it! It appears to be in good shape, although I couldn't find the knob for it so I couldn't check it for the cable movement. I've got your address, I'll get it in the mail, may not be until Wednesday though. You do have a knob at the end you didn't burn up, right?
These cables are different than the other dash mounted cables...obviously a turn-the-knob setup as opposed to a push-and-pull.
Rich
You saved the day again for me. Thank you very very much. Yes I do have good knob. When I get yours I'm going to hang it from the bench and give it a good dose of teflon so it's completely coated inside the cable.
Your'e right it's a turn the knob setup, not a push pull. I took mine out this morning and tried to figure it out and the best way to describe it is that it's sort of like a mini rack and pinion.
Guys like you that help each other is one of the outstanding things that make this forum.
That's something I learned here since I joined .
I jury rigged my wipers and got them to work and the my 57 got inspected today, so I'm good for a year.
Jay
Wow, Jay...glad your fine 57 didn't go up in smoke. Mississippi is cool in that if it was built before 1960 it is exempt from inspection. Of course in Tennessee where dad is building his 57 there is no inspection. Glad you were able to get it fixed...
James
Thanks for the support.
Here in Mass. we have to have our cars. inspected once a year for $29.00.
I remember when we had to have them inspected twice a year for .50 each time. That was in the 50's. Jay
Man...our daily driver stuff (post Jan 1, 1960 stuff) has to be inspected yearly, but is only $5. Maybe it pays off by you guys having nicer roads than down here.
James
They're taking in the money up here, but it's not going into the roads..
Shhhhhhhhh, we don't have car inspections
Quote from: JPotter57 on 2014-04-21 22:13
Man...our daily driver stuff (post Jan 1, 1960 stuff) has to be inspected yearly, but is only $5.
:005: OMG ! here in Austria we have inspections on our daily and vintage vehicles every year and they are about Euro50/60 which is about $ 80 !!!! inspections are extremely strict, a finger wide play on your steerign wheel and you won't pass. any car, no matter if it is a Model T, a 57 or a modern Benz, they go on the shaker plate to check all the suspension. Imagine what that will show with an average 60 yr old American car... :-( everything has literally to be (as) new
On the other hand this is good for traffic safety as it limits the use of really dangerous vehicles!
It's in the mail, Jay. Sorry for the delay.
Quote from: RICH MUISE on 2014-04-23 11:09
It's in the mail, Jay. Sorry for the delay.
Rich
Thank you very much. Like I stated before, It's going to get well lubricated before it gets installed. That's so nice of you. Some day I'm going to have the piece that you are looking for. Jay
Jay...You haven't gotten it yet?
I'm in the process of trying to get my frozen cable to work. This post probably saved me a ton of trouble. Thanks for the Teflon tip.
Quote from: RICH MUISE on 2014-04-28 19:11
Jay...You haven't gotten it yet?
Rich
It has not arrived yet. I even went to the post office today to check on it. They know me pretty well and are watching out for it for me. Jay
I found the po recipt for that...scheduled delivery was today.
Thank You Rich
It did arrive at the post office yesterday and they left a pick up notice for me. I was in Boston all day and didn't get home until late last night. I picked it up this morning.
Jay
Rich,Very kind of you, you are a great asset to the board.Jay,I have a complete wiper system in very good shape(10k car)I will not be using.HotRod Donnie has the wiper motor itself,But I know I have the complete cables in excellent condition.I will hit the shop this afternoon and dig them out.Sorry I have not been in touch,Just VERY busy with work.
Jeff
Jeff
Thank you very much but my vacuum wipers and cables in the cowl area work fine. The piece that I screwed up was the control unit cable and Rich sent me one already.
Jay