How are the wipers supposed to work on a '79?

I have been doing a lot of maintenance on my father's '79 GTS. I'm puzzled by the behavior of the wipers with regards to the switches on the stalk and the one on the console. How is it supposed to work?

On his, the wipers only work when the console switch is in one position. The first position on the stalk sometime results in interval and sometimes it's always on. The second position is always on but never terribly fast.

I would appreciate some insight.

Thanks.

 

If they move at all you're ahead of the game.


At best they're slow. I hope that you're not testing them dry. It puts too much strain on them. Better to pull the arms up and then try it. Without the drag you might get action in both speeds.

Cleaning and relubing the linkage helps as does checking the electrics but they're never going to work like those on a modern car.

 

In all likelihood this - the lazy lube is just to remove the wiper holders and spray WD40 down the axles - you may be lucky

There are few new questions eg http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/308-328/256861-getting-wipers-work-little-faster-308-a.html

 

The stalk controls on/off, intermittent and slow. The console switch is supposed to speed up the action. (per my '79)