Vacuum Wipers - source for a vacuum pump?

Unknown

I did the conversion of the double action fuel pump to a single action ( per a previous thread about oil pumping from the vent on the double action pump ). That solved my oil leakage issue - great! I hooked the vacuum wipers up directly to engine vacuum. What is the best way to get them back to the performance they had prior ( with the vacuum pump section of the double action fuel pump )? I am still using the 6 VDC system, so an electric vacuum pump ( if I could find one ) is not a real option. I did some research and found that TRICO made an accessory vacuum pump that was driven by a wheel that ran on the fan belt. Anyone know of a source for this pump? Any other alternatives - other than to switch the entire car over to 12 VDC and convert to electric wipers? I may convert to 12V eventually, but I like the idea that the old girl is still original.



BST RGDS

GARY ( happychris )

Jon B

First, I think someone IS making a 6-volt wiper, but with any luck someone will step in here and give that information.



Second, I indeed do have the accessory Trico fanbelt-driven vacuum pump and it's nice, although a flaw in the design causes the linkage pin to fail after a certain amount of time. Therefore I have collected junk vacuum pumps over the years and cannibalized them for parts! You may be lucky and come upon a NOS one at a flea market for $5 or so (they don't sell well, since no one understands their use and anyway, fewer and fewer people are driving cars of that era on the highway!).



Third, if oil was pumping from the vent on your old double-action pump, I would assume that was a flaw in the pump. A good rebuilt one (say, from Dave Kostansek) oughtn't to do that. The double action pump should have the same amount of vacuum as the Trico fanbelt-run accessory should.

Unknown

Jon,



Bill A's comments were that there is a flaw with the double action pumps making them prone to blowing oil out of the vent, or rupture of the fuel pump allowing gas into the engine oil, or a failure of the vacuum pump section. He seems to recommend conversion to a single action pump to eliminate these failure modes. I had just put on a bebuilt double action pump ( got it from Kanter and paid a LOT for it ) and it only lasted maybe a year of very sparse driving. At $14.95 for the single action AutoZone Fuel Pump, I can buy a lot of replacements and spares for the price of a rebuilt double action pump that will only last a year. If I got any of this incorrect, I expect Bill A. will reply.



I bid the TRICO accessory vacuum pump up to $40.00 on eBay. Not sure how much higher to go as you got your for $5.00. Maybe I will try the Arkansas HET meeting mid next month and see what I can find there. Wish I had gone to Kearney, but I did not know about this need at that time.



Anyone else out there got a TRICO fanbelt driven vacuum pump they want to sell? ( or a place to find one )



I got the wipers working off engine vaccum right now. They seem to be working as well as they did with the double action pump ( maybe my pump was defective all along ). Would a vacuum cannister be of help and worth adding?



BST RGDS

GARY ( happychris )

ESSX28-1

happychris wrote: »

Jon,



I bid the TRICO accessory vacuum pump up to $40.00 on eBay. Not sure how much higher to go as you got your for $5.00. Maybe I will try the Arkansas HET meeting mid next month and see what I can find there. Wish I had gone to Kearney, but I did not know about this need at that time.



Anyone else out there got a TRICO fanbelt driven vacuum pump they want to sell? ( or a place to find one )



QUOTE]



TheTRICO pump went for $113 - much too much.

I'd also be interested in a fanbelt driven Vac pump if you get extra offers.



Dave

Unknown

6 volt electric wiper motors do exist, you just have to hunt. I was just thinking, there's a quick and dirty option here also, it's not period correct, but it is cheap and it will work. Go to the junkyard and pick up a smog pump (A.I.R. pump) for a GM. You ought to be able to get one for a song and dance, as most people with any performance mind pull them off and throw them away anyway. In fact I may have one here. These pumps are designed to inject air into the exhaust manifold for pollution control, but by using the intake of the pump as your vacuum source will work as a vacuum pump. I have built crankcase evacuation systems for race motors (where a vacuum line is run to a crankcase breather) out of these things before. Couldn't tell you how much vacuum one pulls as I've never had a gauge on it. But it should be more than enough to run the wiper, and could be adjusted with pulley size.



Also, if you have headers, there is a low pressure area in the header collector that can be tapped into with a bung, but it's usually only a few inches hg, I don't think it would run the wiper.



Best Regards,

Unknown

we have a few NOS wiper motors on our store. check and see if they can be of any use to you.

Unknown

Why not put a rebuilt dual action fuel pump back on your car, they are available and that would solve the problem. All current rebuilt pump diaphragms are of new materials that will not be affected by todays fuel.

Unknown

I had put a modern rebuilt double action fuel pump on the car and it failed within a year. I got the pump from Kanter and paid big bucks for it. Reading Bill A's comments made me decide to give up getting rebuilt double action pumps and convert to the single action pump.



I found a NOS TRICO Accessory Vacuum Pump from Rob Ficken ( wiperman.com ). It is not cheap at $100, but I think I will give it a try. A lot less than a rebuilt double action fuel pump.



BST RGDS

GARY ( happychris )

Unknown

http://www.mikes-afordable.com/page/MFP/CTGY/1121



There are 6v wiper motor for a Model A...not sure if it can be adapted to work, but at $37.50, it's cheaper than the pump. Not sure how much power it draws, but I don't think it'd be very much...The generator in a Model A max, under normal circumstances, is 12amps. 10amps are needed for headlights on high, 7 on low. So it couldn't be pulling too much I don't think.

Jon B

Gary, just keep that baby lubricated! Especially the little felt wick around the vertical linkage. The end of the linkage (that engages the arm) has broken off on a couple of my pumps over the last 30 years. However, it looks like a simple fix: it's just a bent rod, threaded at one end. My Trico pump has worked out fairly well except that for some reason, when it rains, I think water gets on the fanbelt and the idler wheel slips, causing the wipers to slow down at the most inopportune times (such as, when it is really raining hard, LOL!). Not trying to scare you though...the pump has worked out well and my wipers are slap-slapping away as I drive uphill, unlike wipers on many Hudsons!

Unknown

Jon B,



I know I paid TOO MUCH, but your solution seemed to be the best. It is still cheaper that converting to electric, then converting the entire car from 6V to 12V! I understand your comment about lubrication the wick - where else do you have to lubricate, or will that be obvious when I finally see the pump? Did you have to make your own mounting brackets for this unit? I will have to see what comes with the pump. Did you mount it above the generator - that would seem to be the obvious place, but again I have not ever seen this unit.



BST RGDS

GARY ( happychris )

Jon B

For $100 it should come with the proper mounting device, which is a circular clamp that holds it to to generator.

Unknown

Would a vacuum reserve tank make any difference regarding wiper function?

Unknown

howdy fellas



anyone got a 12v Trico Electro Vac they'd liketa donate or sell?



I'm kinda needin one after this --



kinda excitin day

by theHighwayman on Mon Feb 09, 2009 5:54 pm



Well "the weather outside is frighfull"



But I was havin a great time helpin folks @ numerous incidents of different kinds in the blustery rain --



right upta the moment my wipers suddenly stopped and my engine died seconds later



I was jist comin up on a "situation" on the RS that I had done a "go around" to be able to approach safely [ couple of vehicles had played little "tag" in the rain and when I first saw em were stopped IN a traffic lane but I wasn't in position to come up behind em safely w-out causin worse mself soooo



anyways my wipers quit suddenly as I was comin up onta the freeway from the underpass ramp -- makin it kinda hard to see -- then -w-out warnin the engine shut down like I'd turned off the key



luckily -- I had enuf momentum that I was able to coast in behind the damaged vehicles -- that were now on the RS out of traffic lanes -- and my emergency lighting and arrow bar were still functional



anyways, after determining no one was hurt and they were exchangin info and callin a tow fer the one I went back to my vehicle to figure out if *I* was gonna need a tow



Well, my old SAR rig don't have lectric wipers like t-day's --



it has vacuum powered wipers -- engine vacuum -- that drops on acceleration, normally causin the wipers to slow down jist at the time ya NEED em to be workin their fastest -- UNLESS -- ya have a Trico Electro Vac [vacuum booster] that kicks in to keep the wipers goin



I *had* one until t-day



It seized -- stoppin the wipers -- AND -- blowin the main ignition fuse -- lucky I carry spares



took me a leetil while to figure it out in the pourin rain



BUT



no tow fer me t-DAY



Now -- anybody got a Trico Electro Vac asittin on the shelf somewheres?



I'd admire ta have it so's I kin keep on "playin" in bad weather





it is one of the most beautiful compensations of this life that we cannot sincerely help another without helping ourselves in the bargain

http://www.chainsbysnowbird.com

theHighwayman

Center Bowl





Posts: 227

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Location: San Diego

Geoff

Dave53-7C wrote:

Would a vacuum reserve tank make any difference regarding wiper function?

The English Fords of the early 50's (Prefect, Anglia, Pilot) had these reserve tanks built in to the inner fenders. If you left the wipers turned on when you switched the engine off, you got about 4 wipes before they stopped, so effective they were not! The old maxim "Nature abhors a vacuum" is true! I have converted my Jet to electric wipers by fitting a generic 6 volt Japanese unit on the original bracket, making up the necessary arm and pinning it on to the motor shaft, and using the original bowden cable control to turn on a micro-switch, which connects to a relay to supply voltage to the wiper. It does not automatically park, but this is easily done manually, and could easily be wired up with another relay and microswitch if one was energetic enough.

Geoff

[Deleted User]

happychris wrote:

I did the conversion of the double action fuel pump to a single action ( per a previous thread about oil pumping from the vent on the double action pump ). That solved my oil leakage issue - great! I hooked the vacuum wipers up directly to engine vacuum. What is the best way to get them back to the performance they had prior ( with the vacuum pump section of the double action fuel pump )? I am still using the 6 VDC system, so an electric vacuum pump ( if I could find one ) is not a real option. I did some research and found that TRICO made an accessory vacuum pump that was driven by a wheel that ran on the fan belt. Anyone know of a source for this pump? Any other alternatives - other than to switch the entire car over to 12 VDC and convert to electric wipers? I may convert to 12V eventually, but I like the idea that the old girl is still original.



BST RGDS

GARY ( happychris )

Go to a junk yard and look for a car that has air condition and buy the vacuum reserve tank. This builds up with vacuum and when you hit the gas the vacuum in the tank takes over. 54 Hornets have this tank on the top of the right front fender inner panel and it stores vacuum for the power brake unit. Your wiper motor must be in good shape so as not to let the vacuum escape. Walt.