Notes On 240 Volvo Windscreen Wipers

Notes on 240 Volvo Windscreen Wipers
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19 Years of Volvo 240 Production
These notes generally apply to 1979 through 1993 240s except Bertone Coupe, taken from my family fleet experiences
with the following:
79 244DL, 83 244DL, 83 242Ti, 83 244Ti, 84 244DL, 89 245GL, 89 244 GL, 90 244, 91 244DL, 91 244GL
Some factory manual and parts list research seems to reveal three major model year groups, corresponding to the body
design changes made to the 200 series over its 19-year production run:
1975-1980, 1981-1985, 1986-1993
http://cleanflametrap.com/wiper.html
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The early wiper arms attached without a nut, using a spring to retain them.
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The length of the wiper drive grew to accommodate the deeper cowl beginning in 1986.
Troubleshooting
Most of us are familiar with the part-swap method of trouble elimination.
It is an expedient but often inefficient approach. You most likely agree with me or you would not be here. You don't need a
repair manual or a web page to swap three parts.
A second shortcut method requires a compiled list of symptoms and their likely causes, gleaned from other owners'
experiences. I've had relatively few wiper problems, so can't pass on many here:
Wipers dead - dirty ground contact at motor; corroded fuse #2
Motor slow and makes grinding noise - Electrolux field magnets unglued from case
Motor slow and wipers making clunking noises - wiper drive bound up
Wipers stop in mid-sweep when turned off - parking contacts need cleaning
Trading time for money, you might choose instead to understand the system, allowing a divide and conquer approach to
repair diagnosis.
For instance, a basic division between mechanical and electrical can be made by disconnecting the wiper's drive crank from
the motor, directly behind the glove box.
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The following images should shed some light on the design and function of the 240 windscreen wiper, along with a couple
links to more information at other sites.
Electrical Function
There are two paths to power the wiper motor, normal wiping done with the switch in Low or High, and the parking sweep,
used when the switch is in Interval or Off.
Using the early, non-intermittent (no relay) wiring diagram, the two paths can be followed.
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Parking cam used in the Electrolux wiper motor.
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Note the ground contact operated by the parking cam acts as a motor brake at the close of the parking sweep.
This wiping and parking function is 1950's technology.
Adding the interval function, with its relay, makes the diagram a bit more crowded and takes us into the 1970's with
transistors.
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Tailgate wiper drawings included here, although I have not yet had occasion to do much more than change the blade on our
one wagon.
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Jumping from the seventies to the nineties, not much more than a wire color and harness routing has changed the wiring
diagram:
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For those interested in the Stribel version of Robert W. Kearns' 1964 patent:
Mechanical Function
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So far, I've only experienced loose magnets in two Electrolux wiper motors. This happened long before I had the idea to
take photos, so what I recall of the repair is but a vague memory of having cleaned rust from the inner case with a wire
brush, and mixed up a batch of epoxy to put a thin layer between the cleaned metal and the magnet.
I later had second thoughts about the choice of epoxy (thermally brittle) but have had no reason to revisit the repaired
motors (one still in use).
The SWF motor doesn't get loose magnets, I suppose, because they are held in place by clips. Here are a few views of a
repair to clean and lube the SWF when it seemed slow:
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Though German is my second language, I had no clue about "nahentstrt." Of course, Google scratches most itches, so I'm
quite happy to know the radiated electrical noise from my SWF wiper motor's brushes is adequately suppressed -nahentstrt.
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Just for reference, the unloaded motor current was about 1 and 1.5A on low speed and high, respectively. Each
measurement increased about 1/2 Amp with the gear installed, but unloaded by the mechanism.
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Repairing a nearly frozen drive on the '89 wagon was a bit more involved.
As I pulled the car into the garage, I wondered if the linkage was loose and the wipers were dragging on the glass. Looking
closer, I could see the cowl was flexing in sync with the clunk noise as the crank reversed direction. The dragging noise
was not wiper on glass:
Volvo 240 wiper drive needs lube
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With the crank disconnected from the motor, I could not move the linkage by hand.
Reconnecting it, now thoroughly impressed with the torque delivered by that gearmotor I removed the o-ring seal to flood
the shaft and bushing beneath it with penetrating oil, hoping the motor would work it into the drive.
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It was soon apparent the drive would need to come out and be restrained against my efforts in a more secure way than its
mounting to the firewall.
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I have read some claims the drive can be removed and replaced with the dash in, the access is through the glove box
opening, the upper radio opening, and the instrument cluster opening. The arm scraping didn't seem like it was worth any
saving of time and with those holes already open the dash is only 7 more screws: Dash-out and Dash-in Details
Aside from that good-enough reason, how could I get photos?
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The defroster vent is right behind the right-side wiper drive. Easily moved.
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After disconnecting the linkage, I could barely move the drive with a gloved hand over the cable pulley. I was glad to get it
to a bench vise.
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Getting the shaft out without ruining it was more effort than I had expected. My confidence waned as I discovered the
"spare" I had from the 83 would not fit the 89, but it all managed to survive my twisting and pounding.
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Parts
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It seems hard to find simple refills any more, except for this most inexpensive brand.
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There was only one of these until 1986. After that, there's a left and a right.
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I call this a dust shield in a previous photo. It probably has an important job in keeping water out of the drive unit.
Some of you who may have bookmarked this page before August 2011 may recall the next series of pictures. These were
taken after a 2003 collision left me suddenly with a 1983 parts car. Having the parts removed made it easy to photograph
what normally lives under the dash.
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Here are Volvo parts drawings showing the major change years.
1975-1980
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1981-1985
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1986-1993
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Return to links index
External Links for Wiper Information

The following links are provided as a courtesy, with no claims:
This link is especially helpful if you landed here with a 7 or 9 series car, and not a 240, however most of the contributions
look to be made under an assumption they are all similar.
Brickboard 700/900 FAQ list
This page is maintained by a VCOA club leader who shares some tips on JB-Welding a drive pulley stripped from its shaft:
Zen of Volvo 240 Wiper Linkage
Please drop me an email if any links I've included no longer function: benstein at cleanflametrap dot com
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Notes On 240 Volvo Windscreen Wipers

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