Need European Wiper Motor

[Sean]

Folks,

As always, when the going gets tough, I turn to the collected wisdom of the board here to help out.

Yesterday while driving in the rain, mainly in Maine, the #*@& wipers quit working.  The 25 year old pot metal on the worm drive finally had enough "slapping time" to Janis Joplin songs, and the steel worm gear ate the plastic ring gear.

We've Rain-X'ed the hell out of the windshield, as a precaution, but basically we are now confined to moving only when it is not raining until we can get this thing fixed.

Of course, it's a weird-ball Mercedes part that is hard to find in this country.  Aside from a whole passel of Neoplans (80's and 90's era Spaceliner, Cityliner, and Jetliner coaches made in Germany), this was also the stock wiper motor on the Mercedes o-303 coach.  Perhaps it's been used in other applications; I have no way to know.

I need to find either an entire replacement motor assembly, or the worm-drive housing plus the ring gear.  An old unit gathering dust in a scrapyard would be fine.

Details of the whole sordid affair, including photos and part numbers, are on my blog in this post:
http://ourodyssey.blogspot.com/2009/10/reader-assistance-wiper-motor.html

Before anyone suggests this, let me say that retrofitting a different part is not an option unless the mounting bolt pattern and spindle size are essentially an exact match (wiring and connector differences I can probably deal with).  There is simply no room to work in there to make any changes; I had to cut a 3" hole in the front of the bus just to get the existing unit out.

As always, any assistance or suggestions are greatly appreciated (well OK, I did not appreciate the blog reader who told us to junk the bus in favor of a "luxury fifth wheel" -- whatever that is -- but constructive suggestions are always welcome).

-Sean
http://OurOdyssey.BlogSpot.com

[Ob1quixote]

Your motor gearcase looks surprisingly similar to automotive electric door glass lift motors. The automotive units are much slimmer, not having the long mounting boses at the three corners. You may find something that you could work/bodge with in '80's Mercedes sedans. Ford and GM window motors also use a similar design, not so sure your spindle would work though.

[bobofthenorth]

Might be worth a phone call to Miguel at Autex in New York.  718-983-9898

[Paul]

I have had good luck with
Rome Truck Parts, INC.
Rome, Georgia 90161
1-800-284-4345

[Busted Knuckle]

Sean try JD @ C & J Bus Repair!
They are mainly geared toward the MCI's and such, but he has a wealth of knowledge and might be able to help!
Also I don't remember fer sure if Roger, or Gary is the right name or not but call ABC in MN and ask for the used parts guy! He may know where one is being parted out if he doesn't have one!
Also I checking other sources in the AM too!
  BK 

[wrench]

  Sean
I got a window motor from a 1983 Mercedes 123 body(240). I am not sure if the size would be the same. Can you give some dimensions? (dia, thickness, # teeth,)
           wrench

[oldmansax]

As always, any assistance or suggestions are greatly appreciated (well OK, I did not appreciate the blog reader who told us to junk the bus in favor of a "luxury fifth wheel" -- whatever that is -- but constructive suggestions are always welcome).

-Sean
http://OurOdyssey.BlogSpot.com

If you decide to take his suggestion, I will be glad to help you out by coming to pick up your old worn-out bus and transporting you and yours to pick up your new "luxury fifth wheel.

ROFL!!!!!!!!!

That guy reminds me of a blind person giving opinions on different shades of fuchsia.

TOM

[Len Silva]

Sean,

I plugged one of the part numbers from your blog into google and this was one result
http://cgi.befr.ebay.be/Scheibenwischermotor-O303-DB-0018243001-0018241501-SWF_W0QQitemZ390084275989QQcmdZViewItemQQptZNutzfahrzeugteile?hash=item5ad2d5af15&_trksid=p4634.c0.m14

I used a translator to get this result:
NOS unused from BW stock can hardly Original packing and storage Transportspuren. The wiper Motor is an original part and costs normally in trade of 200 Euro we collect parts from different or the same auctions in question in packages to 31,5 kg each additional package costs the same Forwarding_expenses. zB Germany 8,49 Euro. Different parts are not mixed packing as zB headlamp with severe spare parts as zB brake.


Good luck

[paul102a3]

Sean,

This is a real long shot but I have a friend who works for Siemens's ELFA division in Germany. The ELFA division supplies the diesel electric components for the bus manufactures in Europe and the Far East.

Since he works with all the major bus manufacturers, Mercedes included, he has access to all their parts. If it is of any help, I can email him and see if the parts are still available and have them shipped to the US.

Let me know.

Paul

[Sean]

OK, here's the latest update:

Several folks suggested Autec (Miguel) -- I called, they only do Bosch motors.  The Bosch system has a conical spline with a threaded insert, where a bolt holds tension on the cone.  The SWF system (what I have) is a cylidrical spline with a pinch clamp and bolt.  So that was a dead end.

Several also suggested Rome.  I called them, they have nothing in stock.  They are calling the SWF distributor, Sprague, on Monday and will get back to me.

It should be needless to say that, yes, I already plugged the parts numbers into eBay (and Google), and came up with DieselMot, who have essentially identical listings for this item in German, French, and Italian on various European eBay sites.  We have an email into them, from even before I first posted here, inquiring whether they will ship to the U.S.  So far, no reply, but I don't know if they speak any English (they have no English-language posting nor one on the UK site), and my French is very, very rusty.

Neopart claims to have a similar motor with a different spindle size in stock for nearly $600.  More than I hoped to spend, and it's still the wrong spindle.

The UK Neoplan distributor can get me a motor for 179 pounds Sterling (~$285); that's a bit more reasoanable, but I would still have to pay international shipping as well as any customs duty.  More importantly, we'd have to nail down a place for them to send it so we could be sure to get it.

I'm still hoping somebody's got a used one somewhere on this side of the pond.

In the meantime, the J-B Weld on my existing motor is now cured, and tomorrow I will reinstall it and cross my fingers that there's enough meat left on the ring gear teeth to keep it working until I come up with a replacement.

Lastly, I really do not have the wherewithal to modify a window-glass motor or even a different wiper motor to fit this application.  There is simply no access to this area to be changing pinch-clamps or adding brackets, and my "fabrication" capability on the road is limited to what can be done with a drill, reciprocating saw, and Dremel tool -- I can't weld or machine things.  BTW, window motors are likely not powerful enough to move a pair of 28" bus wipers, and they would be the wrong voltage (12 vs. 24 ) anyway.

What I would certainly be open to is a different (meaning more commonly available) wiper motor, so long as it has exactly the same mounting bolt pattern and spindle diameter as the one I took out.  Unfortunately, this type of cross-reference is nearly impossible to come by.  The mounting bolts are in an equilateral triangle 2.5" on center, and the spindle is 3/8" diameter with 42 splines.

-Sean
http://OurOdyssey.BlogSpot.com

[wrench]

  If need help with translation in Germand & French, I can give you a hand.
      wrench

[Len Silva]

If you can save the old unit, perhaps you can re-index the ring gear so it doesn't land in the same place when parked.  I'm sure you have thought of that but just in case....

[Sean]

If you can save the old unit, perhaps you can re-index the ring gear so it doesn't land in the same place when parked. 

Not easily.  If you look at it you will see a flat brass "ring" around the plastic with a notch in it.



The way SWF indexes the motor to the park position is that there are a pair of wipers (in the motor sense, not the rain sense) that sit against this brass strip, and the motor is supplied with power continuously so long as there is conductivity between the two wipers, irrespective of the position of the wiper switch.  So when the switch is turned to the "off" position, the motor continues to run until the gear rotates all the way around to the notch, wherein continuity is lost, and the wipers stop, at the park position.  The switch control serves to supply power to the motor when parked, to move the gear past the notch.

Reindexing the gear would require somehow removing that brass ring, rotating it some amount, and then reinstalling it, and of course it is sitting in a recess in the plastic that is shaped exactly like it.

-Sean
http://OurOdyssey.BlogSpot.com

[zubzub]

fwiw I had to re index the gears on a wiper box, same situation would not park in the right place so I bypassed the park function, and parked manually i.e. by turning off at the right moment.  Bit of a pita but you get used to it.  But then I drove my van for a month with 6 wires sticking out of the power window button and switched polarity with bare wires for the up and down function.... while driving. Oh yeah, I used to roll smokes behind the quarter fairing of my bike while cruising at 60 mph, fortunatly I have given up on motorcycles (and smoking).

[Len Silva]

Now really!  Have you seen Sean's bus?  I don't think anything half-assed is going to fly there.