My windshield wipers in my 1956 Ford Fairlane don't work. Can someone give me some advice on where to start checking the system to find the problem? Thanks

Is it hooked up to manifold vacuum? If so is the vacuum hose in good shape? Also the factory fuel pump was dual action with a vacuum pump on top to assist when manifold vacuum drops. More than likely the motor under the dash will need some attention. I sent mine out for rebuild so I'm in process of getting mine working.

Durham Missouri

I sent mine out for a 56 Victoria to Ficken Wiper Service and for a little more than $100.00 they  work probably about as good as they ever did. I have a later model fuel pump so I ran my vacuum line to the rear of the intake manifold.

Convert to Electric. 2 Speed. Work great. Don't stop when under Load.

  

oldcarmark has it right.  I did this to my 56 Bird and 54 Ford.  Works very nice.  Used New Port Engineering kits on both.


54 Victoria 312;  48 Ford Conv 302, 56 Bird 312
Forever Ford
Midland Park, NJ

If they don't work at all, it may be a linkage issue. If they barely work, it's likely the vacuum motor. You don't say if you have the dual diaphram fuel pump. If not, that doesn't help. Usually the inner vacuum paddle in the motor gets dry or damaged so it no longer seals to the case. There are people in Hemmings mag's services section, that offer to fix them, although I've heard of home fix it methods also. If you use the wipers often, a conversion may be the way to go. If  seldom used, a fix of the paddle may work for you. Maybe someone on this site can elaborate on a cheap fix. Oh, and a $100 fix sounds a bit high for whats involved. Got mine repaired for $35, including mailing, a few years ago..      


Paul

My 56's don't work much either. I've read here that you can disconnect the hose going into the car, place it in some Dot 3 brake fluid and had operate the wipers a few times to suck it up into the motor. Have the knob in the on position. I would disconnect the line going to the heater valve first and place a rubber cap over it. Others say to protect your carpeting. and anything under the dash. The vacuum tee is under there to for the heater valve if you have one.
They say too let the fluid sit in the wiper motor for a time so the leather expanse. Plug it all back together and start the engine. it will smoke for a while. Some say this helps a lot. I have not done and looking to install the Newports. Good Luck

56 Vic, B'Ville 200 MPH Club Member, So Cal.

DrylakesRacer has it essentially correct.


54 Victoria 312;  48 Ford Conv 302, 56 Bird 312
Forever Ford
Midland Park, NJ

OK, here are the results of trying to get my windshield wipers to work. First I want to thank everyone who responded to my post. When I started I had no wiper movement at all. I removed the vacuum hose from the fuel pump and inserted it into a jar of brake fluid. Turned the wiper knob to the on position and manually moved to wipers back and forth 10 or twelve times. All Isaw was bubbles going into the jar. It didn’t look like fluid was being suckedinto the hose and up into the wiper motor. But since I wasn’t sure I just let it set for a day anyway. The next day I reconnected the hose to the fuel pump, turned off the wipers and started the car. When I turned the wipers on, nothing happened and I didn’t have any smoke coming out the exhaust. This led me to believe that the brake fluid never made it to the motor. So, I started over.This time I took one of my older BBQ injection syringes filled it with brake fluid and forced the brake fluid into the hose and up into the motor. I left this for another day and then tried it again. When I turned the wiper motor on the wipers moved up the windshield about one third of the way and stopped. That was all I could get it to do. I am not sure if the brake fluid helped or just moving the wiper blades back and forth was the reason they worked a little. I might try this again and see if it shows any improvement before I decide if I want to rebuild the motor or get an electric motor. Anyway, thanks again for the help, you guys are very knowledgeable and I really appreciate you taking your time to help me.   

You are on the right Track. There is a leather Piece inside the Wiper Motor that dries out. Brake Fluid helps make it supple again. Possibly another problem You may have is the wiper Pivots may be seized up from non use where the arms mount. You can disconnect them under the Dash  where they hook onto the Motor Arm. Then you can run the Wiper Motor and see if that makes any difference as far as the motor working correctly. If that helps then You can try dripping some Penetrating or similar oil down the Pivots to free them up.