Other: Clarity On Wiper Tubes

[Joe Tondu]

Weak, impotent windshield wiper action.
Had to drive the hulk in a snowstorm this
morning. Felt like I was Lindbergh. :/

On my '50 Champion there is one wiper hose
that runs down to the intake manifold. Why is
there a blanked off hose on the other side?

Further, the parts manual shows the wiper
tube running to the fuel pump. Then a separate
tube from the pump to the manifold. My fuel pump
has no connections to any vacuum, just one line
to the carb. Something doesn't add up. Any clarity
on this matter would be appreciated.

[Commander Eddie]

Studebaker sometimes used a dual action fuel pump that provided the vacuum for the wipers. I believe the setup you have was also correct. Have you had your wiper motor rebuilt? If not it might be time. There is a guy that rebuilds them but I can't lay my hands on his contact information right now. I think he charges around $100. The other option is to pull the vacuum line off the motor and squirt about a teaspoon of light machine oil in to it. The leather seal inside gets dry and hard and won't seal properly but a little oil often helps. Do that and then run the wipers for a bit. See if you don't see some improvement.

[StudeRich]

You probably need a Dual Action Fuel Pump with the Vacuum booster side helping increase Engine Vacuum.

[TWChamp]

When I bought my 1950 Commander in 1969, one of the first things I did was remove the cover from the wiper motor and squirt some ATF on the paddle. That made the wipers work great, though they were seldom needed in El Paso.

[Skip Lackie]

https://www.wiperman.com

And a dual-action fuel pump would also help a lot. Some of our vendors carry them.

[TWChamp]

I bought a couple of dual action fuel pumps on ebay, but you can bet the fuel pump diaphram in them will be destroyed by the ethanol crap gas.