Packard Forum Index » V-8 (1955-56)

There's no way in hell that vacuum wipers will ever be superior to electric wipers. They got rid of them for a reason, they're worthless.

HH rained like hell on the way to the car show, wipers worked great, received compliments on the attempt to maintain originality. Thanks for your help

Glad things worked out & car was well received. You both deserve it. Did you get the horn fixed as well?

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I have to agree. I have fought the vacuum wipers on many cars. Most would stall on acceleration and going up a hill forget it. I must add that I was surprised when the wipers on my 51 worked as well as they do. They slow a bit on acceleration but I can not get them to stall at all no matter how hard I try. I guess that shows that vacuum wipers can work well when everything is in good shape.

Either vaccum or electric can do the job adequately, but I believe a vacuum motor (that is in good working order) works at its best when it has an auxiliary source of vacuum, for those times when manifold vacuum is low.

Whether you go electric or stick with the vacuum motor depends on personal preference and whether you're willing and able to spend the time and money to renew a 50+ year old mechanical system.

Personally, if I had one of the good old Trico electric motors (which are also renewable) on-hand that would bolt right up, I wouldn't think twice about installing it, temporarily, whilst the vacuum wiper was off for rebuild. I might do same if the performance of the renewed vacuum system still didn't suit my tastes for touring or daily use.

HH Being a bit of a tinkerer, I find it interesting how Packard solved or created a problem and don't mind living with their choice. Ficken did a good job rebuilding the motor; I was surprised how powerful it is even at idle. I used a small pry bar to gain the leverage over those stout cable tensioners when attaching them corectly, the gloves was a very good suggestion. The compensator does stick a wrench in to it as it may not have been a good design or my unit is problematic. When attached it makes the control cable twist around a bit and somehow increased the tolerance for a good solid park. With the compensator off they snap right back with it attached it takes half a minute. I may rebuild the washer pump as you have shown but doubt if I would like to use it with the rubber tubing so close to the radio and dash components. The horn now works fine without any help from me. Incidentally she was given a show favorite trophy.

Windshield wipers shouldn't be removed especially during rainy season. You wouldn't know when will going to rain. Getting caught in the rain is something every person has to deal with now and then. In case you are in a automobile too, then you need to be able to see where you are going still. You need your <a title="Stay away from spending excess on wiper blades" href="http://www.cardealexpert.com/news-information/saving-money/wiper-blades-visibility/">wiper blades</a> to be able to work so you can see past all the water. There shouldn't be any streaking or smearing. When buying new wiper blades, keep in mind that Consumer Reports explains price doesn't have an effect on how good a wiper blade is.

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I have to disagree. As mentioned, when working properly, they're probably better, as they can go much faster. With the auxiliary vacuum source, they're very reliable. Mine slow down some upon heavy acceleration, but I find that is a minor problem because all you have to do is lift off the "go" pedal slightly, and they quickly start flapping as fast as a humming bird's wings.

I agree with West on this, properly maintained vacuum wipers are just superb, faster than most electrics at their maximum, plus the advantage of stepwise speed reduction down to a crawl if desired. Yes, they loose a little speed momentarily under periods of heavy throttle. Folks who have problems with them probably haven't had the motor lubricated or serviced, cables and pulleys lubricated, and vacuum booster pump in proper functioning order.