Fuse Keeps Blowing- advice? Options

[mikedsilva]

My new to me, 1970 914/4, has some iffy electrics..

The fuse in the number 7 spot, keeps blowing as soon as I turn the key to ignition on.

So, this means I dont have any indicators or wipers working.. etc.

Electrics are a little mysterious to me to be honest.. I do have a multimeter.. but I am not sure how to track this problem. I'm thinking I have a short somewhere on one of those systems..

Should I start by trying to unplug each and every component that uses that circuit, then reinstall another fuse, and turn the ignition on?

How would an experienced auto electrician pinpoint a problem like this?

Any and all advice appreciated..

Cheers
Mike.

[mikedsilva]

I ended up removing the wiper motor.
I marked all wires with tape so I could plug it back in as it came out.

On the bench, I connected power to the various wires, and was able to ascertain which wires gave, low speed, high speed, park function.

The wiper motor itself seems to work fine on the bench... so I guess that eliminates the motor as being the problem.
I haven't been able to confirm which wires that come from the switch, are supposed to be for high, low and park.. but I was able to find that the brown wire was supposed to be connected to the chassis of the motor.
I plugged the motor back into the car, and connected the brown from the switch, to the ground tab on the motor. The "loose" green wire with stripe was then plugged into the motors now unused connector; now everything seems to work fine.

Problem is that when the wipers are on the screen, they do not have enough power to wipe... granted, the screen is dry and the blades are old...

I'll be confirming with a friend this week, if I have indeed connected everything correctly..

[GaroldShaffer]

I ended up removing the wiper motor.
I marked all wires with tape so I could plug it back in as it came out.

On the bench, I connected power to the various wires, and was able to ascertain which wires gave, low speed, high speed, park function.

The wiper motor itself seems to work fine on the bench... so I guess that eliminates the motor as being the problem.
I haven't been able to confirm which wires that come from the switch, are supposed to be for high, low and park.. but I was able to find that the brown wire was supposed to be connected to the chassis of the motor.
I plugged the motor back into the car, and connected the brown from the switch, to the ground tab on the motor. The "loose" green wire with stripe was then plugged into the motors now unused connector; now everything seems to work fine.

Problem is that when the wipers are on the screen, they do not have enough power to wipe... granted, the screen is dry and the blades are old...

I'll be confirming with a friend this week, if I have indeed connected everything correctly..

If you haven't already pull the wiper rack out clean & lube all the joints you can. I had the same problem with my 70. I had to pull the wiper rack and clean it up and lube every joint. Since then they have worked just fine and that was 7yrs ago. Once a year I pull the wiper arms off and the nuts & washers then drop a few drops of oil in there and then put back together.