First Aurora 2nd gen ever with headlight wipers?

[gdouaire]

Still a project, but got Saab 900 headlight wipers - and it looks like a promising setup on my Aurora.

Fed up driving here in Quebec, Canada - with headlights all messed up with dirt from driving in these awful winter conditions.

[lkraft92]

if you can get it done, it would be awesome. good luck and keep us updated.

[sall]

Cool! Think that will require fascia modification? Did they include the cleaner spray nozzle?

[Marc]

I hope you can do it.

[gdouaire]

Feb 12, 2015 21:03:19 GMT -6 sall said:

Cool! Think that will require fascia modification? Did they include the cleaner spray nozzle?

I will route the wiper shaft through the light lens, right between the high and low beams. I will likely need to cut/bend stuff behind the lights to fit the motors - which are relatively small but still...

The Saab 900 headlight wiper systems do include nozzles on the blades. I will match a second washer fluid pump with the headlight wiper motors so it squirts every time the headlight wipers are launched.

I bought an '80s headlight wiper switch and will make it look OEM installed.

[rorafan]

This is cool! Another option (though not as nice) is to go with high-pressure nozzles only - no blades. My Envoy had these and they actually worked surprisingly well, esp. for road salt.

Bonneville SSEs back in the day had the same thing. That had to be early 90s...You'd push the wiper stalk opposite the usual "washer" way and it would spray the headlights vs. the windshield!

Either way, good luck! I wish more cars had this feature.

[gdouaire]

This is the button I will use.

[Oldsnut]

Good Luck with this project.

[gdouaire]

Seems it works ok:

youtu.be/HsGBME79QVg

[sall]

Nice! What did you use to seal around the wiper arm through the lens? I can't say it looks appealing, but for your case function over form. Now you need to retrofit some Bi-Xenon HID projectors in there. Get some more width and some more light on the road.

[gdouaire]

To seal the shaft, I reused the original seal that was near the wiper motor on the unit. Looks pretty tight.

[XJSman89]

I like it! A final video on the car would be awesome. A nice retrofit!

[guy48065]

Cool project!
How well does the wiper blade remain in contact with the curvature of the lens?
Have you checked to see if the wiper arm casts a shadow on the road by being so close to the beam?

[gdouaire]

Feb 16, 2015 11:24:40 GMT -6 guy48065 said:

Cool project!
How well does the wiper blade remain in contact with the curvature of the lens?
Have you checked to see if the wiper arm casts a shadow on the road by being so close to the beam?

As the image above shows, the wiper arm does clear the beam.

As for the contact... not perfect, but because the wiper arm spring is pretty stiff, it's good.

[gdouaire]

Final install will happen this weekend.

I'm still undecided where I will put the button to control the wipers on the dash... maybe it will hang with the wires before I find its final location

[gdouaire]

Installed driver side. Not wired.

[Paulaurora]

Nice!

[sall]

Is the lens fogged? I can't really tell from my phone.

[gdouaire]

Next step will be to wire them.
Then install the squirters, and the washer pump.

[gdouaire]

Feb 21, 2015 17:58:31 GMT -6 sall said:

Is the lens fogged? I can't really tell from my phone.

Nope, but there was some ice on it.

[gdouaire]

Winter has been very cold. I took my time to put together a wire harness to power these, waiting for warmer weather.

Yet to install the switch in the dash, but getting there.

Everything else is installed.

[Paulaurora]

Cool!

[gdouaire]

The switch will be installed later today.

For now, I can launch them manually playing with wires under the hood:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fc_YhTsBuQ

Pressing the button launches the wipers through 2 full cycles; holding the button also makes the washer pump activate.

[gdouaire]

This is the switch setup. Using a solid-state relay, will be located in the ashtray.



I am just trying to find a way to route the headlight wire through the cowl... on older cars, there's always an obvious opening. But not on this car

[sall]

What headlamps wire and what 'cowl'? Do you mean the firewall? Looking good.

[gdouaire]

Indeed - I meant the firewall. The wire that will be routed through the firewall is the one that needs +12v to launch the headlight wipers through a full cycle.

[gdouaire]

Routed the wire through the firewall on the passenger side. Final setup.

Final - 2003 Oldsmobile Aurora headlight wipers : youtu.be/NPu3m1MLJzA

[sall]

Sorry I missed your response yesterday. Yes, I was going to suggest running to the passenger side and through with the OEM main cable. It's pretty much the only firewall pass-through other than bulkhead connectors.

[gdouaire]

I had to add a solenoid on the wiper fluid tube. Because the tank is massive & is vertical, and the headlight wiper washer outlets are so low, when I filled the washer tank at 100%, some of the fluid was pouring out from the wipers from gravity. I did not test that earlier this year

The solenoid I got was a 12v unit, not sure if it will survive in the automotive environment, but I bought a spare one just in case!

This is what the solenoid looks like:



When I press the headlight washer switch, I send power to both the washer pump & the solenoid. Works for now...

[Paulaurora]

nice!