Windshield Washer Pump Bracket Failure

[Howard Prout]

A few days ago I attempted to use the windhsield washer of my '59 and to my surprise it didn't work. We had a long hot and dry summer so I hadn't used the system for probably several months. For those who aren't familiar with the windshield washer system on these vehicles, a pump mechansim is strapped to the generator housing and a vacuum motor pulls the drive wheel of the pump to make contact with the front fan belt. As crazy as the system is, mine has been surprisingly reliable. I investigated the problem and found that the bracket that supports the vacuum motor and pump had broken. What surprised me was the pattern of the break - along the bend and then across the supporting flange. Closer examination revealed that this failure had taken place over a considerable length of time. I was fortunate enough to have a spare pump mechanism for a different application that used the same bracket. So the spare was canabilized, the system has been repaired and is operational once again. I will mig weld the broken bracket so that I once again have a spare unit.

[simplyconnected]

Howard, you always do such good work. Looks like the migrating crack and eventual break was due to vibration. It looks typical.

Do you have enough room to 'beef-up' the inside by lap-welding an extra piece of steel over your repair weld? (Just a thought.) - Dave

[Howard Prout]

No doubt about the cause being vibration. Since the pump is driven by contact with the back side of the fan belt, the mechanism is subject to a lot of vibration. Cracks always follow the path of least resistance so once the crack got to the point where the flange was weaker than the bend, it migrated across the flange. Good point about beefing up the bracket to make it stronger. But if the replacement bracket lasts as long as the original, I'll be long gone before it fails. But I'll still repair the old one if for no other reason than personal satisfaction.