SCREEN TEST

.By Bob Larcombe

“You wanna sell the F and buy something you can tinker with yourself, like an old Midget or something….”

These were the words of a friend of mine when I recounted how the F’s screenwash pump/motor had stopped working.  A simple spring loaded switch operating an uncomplicated 12v motor, driving a small centrifugal pump.  Technology largely unchanged since the day Henry Ford said “You know something?…This windscreen needs a clean”.

Simple, but also expensive.  Having removed the offending item and discovering it to be a sealed unit, I’d resigned myself to fitting a new one.  Now, delightful though she is, Samantha the receptionist at my regular MGR dealership couldn’t soften the blow that a new motor and pump assembly cost a frankly staggering £32.  To you and I it’s a Scalextric motor attached to a small propeller but to Rover it’s an “assembly” and this I’m sure goes some way to justifying the cost.

At the back of my mind I knew it had to be a simple fault and having refrained from asking Sam to order a new one, I set to with a pair of pointy pliers.  What was there to lose?  It didn’t work so a little autopsy on the defunct motor would at least satisfy my curiosity as to how Rover pack £32 worth of components in to something the size of a 35mm film canister.  I was also determined to at least try to fix the problem or prove to myself that it was indeed beyond help.  Hopefully it’d be repairable and I’d demonstrate that modern cars can be fixed easily at home, thus firing a shot across the chrome-bumpered bow of classic MGs everywhere.  A firm tug and the electrical connector popped out of the main motor casing, bringing with it two flimsy strands of copper to which were attached tiny carbon blocks, the brushes of the motor.  Inside the plastic body I could also see the armature and copper windings. Nothing exciting, nothing seemingly out of place it was classic text book physics.  So, having gently straightened the brushes and given them a quick clean with a toothbrush I aligned them slightly closer together than when they were removed, then slid the connector back in to the main body of the motor.

It all pushed together with satisfying ease and a firm sense of security. Although it pulled part easily enough, I got the impression the pump wouldn’t then fall apart as a result.

Refitted to the car, the motor whirred excitedly as the car cried tears of screenwash at the joy of a problem cured at a cost of nothing more than my own time.

Must admit I was pretty chuffed too, my only regret being that I didn’t take the photos to prove just how easy it was…