headlight washers

[Dazco]

Ive got a grill with headlight washer jets built in. Has anyone got any info on how thaey are plumbed in. did they use a seperate tank and pump etc and how were they operated? seperate switch or on a relay from the wipers? Not sure how im gonna go about instaling them yet.
I know they may seam a bit gimmiky but id like to get em working.
Cheers daz

[Mickyfin]

I have them fitted, there is a separate pump for them, however the fluids are in the same bottle. The headlight washers only work when your headlights are switched on.

[Dazco]

thanks for that , are they operated when the wipers are switched on or when the normal washers are operated?

[Mickyfin]

When you pull the wiper arm towards you whether or not the wipers are on or off. Once pulled forward, you hold the arm in the position, and the water will be squirted. As said earlier, when headlights on, the headlights will be cleaned as well as the windscreen.

[g60steve]

The bottle is different to the standard one to accommodate the extra pump.

[Dazco]

think i might plumb in a seperate bottle and run it off a dash mounted switch otherwise im gonna have to start messing with timer relays etc

[g60steve]

Is it worth the hassle for the amount of times you need to wash your headlamps?

[Dazco]

probabaly not but ive got the grill for nowt and might as well have em working

[g60steve]

probabaly not but ive got the grill for nowt and might as well have em working

I'm sure there's other jobs that require your attention rather than something you may use twice a year?

[AdrianC]

probabaly not but ive got the grill for nowt and might as well have em working

I'm sure there's other jobs that require your attention rather than something you may use twice a year?

I've had 'em on cars in the past, and they really are a good thing. But, having said that, I'm not renowned for cleaning vehicles frequently...

A second bottle's a good plan - the pumps tend to be higher capacity than normal screen ones, and they REALLY DO get through water. If they're off the main bottle, they usually take off higher, so you don't find yourself out of windscreen washing.

[Mickyfin]

and they REALLY DO get through water.

You can say that again! They do indeed use a lot of watcher, so much so, I thought my bottle was leaking as I kept running out of water every week.

[CovKid]

Better to give them a coat of water-repellent Rain-X once a month. My front lights and windscreen get a coat every month. I tend to think these are as useful as the rear wiper and VW only fitted them to help sell the vehicles rather than for any practical use. If you do fit them, consider a separate tank.

[Dazco]

Thanks Micky for the useful info. cheers , covkid, Adrian, extra tank it is

[Mickyfin]

Just for reference, I filled my windscreen/headlight washer bottle/tank today and it took just over 5 litres of washer fluid to fill it.

[Dazco]

That holds alot more than I would have thought . Ill have to get looking for a suitable tank and somewhere to mount it.