Washer Circuit

[Mark S]

Me squirties ent bin wurkin...

Today I removed the reservoir and connected the motor to a 12V source - fine. Next, I went under the bus and checked the earth connection with a test bulb - also fine. I then connected the test bulb to the positive terminal and pulled the stalk repeatedly with the ignition on. It lit a few times but most times did not. Finally, I connected my 12V source TO the positive terminal under the bus. This caused the wipers to come on for a few seconds as though the screen had been washed. Presumably it triggered the relay.

This leaves me to believe that the wiring is fine. The fault must either be in the switch or the relay. Am I right in thinking that the relay plays no part in the washer action and I should therefore suspect the switch?

Has anyone experienced this before or can think of any other ideas?

Thanks in advance.

[ELVIS]

Have you taken the wheel off and cleaned the little contact/tab? At 3 o'clock on wheel/top of column. Sometimes all it need is a few swipes of wet and dry and a little tweak with a screw driver to bend it back closer to contact area

[Mark S]

Top tip, thanks. Will look at that next with big licks on the WD40 also.

[ScienceBoy]

How on earth do you remove the bottle? I unscrewed the filler neck and the three bolts underneath but it wouldn't come out. There appears to be the washer pipe resting on the chassis meaning it's fixed in there.

Any other top tips.

[Mark S]

I went through this process last weekend (unnecessarily as it turned out). After undoing the 3 M6 bolts, make yourself some room to work by pulling the tank down and wiggling it around a bit. There should be some slack in the wiring loom and water connection allowing you to get your hands into the recess behind it. The pipe and/or wire may be clipped to the top of the tank, in which case unclip it to free more slack.

Then pull the pump out of the washer bottle. It's a push fit into a curved recess in the side. Use the blade of a screwdriver between the washer bottle and pump to get it started, after which it gets progressively easier to remove. It needs to go vertically up away from the base of the bottle, if that makes sense. Refitting it is the reverse: a simple push-fit.

Otherwise you can just disconnect the pipe and electrical connection from the pump and remove the tank and pump in a one'er. The pipe will probably need to be made good before reconnecting. I trimmed the end and dangled it in a cup of boiling water for a minute to make it pliable before pushing it over the outlet.

I prefer the first approach but it depends on what you are trying to achieve. If you need to replace the pump you may as well disconnect it under the vehicle and separate the two parts on the bench. Whatever is easiest in your situation, I guess.

[ScienceBoy]

Just about to try Mark's post. But before I do...

Does the same supply/relay trigger the wipers and the pump. My wipers come on when I pull the stalk (ooer) so I was thinking that side is all ok. Can anyone confirm that?

[Mark S]

Yes, pulling the stalk powers the pump directly and also sends power to the wiper relay on the same circuit, causing the wipers to come on for a few seconds. The pump is independent of the relay (ie: upstream of it), if that makes sense. A dodgy relay should not cause the pump not to operate.

I would do some fettling around with a test bulb before pulling the pump. You can remove the electrical plug quite easily without disconnecting the water pipe. Make sure there's power to it and also that the earth is good. Finally, try sending 12V to the pump from an independent line to the cigarette lighter etc to see if the motor runs. (The last step should also trigger the wipers).

Bear in mind that if your stalk is dodgy (and that was the fault with mine I found after I had unnecessarily removed the pump and tank), you may get erratic behaviour from the pump and wipers. One of the first tasks therefore is to remove the steering wheel and make sure everything is making contact within the wiper switch. If not, bending the contacts slightly worked for me.

HTH.

[ScienceBoy]

Wipers work 100% so it's not the stalk contacts. Just starting now but goodness knows how to get your hand in those tight spaces. Love the way Haynes make it sound straightforward.

[ScienceBoy]

Pulled it all out. Easy when you know how! There was water in the pump motor so I guess a seal had gone. Time to order that pile of stuff I'd been putting off, and now a washer pump too. All the feed to the pump was fine. Cheers Mark.

[ScienceBoy]

Got pump in two days from JK and fitted at the weekend. Boy, getting the tube on was a complete biatch. Testing so much I flattened the battery. Whoops. All good now though.

Now I need to pull off the wiper arms and repaint them.

[Mark S]

Yes, you need to cut a nice clean end on the hose and then soak it in a cup of boiling water for a few minutes to soften it up before pushing over the ferrule. Some washing-up liquid or petroleum jelly on the male pipe might help. It's a fiddly task!

[ScienceBoy]

I did just that at the time, it just took ages. Guess that tube is well old.

Anyone know how to remove the washer nozzles?