Club 80-90 Forums

Hello all.

Need a bit of advice how to tackle only one windscreen washer nozzle firing fluid on to the screen.

The left hand (passenger) side launches a good thick spray but the right side doesn't give anything. I've tried pouring some hot water onto the nozzle to remove any blockage but that didn't help.

I did notice some fluid leaking from the top of the tank last time I filled it up with washer fluid, however.

Any thoughts?

have you tried a pin in the jet whilst the pump is running? ( get an operative -sorry cant remember her name- to pull the switch while you wiggle the pin)

The pipes eventually get crudded up with limescale I found, but that really means a dash out job.

CovKid wrote:The pipes eventually get crudded up with limescale I found, but that really means a dash out job.

No, it does not mean a ''dash out job''!

If one of the pipes to a particular nozzle is full of crud, disconnect the pipe from the pump on the washer reservoir (under n/s front wheel arch). Also pull offending nozzle from panel below windscreen.

N.B. Any nozzle removed may be damaged & need to be replaced - approx. cost £1.50 each).

Connect 12v air compressor via air-bed adaptor to flexible washer pipe & run until crud is propelled from pipe! The o/s pipe on my van was full of crud (ie. 4 inches of mud in pipe) & took a couple of minutes to clear.

Connect 12v air compressor via air-bed adaptor to flexible washer pipe & run until crud is propelled from pipe! The o/s pipe on my van was full of crud (ie. 4 inches of mud in pipe) & took a couple of minutes to clear.

OK, so today didn't go so well.

I couldn't easily get behind the washer bottle to locate the pipe coming out of the pump. Instead I blew some WD40 into the bad nozzle and watched it spray out of the good nozzle.

This at first seemed like progress.

However, now neither nozzle works.

It makes me think the pipe has become fatigued at the bottle end so tomorrow I'll get the whole thing off and take a closer look at it..

ASC, sorry to hear that you are still having problems with your screen washers.

Sounds like you will have to drop the washer bottle. The 2 or 3 bolts will most likely be rusted up & no amount of WD40 will shift them! I ended up angle grinding the plastic tabs off the bottle & buying a new bottle of Aiden (Beaker).

If you do manage to remove the washer bottle, check the strainer on the pump for blockages & the even the pump itself. Then revert to plan 'A' & the 12v air compressor.

Lastly, don't forget to report back on your hopefully working screen washers.

Air cooled or watercooled?
On my '88 1.9 watercooled, the washer pipe ran up behind the top grille on the passenger side before disappearing. I had trouble with nozzles blocking so I cut the pipe and connected a 12V compressor with a tappered nozzle to the pipe to the washer nozzles. Ran the compressor and fiddled around with a needle in the nozzles until both nozzles were clear. Joined the cut tube with an inline filter to stop crud from the washer bottle blocking the nozzles again - result. Got filter from Halfords I think?

It's definately worth dropping the washer bottle, if the bolts undo it only takes minutes. I found a whole load of gloopy muck in the bottom, probably silt and dust getting in around the filler pipe seal. I washed it out with a hose pipe, then filled with hot water and a dissolved dishwasher tab, which with a bit of scrubing got the bottle nice and clean.

Weirdly enough, I had to take the bottle off again about 6 months later, and again had an amount of gloop in the bottom, unsure as to where that came from, in the pipes perhaps.

Second time around it seems to be keeping clean.

Bowton Lad wrote:No, it does not mean a ''dash out job''!

Was in my case. They were fixed in like ruddy concrete in my case and the amount of time I spent trying to get at the pipes it was quicker to remove dash and renew all the pipework. You can have the dash out fairly quickly. Replaced all my pipes with silicon pipe from an aquatic shop and replaced nozzles for twin nozzles. You would not believe how much limescale was in the old pipes!