Washer fluid - going the wrong way...?

Post Mon May 02, 2005 11:19 pm

Just been trying to get my headlight wash/wipe working and noticed that when I squirt the widscreen wash there was a little fountain coming out of the breather hole on the concentrate bottle.
When I topped it up a couple of weeks ago it was half full, now its full to the top, and operating the washer seems to flow some fluid into the conc bottle, so it's now overflowing.
I assume that one of the non-return valves is knackered, would this be a reasonable diagnosis?
Another, possibly related, thing I noticed is that although the NS headlight washer works (but not the wiper), the OS doesn't, instead the fluid is escapes from the join to the white connector (non-return?) just behind the headlight.

Are these related? And has anyone got a set of these white non-return valves I could have?

Post Tue May 03, 2005 12:35 am

The nearside wiper has probably seized up. The shaft that the blade is mounted on seizes in the long threaded bush it comes out through.
Remove the motor, unclip the back and twist/pull the shaft out, clean lubricate and rebuild, and all should be well.
As regards the washers, your diagnosis is probably correct. Not worth bothering with second hand ones, they're cheap enough new from the dealers.

Post Tue May 03, 2005 9:03 am

Thanks Brian, I've done that with the OS wiper, but it still doesn't work. Everything seems to move fairly freely, and the electrical connections in the motor seem ok, guess I'll have to investigate further when I've got time...

Post Tue May 03, 2005 1:49 pm

Try disconnecting the motor plug, and powering it from a 12V source. Brown wire is negative. Either of the other wires is positive (one should run the motor continuously, the other should just run it till it finishes it's cycle.

Post Sat May 07, 2005 12:02 am

Ok, I've had the motors apart and cleaned them up, reassembled and now back in the car. The headlight wipers, and washers, operate every time I operate the windscreen wash (with or without the lights on). This doesn't sound right to me from what I've read on here.
They also seem to be on for too long, 9 or 10 cycles each time for the wipers, and several seconds for the washer motor.

Does this mean I've reassembled them wrong (can't see how), or could it be the control box is faulty?