Washer nozzles

[Kev0607]

Hi all,

My washer nozzles aren’t working very good. When I pull the stalk inside the car to activate them, only a small trickle seems to spray onto the windscreen. Its barely enough to clean the window.

- The reservoir has plenty of fluid.
- The washer pump is working, as I can hear it buzzing when I pull the stalk.
- Headlight washers work fine.

I’m thinking I have a blockage somewhere. I tried cleaning the nozzles with a pin & it made no difference. I checked under the bonnet & there’s no loose hoses on the check valves that attach to the nozzles.

Any solutions are welcome. My car is a P3 shape S80.

Thanks.

[tommyweaves]

Soak them in vinegar then dangle them in an ultrasonic cleaner.

Worked a treat on mine.

[Familyman 90]

Disconnect the pipes from the jets and give it a squirt. If you see a good flow then the jets may be a big grunged.

You can potentially blow them through with an airline, soak them in cleaner, use pins, etc, but new ones aren't expensive if required.

To prevent a recurrence use a decent strength screen wash mix, not too dilute, and give them a quick squirt every couple of weeks whether required or not.

[Kev0607]

Thanks guys.

I’ll have a play around with them tomorrow. I have an air compressor, so I’ll try air blowing the lines & nozzles.

What if I disconnect the lines from the nozzles, press the stalk & there’s poor flow? Does that mean the lines/reservoir are gunked up?

[Familyman 90]

Possibly, but the overwhelming likelihood is the jets.

[Whyman]

I had a problem with mine similar to this. Plenty of flow and I replaced the jets but no improvement. It turned out to be the one way valve in the bottom of the jets.

I assumed that the valves had stuck closed.

[tommyweaves]

I had poor spray on the screen as you describe, some days slightly better than others, but sometimes it barely reached an inch onto the bottom of the windscreen.

After doing all the things you've suggested you might try I found that none of the kit behaved as I expected; couldn't blow through the valves for example and having replaced one of them it made no difference.

I thought nothing to lose by an ultrasonic clean of the nozzles before buying new ones, and hey presto, like new!

I did mine at this time of year too.

[Kev0607]

The weather isn’t very good here today. I’m not going to attempt looking at the nozzles/lines when its absolutely chucking it down outside. There’s no room in my garage either, as vehicles are already parked in there. No point taking them out from a dry garage to get them soaked & then soaking the garage when putting them back in.

I’ll wait until it brightens up.

[Kev0607]

Okay, so I’ve had a look…

I disconnected the pipe from the nozzle & gave it a good blast of air with the compressor. I could hear the screen wash gurgling in the reservoir, so the air was obviously blasting through the lines.

I checked the flow by pressing the stalk inside the car to activate the washers when the pipe was disconnected from the nozzle… it appeared fine. I connected the pipe back up, sprayed the windscreen & all seemed okay. However, it hasn’t lasted & the spray pattern on the windscreen is weak again.

I’m assuming that I have blocked nozzles or the check valves underneath the nozzles are goosed. Any tips?

[Familyman 90]

Replacements are inexpensive.