Headlight Washers (again!)

[BurnyC]

I know there are hundreds of threads about this common issue on here, but after reading many of them nothing matches up exactly to what I'm getting, so I just wanted to understand the washer system a little better so I can go in with a good idea.

Basically, the headlight washer motor is activating, and you can see it pushing the fluid along the tube. However, nothing comes out of either headlight washer nozzle, and you can see fluid dripping from underneath the car, as if it's leaking out from somewhere and not quite getting there. What sort of thing could cause this? Is there a point at which the tube splits into two for the two nozzles? Where abouts does the line feed through, i've read about part of it going through the wheel arch?

I'm hoping it's simple and cheap enough as the pump works!

Cheers for any pointers.

 

[Simon_16v]

If you were to remove the bumper on the passenger side you will find where the connection is from the washer bottle to the pipes for the washer jets. Each washer jet has it's own pipe from the washer bottle, so there could be a chance it's a loose connection by the bumper.

 

[BurnyC]

Thanks, I think my problem is coming from further up the line though.

It's all dry under the bumper, and from then taking the wheel and arch liner off you can see the leak coming from further up towards the washer bottle, as it's leaking into the arch rather than from it. There's no fluid thats going through the tubes behind the bumper, or even as far as the section of tubes in the wheel arch. I managed to get a quick look under the scuttle panel (didn't take the wipers off) and the tubes in there seem to have fluid going through when the headlight washer pump activates, so the problem seems to somewhere in between...?! It's not like the motor isn't pushing fluid out, or a hose has come off the bottle, but a problem slightly further down the line.

I also don't know how many tubes there should be/what they're for under the scuttle panel. From a quick look I can see 3, and assumed one tube for windscreen, one for headlights, one for rear, but people have said elsewhere on the forum that theres two for the headlights, one for the screen, but where would the rear tube be...?! I can't believe such a simple thing is confusing me...

 

[Briv6]

I went about fixing mine today .. A replacement motor seemed to do the trick making the headlight jets spray very well but afterwards the headlight jets drip .. Not from the nozzle but from bit that attaches to the bumper :/ it's a continuous drip like a leak or the jets don't close after spraying ?

 

[Briv6]

There's 2 hoses on each motor 1 for the front and other for back window. and other 2 left and right jets .

So 4 in total

 

[BurnyC]

Gotcha, cheers! I had the leaking jets on my old Clio @Briv6, think the solution to that is new washer jets. I never bothered to replace them, as long as it got through the MOT!

It looks like it's motor related, as it doesn't actually move any fluid about and just seems to leak from there, so a new one is on order. Need to get it sorted for the MOT on Saturday!

 

[Briv6]

Just remember to swap the motors over, the motor for the jets probably needs much more power than the wipers, when I replaced mine I found the motor that wouldn't work the jets was powerful enough to work the windscreen and I used the new motor for the jets .