My car’s window washer has stopped working. There is pressure, because a little trickle of washer fluid comes out of one of them, but nothing out of the other. At first I thought the bottle of washer fluid was empty, but when I looked it was full. However the little strainer basked that sits in the neck of the bottle was not there, which made me think that the last person who filled it, didn’t put it back and now something has clogged the line? Does that make sense.
Anyway, I tried sticking a pin in the teeny hold where the washer fluid comes out at the bottom of the windshield, but that didn’t work. I also poured some Sanivac there, thinking it was a buildup of sediment in the water (but since I don’t ever put WATER in the washer fluid bottle, that really didn’t make sense).
Any suggestions? I’m not one for poking around under the hood much, but I’m willing. It’s a small inconvenience, and it’s not like there’s been much rain… but I do miss the wiper/washer combo for getting bugs off the windshield.
It’s a 2007 Saturn Vue, if that’s relevant. Thanks.
I’d start by disconnecting the hose from the sprayer and turning it on. If you get a decent amount of fluid coming out, you’ll know it’s the nozzle. If not, it’s somewhere further back.
The next step would be to take the hose of the pump and see how much fluid comes out of there. If you get a lot, you know the problem is in the hose, if not it’s in the pump or further back. Just keep working your way backwards.
You could even try taking the hose off the bottom of the reservoir and seeing if fluid pours out the bottom to find out if the clog is in the reservoir itself.
ETA, if it’s only one that has the problem, it’s somewhere between the nozzle and the T fitting.
Thanks FX & Joey- I did already look at that wiki article. I understood the words and concepts in the wiki article (as I do in Joey’s post), but I don’t know how to find the parts referred to. When I look under the hood, I can’t identify the hose that carried the water from the reservoir to the sprayer. There doesn’t seem to be a clear path to the spray outlet. The connection to the spray outlet is under a large metal or plastic “shelf” that runs from one side of the car to the other. I probably won’t be taking that apart if that is the way to get to the place where the hose connects to the spray outlet. When I mess with stuff like that, I tend to break it.
In that case I suggest a male car knowledgeable person who can remove the cover and gain access to the nozzles, and hoses if need be.
If that isn’t an option you could try some questionable methods, all of which could cause more problems. I hesitate to mention these, as then I would feel bad if they did cause problems.
If the nozzles are clear, the chances are the blockage is in the filter that should be between the washer bottle and the motor. More unlikely causes might be a kinked hose, or a broken pump on the motor.
Elaborate and clarify please. Tried sticking a pin in and could not stick the pin in? Stuck the pin in but it didn’t go in very far? Stuck the pin in and it went fully in, wriggled it around, etc. but still nothing comes out?
My experience is that 99% of the time the problem is nozzle clogging. Unclogging involves having a stiff wire of small enough diameter to go fully into the nozzle opening. Most needles and pins are too thick for this. If probing with a suitably sized wire doesn’t produce results, let me know and I’ll advise on the next step.
I thought I was sticking the safety pin into the hole, but I might have been sticking it into the rubber surrounding the hole. I didn’t stick it in very far. I couldn’t see what I was doing very well. Maybe the safety pin is too thick? One site suggested a push pin. Alas, I don’t seem to have any of those at home- there are hundreds at school. Another site suggested a guitar string, the “E.” I do have one of those, a used one. I also have some insulin needles, and those are QUITE fine. That might work, eh? I need to get up on a step stool with a flashlight so I can exactly see the hole. Right now, it’s 100 outside, so I think I’ll wait until tomorrow morning.