Windshield Washer Problem

My windshield washers on my '83 SC were not working. After some poking around, I found that the hose coming from the reservior was disconnected from the pump. I reconnected it, and now I get a trickle out out of the driver's side jet. How do I improve the pressure and make the passenger side squirt? I must confess that I don't know how much fluid is in the reservior, and it is getting cold and dark. Any thoughts on "encouraging" these jets to squirt better? I just got the car. so I have no idea how long it has been since they worked.

Thanks in advance....

For starters, fill the tank a bit. It's the adjacent inlet next to the fuel tank inlet
I replaced my motor as it was quite dissolved from batter acid.
Check that the jets don't have car wax or the like lodged in them. Mine did, and a needle fixed that.
Check the hosing connections.
Remove a gauge (speedometer) from inside the car, and shine a flashlight inside. you'll see the driver's side jet from there. Ensure the area is not soaked from a leak, and ensure the hosing is connected to the jet.
A burnt wire had melted my hosing, and when I used it, it leaked all over my wiring.
Now all is up and working nicely.


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Kurt B
1984 911 Carrera Cabriolet
75 914 1.8

[This message has been edited by Kurt B (edited 12-28-2000).]

I filled the reservior- is it supposed to hold a whole gallon of liquid?

I also stuck a pin in the nozzles, and checked the jets from inside the luggage compartment- they didn't seem to be wet or leaking. Any other ideas? The pressure is still weak on the driver's side and non existent on the passenger side.

Thanks again.

[This message has been edited by magilla (edited 12-28-2000).]

You're losing pressure somewhere. Now it could be the pump. Remember, any air leaking in will kill the pump.
Run the pump again and check to see if there are any air bubbles in the line coming from the resevoir.
Otherwise, you may want to order a new pump....but I'd first try clamping off the lines where they connect to the pump with a ziplock or something and make sure they're no air being sucked in. If that doesn't work, order a new one for 42$ or so.


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Kurt B
1984 911 Carrera Cabriolet
75 914 1.8

Thanks, Kurt.

I'ts kinda late (and only 25 deg. F), so I'll try it in the morning and see if the clamp works. otherwise, a $42 pump isn't that bad....

I'll let you know.

Ok... In the daylight, I tried to get the hose back on the pump intake, and now I can't even get it back on. My hands are too big to fit between the battery and the other "thing" in there (I suspect it may be the horn?). How do I get the pump out to try to connect everything up and then repace it?

You might try removing the battery...

I picked up a Japanese universal washer pump from CarQuest for $19.00 It was a snap to install and has incredible pressure...

How do you get the battery out?

I don't want to have to reset all my radio stations, either..

I looked briefly, and it looks like it is bolted in somewhere, but I can't quite figure out where. Also, There is a rubber hose coming out ofth ebattery that is just laying in the luggage compartment. Is that supposed to be connected to something?

Please forgive the stupid questions! I have only had this car for 2 weeks, and I have more projects than time and skills!!!

Be careful removing it. It's not bolted there. It's set in with rubber inserts that go through the front of the frame. If you try and remove them, you may be unlucky like me and destroy the inserts. In fact, it's highly unlikely you'll get them out in one piece since they'll be corroded. If you must, carefully pull the pump off of them.
The horn is also in the way you probably noticed. They definitely wedged it all in there.
Get it out for testing, and if you have to, use some ziplocks to mount it to the horn or whatever until you can get it mounted back. That's what I've done, and that reminds me, I have to get it back into place, but I haven't found the right mounting rubber yet.
Ah well.


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Kurt B
1984 911 Carrera Cabriolet
75 914 1.8

Pulling the horn out seems pretty straight forward. 4 Phillips screws and the pump appears to be mounted to the horn(?). Is there something I am not seeing here? I will attempt the horn removal after work today.

OK... It seems that someone else had problems with the windshield washer system also. In looking around, realized that the pump was attached to the horn by a zip tie (perhaps I have been working on your car by accident, Kurt!). Anyway, I played around, and the pump stopped working while I was playing with it. I got a replacement ($15) and wired it in. The pump now works. I also looked at the tubing. I have headlight washer jets, but I couldn't find a pump (like the one in the Bentley book). I also noticed a Tee in the tubing directly outside of the pump. One goes to the windshield, and the other goes into the driver's fender. I suspect that this was teed off to the headlight washer, because I saw a puddle of washer fluid in front of the passenger tire after I ran the pump a little. I have taken this tee out, but I still get nothing out of the windshield jets. AAARRRGGGHHH.

Anyway, Is there supposed to be a Tee right after the pump outlet?
I know the nozzles are at least a little open, as it was trickling last night. Any other thoughts????

Thanks a million!!!

Hmm. I guess they did have problems as I did in putting it back!
Anyway, the headlamp washers work off of a different pump, which from what I can tell by 'listening' is near the resevoir under the front fender, but remember, the headlight washers only work when the headlights are ON. Otherwise, nothing. Now, if you get under the front bumper, you can feel around and see there is some braided hose that connects to each of the headlight washers.
Oh, and the tee. The tee just goes from the resevoir to the the pump. The other pump (for the headlamp washers) is underneath the fender along with all of its hosing, so you won't see any of that at all.
Good luck. Where did you get a pump for 15$?? Gees, I need you guys to help me track these places down.



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Kurt B
1984 911 Carrera Cabriolet
75 914 1.8

Kurt,

As VIPRKLR said, I got a knock off pump. Once I get it working, I will replace it with a OEM pump. I hear the headlight pump working (it seems to be stuck "ON"). I am more concerned about getting the Windshield stuff working first. The TEE I was refering to is after the pump output, not the reservior output. That doesn't seem right to me...

Thanks again, Kurt. I feel like I know this washer setup better than the engineers who designed it! I have replaced or tested the entire system. It finally works. The fluid was draining out through one of the headlight washer lines, and the check valves on the jets were clogged. So, now I have a new pump, and the car is now legal.

Yipeee!

Congrats! You're a better man because of it too. Every time something needs a fixin' and I don't make it worse (which is now down to a mere 30% of the time as opposed to the old figure of 93% of the time), I feel like Miller time--without the Miller.
Call it Coffee and a smoke time.
Anyway...


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Kurt B
1984 911 Carrera Cabriolet
75 914 1.8