Windshield washer
 

Hello:

I recently bought a 1986 Carrera. My windshield washer system was not working. The other day, I put some fluid in the "intensive washer system¨and now it works. Any idea of how to switch between the regular washer to the intensive system??

Thanks a lot.

I think there is only one fluid reservoir.
The intensive switch on the dash is to activate the headlight nozzles.
The regular windshield nozzles are activated by the stalk.

Actually there are two separate systems. The normal system has a huge reservoir located in the left front wheel well. The fill hose is next to the gas cap. This system has its own pump. Look at the PET to see how they are setup. The main system may be out of fluid.

Ahh, no, no and no.

Not only are there two separate systems, they are triggered differently. The headlight washers have nothing to do with the intensive washer system switch. Basically, the headlights get washed if they are on when the washer system is activated. Have a look through your owners manual to see how they operate.

JR

When you activate the washer via the stalk can you hear a pump run? It's in the trunk right beside the battery and is easy to replace. If it is running and there is fluid in the main tank the lines are blocked up. The most anoying block could be in the tank itself as the pickup on the end of the hose in the tank could be gummed up. I cleared out a lot of the lines with shop air.

Can anyone explain this behavior?

My windshield washer stopped working and I ended up replacing the pump. In the process, I also discovered that one of the lines going from the pump off to, I assume, the headlight washers had a leak. So I replaced that line.

After that, my washer jets were working but not well. It was getting about 6" up the windshield and that's it. So, I decided to clamp off the line to the headlight washers and that certainly fixed the windshield washers. However, it also seemed to cause my intensive washer tank under the hood to overflow. Why does the backflow go to that? Is that supposed to drain to the main tank?

At this point, I'm seriously considering just disconnecting the headlight washers completely.

EDIT: I did some more disassembly and realized the small tank does not flow to the main tank at all. It appears that because of the way it's plumbed, if I never use the headlight washers the small tank will overflow eventually. It can't be that stupid.

Looking for advice on my wipers, too. I have the intensive system, the regular system, and had the headlight washers (removed from car when fiberglass bumper installed by PO) My wipers work and the spray works using the dash controls, i.e. the intensive system.

The wiper stalk does not work for wipers or spray. I have replaced the stalk, so am pretty much certain it is not that. I am wondering if the problem is once headlight washers were pulled out, that would mean large reservoir / pump would also not work? Has anyone been through this before?

I would be happy just to use the intensive tank, remove the large tank in fender, if I can get that functioning using stalk. I wonder if this just means running regular system wiring to intensive - if that makes sense?

Do you have the PET catalog? If so, page 429 should be useful. If the wiring for the headlight washers has been removed, that's probably causing the pump to not turn on, but that's a bit of a guess.

The windshield washers, headlight washers and intensive washer system are really three separate systems, using three separate pumps and two separate reservoirs. There are some check valves that might be problematic if you are getting fluid from the large reservoir into the smaller one.

My advice would be this... get copies of the electrical diagrams for all three systems out of the factory manuals. They break it down fairly well and any questions you might have could be answered by looking at the PET diagrams for things like hose routing and check valves.

JR

On my car at least, the headlight washers are driven off the same pump as the regular windshield washer system.

Yes, agreed on the check valves. I replaced the two drivers side ones last year. I'm thinking of just putting a check valve on the fluid line out of the intensive tank.

javadog is correct. Each system has its own pump. The headlight and regular windshield system share the large tank. The intensive system is a factory option and has its own tank and pump. The pump is attached to the little tank. The headlight system pump is attached to the large tank and is inaccessible without removing the tank. The windshield washer system pump is the visible one attached to the front bulkhead in the trunk. There are 3 separate switches operating the systems. The stalk operates the regular windshield system, and there are two separate switches on the dash that control the headlight and intensive systems. The headlight washer switch is mounted next to the speedo. The intensive washer switch is under the dash to the right of the steering wheel. For the headlight system to work, the lights must be on.

If any of your systems don't work the way I just described, there is a problem in your plumbing or wiring. I've been all through each one of these systems on 3 separate cars.

If the headlight washers are driven off the same pump as the regular windshield washer system, there's something wrong with your arrangement. They should have separate pumps. There were a couple different arrangements for the headlight washer pump type, location and plumbing, and you may not be able so see your pump with the washer fluid tank in the car.

If everything is working correctly, you shouldn't need to add another check valve. Just trace what you have and see if it has been screwed with in the past by a previous owner, or if there's a failure in one of the existing check valves.

JR

Hmm. I believe you're correct, looking at the PET diagrams. Sorry for introducing confusion. Maybe you can help me understand something.

Yesterday, I was trying to diagnose a few problems with my washer system. I ended finding a leak in one line by the battery. It's the one on the high pressure side of the main windshield pump that T's off and goes back to the large tank. Not having the right parts, I spliced in a bit of fuel line using a barbed connector, intending to get the right line this week. I also replaced the T using one with the same ID.

Once I did this, I got some fluid out of the windshield nozzles, but not much. Once I crimped off the T'd line that goes back to the main tank, I got plenty of pressure. However, at that point I noticed the intensive tank was getting filled.

So, what is the point of that line that T's off after the pump and goes back to the tank? Some sort of pressure balancing?

It's been a while since I had a car where I left all of this stuff intact, I now just run the intensive system as my only washer system. So, you'll just have to examine what you have and figure it out one step at a time.

On the line going back to the main tank, my guess is that this provides pressure relief in the case of the washer jets getting frozen or blocked.

You may have a faulty valve that allows regular washer fluid to backflow into the intensive system lines. Have a look at the two valves that feed the jets.

JR

The intensive washer tank is right up in the frunk, right?

Where is the regular washer tank? Is that the one under the driver's front wheel well?
That is filled via the gas tank door flap, right?

No, it's in the TRUNK. That is, it's in there if your car had that option.

Yeah, it's the one below the left front headlight.

JR