Windshield washer dribble

[PC-85-928S]

Get a small drizzle from driver's side and nothing from passenger.
Anyone ever go through this system?
I have a 1985 928S 32v US, but perhaps it is the same for multi years.
thanks

[Landseer]

Yep.
Pump is mounted with three little rubber tits to the inside of the fenderwell, pass front right, kind of under the radiator overflow tank. Tank is behind the rearmost splash panel at that front right wheel.

There is a very bad design flaw that you must correct. Porsche used carbon steel reinforcing fittings inside the fill funnel apparatus and the tank itself, where the rubber fill hose clamps to each.

They rust and clog the system. Must remove them ( I use torch and pliers).

Otherwise, any nozzle clearing you do will not sustain.

[Dean_Fuller]

Just got the 89 washers working yesterday. The OP had disconnected and rerouted the hoses???? Not sure why but after reinstalling some hoses ( some where cut short) and adding a splitter now I not only have windshield washers but my head light washers work as well. Easy to pull and test the pump....then confirm hoses are THERE and routed correctly.

Not sure what year they made the change in a separate tank ( newer design ...small tank in front of the driver under the cowl cover) verses the large tank on the passenger wheel well ( older design) .

[bluemane500]

sounds to me like your jets are just clogged if your getting drizzle your pump is working,,, insert a thin piece of steel through the two jet holes on each washer jet,,, that is how the water gets out,, for example a tip cleaner then you will see how much flow you have,, the jets on an 85 are heated so they cost too much to replace,, just need a cleaning they only clog at the ends no need to push in too far good luck

[Landseer]

Will just clog immediately again.
Must fix reservoir. Clearing nozzles only is stupid.
Not the best write up, but this shows pictures of the root cause.
I've worked on 5 or 6 of them now on cars 86 and older.


Washer Fluid Tk Clean, Remove Rusty Fittings, Pump repair - Rennlist Discussion Forums

[bluemane500]

Landseer, how can cleaning nozzles be stupid? you dont know the root of the problem, i had the same issue with my 85 a month ago i took a paper clip and open up the jet that had clogged and it didnt re clog and there is no rust in my system,, the end of the jet will clog if not used for a period of time, im not saying it couldnt be something else but its the most logical thing to do first in my opinion,,,not every problem stems from the same root,,,washer jets clog when washer fluid corrodes inside of jet ,, it does have metal tips the water shoot out of

[Landseer]

Root cause of all washer issues with these old cars is corrosion.
Design flaw.
Period.
You can clear them and buy time or engineer a longterm solution.

I'm an engineer. All I do is fix 928's. Thats how.

[bluemane500]

ya well engineer or not , to slide a paper clip inside a jet to clear a clog does not take an engineer,some people wax there cars and jets get clogged,is the root for all jet clogs rust? Its one thing to have a good idea about something but you cant diagnos a problem that you cant see,i already told you my jets were clogged and i cleared them,,,, no problems again -- im not an engineer--i told you before,you dont need to insult someone for posting there opinion,,, thats stupid

[Landseer]

Well, its like you giving sound advice about paint prep.

Then me, coming behind, saying "don't worry about prepping for paint too much. Do a quick solvent wipe and apply a few layers of high build primer before painting. Worked for me".



Anybody knows you clear nozzles with pins and/or compressed air.
What they don't usually know is why the system is clogged.
Some cars, its dirt carried into the filler tube. No big deal.
This series of cars, its actually something more involved.
Somebody specified an incompatible material of construction.

Fix it, don't fix it, doesn't really matter. But as somebody that has dealt with 5 such systems just on my own daily drivers, my advice to anybody that asks is to look deeper than the Popular Mechanics fix.

[bluemane500]

The point I'm trying to make to you is don't assume you have all the answers because you spent 63000 hrs in the wsm and you spend all your tI'me working on your own clunkers,i know you have hands on knowledge and i respect your opinion but its in poor character to insult someone and say there opinion is stupid,, people are asking questions because they don't have a clue,, not every car has the same scenario,not every fix requires a total rebuild,this guy very well may have rust in his system or not,he may not even know what a washer jet is or where its located, don't take things for granted, try to keep your insults to yourself please,,,i would like to think we are all here for the same reasons,,,sharing information,,

[SeanR]

The nozzles will also clog due to WAX that get stuck and dried in them. I use a safety pin and clean them out and have yet had another one re-clog.

[Landseer]

I need one of those needles to save time.

[Mrmerlin]

dudes take a chill pill.
Your both right.. OK

usually the wax can clog the spray nozzle,

and usually the corroded collars can clog the spray nozzle

for long term service clean out the tank and remove the collars from tank and fill tube.

[PC-85-928S]

I have never removed that inner fender panel.
Is that hard to take off?

[Landseer]

Easy.

Good news if your pump is still working ( ie, still have the flow ).

Remove / replace of the pump is one of the most awkward jobs I've ever tackled on the 928.
Had to remove and clean the pump.


The other issue you might face is the array of check valves in the hood.

Basically, its a setup on most cars for a parallel system --- washer fluid and instensive washer fluid, with check valves so neither system can back-feed the other.
Yesterday we removed all ours and just piped a single feed line from the washer pump.
The nozzles can be detached from the hood from below to help access



This gives great washers, but eliminates the intensive washer system for now.
May add back later, and make it factory-like, but needed a whole bunch of special check valves, T's and L-fittings that I didn't have on-hand. They wouldn't allow flow past.


Good news is we got headlight washers working too. Moral victory, though not very practical.

[PC-85-928S]

my stupid question of the day
when do the headlight washers come on?
is there a seperate switch?
or do they go on automatically when headlights are on?
Also how do you switch on the high intensity washer?

[Mrmerlin]

if you read your owners manual it explains all of the switches and what they do.

To answer your question for the headlight washers to work,
the headlights have to on,
then push the washer stalk to the front of the car,
the headlight washers will burst to life,
to run the intensive washer push the button on the right underside of the pod this will run the intensive washer and the wipers should run for 3 passes