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Windscreen washer jets not working

Discuss problems you have had or are having with your Z4
nick&sandra

Re: Windscreen washer jets not working

Post by nick&sandra » Tue Oct 18, 2011 8:25 pm

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Last edited by nick&sandra on Sun Jun 21, 2015 11:24 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Muso
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Re: Windscreen washer jets not working

Post by Muso » Tue Oct 18, 2011 9:08 pm

Make sure there's no water in the washer reservoir (see last note)

Trace the wiring down the water tank side to the black coloured pump, twist it out and up, (you might bring the little filter out at the same time if your're lucky so mind it doesn't fall off into the engine bay/floor)

If not, flick a finger nail under the small black circular filter and lift it out ... take this away and clean it fully, (no blowing at it or wiping it on your jeans .. )

Once cleaned, reverse this guide and fill the reservoir !

If there's water in the reservoir when you take the filter out, it will piss all over your engine bay/floor ...
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Re: Windscreen washer jets not working

Post by Bol » Mon Nov 14, 2011 1:45 pm

Cleaned the filters and het presto clean windows again thanks.

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Windscreen washer jets not working

Post by Traktion1 » Sun Sep 01, 2019 7:07 pm

Dev wrote: Mon Oct 17, 2011 2:45 pm Hi Ivan,

I had a similar thing last winter, so this is still fairly fresh in my mind:

The washer bottle may have 2 pumps on it - one will be for the main windscreen washer jets, the other for the headlamp washers (only if you have them). Both will have filters.

Now comes the slightly tricky bit - if you have loads of fluid in the bottle, then you may have to siphon some out - at least below the level of the lowest pump - if you just take the pump out, you'll just get washer fluid coming out of that hole. Once the pump is out, you can get at the mesh filter - it just pulls out of that same hole - if it is covered in some slimy gunk, you may be able to get away with just cleaning that off, putting the filter back in, popping the pump back on and topping up again. Alternatively, you could do what I did...

There's one bolt holding the washer bottle in. Undo it, and you can lift the whole thing out.

Wash out all the residual slimy crap from the washer bottle (wire coathanger and a sponge is handy for the corners/edges), and clean the filter(s) thoroughly. Pop it back in the engine bay, put it all back together, fill up with whatever concentration of washer fluid you're using, and give the washer(s) a test. The headlamp ones will only 'fire' when the lights are on (and even then, only on every 3rd 'squirt').

All in, this took about 15 minutes. No problems since.

I hope this helps!

Dev
Just wanted to say thanks for this! My water reservoir was full of horrible globs of gunk, so drained it with a syringe and followed your steps. Sorted!
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Windscreen washer jets not working

Post by sharif » Sat Mar 06, 2021 12:15 pm

Hi all,

The fluid on my car ran out and I thought it would be best to remove the reservoir to clean it and the filters at the same time.

I have put everything back in the car, filled the reservoir to about half way full and whilst I can hear the pumps working, no fluid is spraying. I have checked the fuses and all are fine.

Does anyone have any ideas on what the problem could be?

Many thanks,

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Windscreen washer jets not working

Post by Wigsters » Wed May 03, 2023 4:39 pm

An old post i know but thanks anyway as I had exactly this problem.

Unit out (fiddly with fat hands) cleaned and back in (even fiddlier with fat hands). Only additional fix needed was to blast the pipes with my tyre pump as they were a little gummed up where the residue had dried up over the winter.

Now flows as cleanly as the day the car was made.

Thanks once again :)

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Windscreen washer jets not working

Post by ssimp » Fri Jan 10, 2025 6:35 pm

I have had the same problem with my zed, with the windscreen washer jets having completely given up the ghost.
I took the whole unit out this afternoon, cleaned both of the filters, put it back together and it all works perfectly. Total time probably around 15-20 minutes as per previous posters.
Thanks very much for the guide.
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Windscreen washer jets not working

Post by colb » Sun Jan 12, 2025 10:45 am

Once the reservoir is out put it in the dishwasher after giving it a good clean inside to get rid of any built up slime, also soaking it with a few Sterident tablets added will clean the inside up well, the dishwasher will clean the outside great.
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Windscreen washer jets not working

Post by Mr Tidy » Sun Jan 12, 2025 11:58 pm

After doing all this on an E46 and two E86s I only ever used one brand of screenwash, and never had any problems again.

I think mixing fluids exacerbates the problem.
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