Window washer problem, pumping by themselves

[SteCav]

Hi all,

First post, but long time lurker and thanks to this forum I've solved several common issues on my 2005 Z4 3.0 since buying it last year, so thank you!

I have a bit of a frustrating problem with my washer system. After between 5-10 minutes of driving, the washer jets decide to turn on along with the wipers and only an ignition off and back on again will stop them.

Note, the washer control doesn't work, neither before or after my attempts at fixing.

Things I've tried:
- Removed the wash bottle to clear the filters and bottle bit of gunk but pretty clear.
- Checked the fuses
- Cleaned the wiper motor incase of short due to grease (originally thought the wipers were broken as the spray bottle was empty and the wipers came on and wouldn't turn off)
- Changed the wiper relay at the back of the fuse board today
- New washer pump

Has anybody experienced anything similar? The car has been out of action for 4 weeks now. I did have a bonnet cable problem that prevented bonnet access over Christmas, fixed this today.

Is it possible the control stick is faulty?

Thanks for reading,
Steve

 

[enuff_zed]

Hi Steve, and welcome aboard.
I'm sure you're well aware we'll be demanding pics and a proper intro at some point. :wink:
However, back to your problem.
To me I would be looking at the stalk next tbh.
Not much else you haven't tried?
Hopefully it's an easy swap and you never know, there may be someone on here who has a spare?
Really think you need to try that first before going any deeper.

Whereabouts are you?
If you were near me I'd offer a diagnostic swap if it helped.

 

[bigwinn]

Steve welcome

I had this on an E30 which I noticed started when the car hit a bump- I traced the fault to a very small short in the wiring loom in the steering column

Never seen it in a Z4 but sharing for info

 

[SteCav]

[ref]enuff_zed[/ref],

Appreciate the warm welcome.

I'm in Bolton, Manchester, a little for far but appreciate the thought/idea. I'll take a look on eBay and get a stalk ordered for next weekend.

Fingers crossed that'll sort it.

 

[enuff_zed]

[ref]enuff_zed[/ref],

Appreciate the warm welcome.

I'm in Bolton, Manchester, a little for far but appreciate the thought/idea. I'll take a look on eBay and get a stalk ordered for next weekend.

Fingers crossed that'll sort it.

Ah yeah, bit more than a nip down the road. :roll:
Hopefully that'll sort it, if not then Stuart's idea of a shorting wire could be the next step.
Pretty sure you could sell the stalk on if it wasn't that, or hang on to it.........these cars are getting on a bit, time to start hanging on to a few spares!
Good luck, hope you get it sorted.

 

[SteCav]

[ref]bigwinn[/ref],

Thanks for the info, maybe a short in the stalk itself? I'll get the stalk replaced and report back.

If that doesn't so the trick, I'll find someone more electrically skilled than myself to look for a short.

Thanks for replying
Steve

 

[SteCav]

Ah yeah, bit more than a nip down the road. :roll:
Hopefully that'll sort it, if not then Stuart's idea of a shorting wire could be the next step.
Pretty sure you could sell the stalk on if it wasn't that, or hang on to it.........these cars are getting on a bit, time to start hanging on to a few spares!
Good luck, hope you get it sorted.

Yeah that's true, I seem to be collecting a box of spares since I started experimenting after buying it haha.

I'll report back once I've installed a new stalk.

Thanks again
Stebe

 

[bigwinn]

Let us know how you get on eh?

 

[SteCav]

Let us know how you get on eh?

Of course, I'll report back soon.

Thanks
Steve

 

[Roberltd2]

I had problems with lights (no dip, only full beams). It could have been a number of things but turned out to be the light control stalk in the end. Got a s/h one off ebay for about £7 and problem solved. I had to remove the steering wheel for the refit which needs a certain amount of care as it houses an air bag but there is a guide on the Forum which is very helpful. Hope it's the wiper stalk rather than the loom. Good luck.

 

[Flyingfifer]

My first thought would be some kind of short although its a bit odd that it takes a period of time to trigger, does it happen if you just start the car and leave it static (dont drive)?

 

[SteCav]

I had problems with lights (no dip, only full beams). It could have been a number of things but turned out to be the light control stalk in the end. Got a s/h one off ebay for about £7 and problem solved. I had to remove the steering wheel for the refit which needs a certain amount of care as it houses an air bag but there is a guide on the Forum which is very helpful. Hope it's the wiper stalk rather than the loom. Good luck.

Fingers crossed it's the stalk and that fixes my issue! I've ordered one on eBay that is due tomorrow - so I'll be looking up a guide for steering wheel removal ready for the weekend, along with trying to find the source of water in the boot and footwell aha

Appreciate the heads up on being careful with the airbag!

My first thought would be some kind of short although its a bit odd that it takes a period of time to trigger, does it happen if you just start the car and leave it static (dont drive)?

It's a little sporadic definitely not a specific time period and it triggers, but after 10 minutes it's triggered.. I've had it driving fine for 10 minutes previously, but then it has done it twice just sitting on the driveway idling. I was initially thinking it was a rain sensor thing - until I realised that the washer fluid was empty and it wasn't just the wipers turning themselves on.

I'm hoping it's the stalk based on not being able to manually fire the washer fluid (still can control wipers)...

I'm hoping it's not a deeper electrical issue - the electrics for the retrofitted halo headlights is messy - and it looks like a fellow DIYer has played with the electrics previously.


Thanks both for your replies!

Will report back at the weekend.
Steve

 

[Flyingfifer]

Quite the conundrum! Hope it's an easy fix the other thought I had was some sort of static buildup in the car that eventually reaches a level to cause a problem but that's partly a short.
Bit concerning that there has been quite a bit of amateur electronics going on, that's one thing I'd always avoid especially these days with all the sensors and computers involved

 

[SteCav]

Quite the conundrum! Hope it's an easy fix the other thought I had was some sort of static buildup in the car that eventually reaches a level to cause a problem but that's partly a short.
Bit concerning that there has been quite a bit of amateur electronics going on, that's one thing I'd always avoid especially these days with all the sensors and computers involved

I think you're right, a short somewhere in the system would be surely the only thing it could be if it's not the stalk control. Fortunately I had a few visits from a good auto electric chap last year with the MX-5 I had with an equally similar central locking mystery ... Got to the bottom of it eventually!

Hopefully the DIY experimenting is just limited to the headlights (just looks to be messy cabling) and the DIY stereo install is the end of the previous owners efforts

 

[SteCav]

Evening!

So after the new wiper stalk arrived (£8) late last week I waited until the weekend to take the steering wheel off to fit.

After some struggling with the steering wheel bolt for an hour or so... and after becoming a proud new owner of an impact wrench ... I got the steering wheel off and fitted the new wiper stalk.

Put it back together... and.... it didn't fix it.

I still don't have control of the washer jets, the wiper controls work... but after about 15 minutes of being left running on the drive the washer jets fired as previous, on their own and continued to do so for a minute until I turned the ignition off.

Looks like I need the help of an auto electrician as it's pointing towards an electrical short as suggested above.

Any suggestions for an auto electrician with Z4 electrical knowledge near Manchester by any chance?

Or any other suggestions I could try.

Steve

 

[Roberltd2]

Sorry to hear that the replacement stalk didn't work out. I know exactly how you felt when you realised that it wasn't the cause of your problems. Still, that's one possibility eliminated. No doubt you'll get there in the end. Keep us posted!
Robert.

 

[Flyingfifer]

I was annoyed when I read the update lol
I really really hoped that would fix it because I wouldnt wish electrical gremlins on anyone

 

[BumpyZ4]

The wiring for the pump motor is as simple as it gets, 1 ground wire to the chassis and 1 power wire to the GM5. We know the ground and the power wires are good as the pump works (although un-commanded). The stalk was a good guess as it provides the drivers wishes to the GM5. So I have a feeling that your GM5 is bad. If it was a shorted wire it wouldn't wait 10 minutes before it started pumping the fluid.

 

[SteCav]

Sorry to hear that the replacement stalk didn't work out. I know exactly how you felt when you realised that it wasn't the cause of your problems. Still, that's one possibility eliminated. No doubt you'll get there in the end. Keep us posted!
Robert.

Very disheartening. Hopefully twice as satisfying when I find the fix though!

 

[SteCav]

I was annoyed when I read the update lol
I really really hoped that would fix it because I wouldnt wish electrical gremlins on anyone

Aha yes, very annoying. On the flip side, I have a spare stalk... and an impact wrench to find another use for to justify the cost to the missus