windshield washer sprayers not working

[tedward]

I had only one working sprayer on the passenger side and it stopped recently as well. Now just the tiniest trickle comes out of each. The motor on the sprayer pump is still making sound so i assume it's working. And there's washer fluid in the reservoir. I can't see any lines or t-connections under the front of the van. Where are they? Can i access the pump by removing the glove box door? Is there a way to pop the sprayer nozzles out to disconnect the lines there? Help would be much appreciated as i live in the Kootenays and can't see much now that the roads are always muddy.

[TardisDeli]

Hi Tedward, I used to have this problem on my Jetta. Take a small metal paperclip and straighten it out, poke it into the water squirt-out hole, usually find a bit of leaf or gravel stuck in. I guess you are sure its not frozen water, if so try a hairdryer carefully to thaw it. Cheers, Christine of the TardisDeli.

[jrman]

Hey Ted,
Sorry to say, but I've done the paper clip thing, and about 20 other things, and at the end of the day, my damn lines are clogged somehow. For now, I've emptied out the Washer fluid container and am just waiting for the weather and time to pull out the dash and replace the badly age deteriorated lines as well as try to fix the windshield leak I have (yes, the qtr panel fix worked for the passenger side but not the driver side...for sure is the windshield). I've filled the container and pulled the lines, then run the pump which is working very well - so I'm sure it's a clog or crimp in the lines somewhere....
All the best.

[PcSpecialist]

Before you go to all that work, take a can of WD40 with the long spray thingy on it and use it to clear the jet from the outside in. Just hold it against teh jet and give it a squirt or three.That worked for me on one of my old cars

[tedward]

thank you all for replying, you folks are great. I tried a straight pin to clear the nozzles with no luck, i'll try the wd40 and see what happens.

[EricN]

What about a hit with compressed air? If you live near coquitlam, feel free to pm me to use mine but I would think any mechanics shop would be fine to give them a quick blast for you.

[jrman]

Air - yeah...good idea - tks. Put the WD-40 in tonight - did my best to seal as well as possible but still made a mess. Going to leave it overnight - fill the bottle and test tomorrow.
If no work - then off to a buddies garage for air!!!! Will keep posting since this cannot be that uncommon a problem I suppose.

[tedward]

They work!!!! I disconnected the line coming from the bottom of the reservoir and sprayed a few blasts from a can of computer cleaning spray (compressed air) directly into the sprayer nozzles and that did the trick. Thank you guys for all the help. Bring on the mud!

[jwfchase]

OK, my rear sprayer was working, but now I can't hear any pump running when I press the button (with the engine off and electrics on so I could hear it), and nothings coming out... where to start?

[Bessie the Mud Slayer]

For any wiper sprayer problems, check your tank. When I got my bus the rear wasn't working, pump was turning but no juice. After tearing the entire system out, I found a good 1 inch of sludge in the bottom of the tank. It appears the previous owner used tap water for his washer fluid and after, well 15 years, some algae had built up. It had clogged then entire run. I removed and cleaned the tank, plugged it in without the pump outflow line plugged in and shot the fluid a bit till I had a 15 foot stream steady shooting out, (ya, the pump is that powerful). Then from the other end I shot compressed air into it and let it go for a good minute. Until there was no water shooting out the hose. Plug it all back in and its worked like a hot damn ever since.
Lesson to be learned: Check for gunk / algae / sludge in your system or the problem will persist.

[jwfchase]

Is it accessed from the plastic panel just inside? If so, what's the method for removing it?

[mararmeisto]

Is it accessed from the plastic panel just inside? If so, what's the method for removing it?

Flat blade screwdriver.

Second the comments on the 'gunk' in the system. I think I gotta give both my systems a cleansing as the pressures are unsatisfactorily low.

[Bessie the Mud Slayer]

Accessed from the rear right panel (when looking from the outside of the rear door in). To get it out, pull up, HARD! I was convinced it was bolted in and proceeded to remove every screw, nut, bolt, clip and snap on do-hicky until I got utterly pissed off and yanked with a few four letter words and if popped out, save a few bits of skin off my knuckles its straight up. It was a tad stuck. Once out, I siphoned the remaining fluid out, disconnected the in and out hoses, and washed, scrubbed and cleaned. The rest is pretty straight forward. GL. :)

[mararmeisto]

I poured in some Simple Green and it immediately 'cleaned out' the reservoirs. I think I'm going to put the paperclip in the holes though - more to re-direct them than clean them out.

[Erebus]

See my post from last year on this subject: http://www.delica.ca/forum/rear-window- ... tml#p13897

From the reservoir, I disconnected the big filler hose, then used a big syringe with a short piece of aquarium hose on it to clean it out. That way I didn't have to figure out how to remove the reservoir. No problems since then.