Screen Wash Question?

[Taz46]

Hi guys, anyone have any ideas as to why I have no screen wash coming out of the jets? The reservoir is full and can hear the pump working when activated however nothing comes out the front or rear jets. Any suggestions greatly appreciated. It's a 04 Renault Clio 1.2 if it makes any difference.

[Taz46]

Ignore the smiley, Dahm iPhone!

[EDLT]

Is there a puddle of screenwash under the car?

If there is a pipe has come off/split, if not then the washers jets are blocked.

[Taz46]

Nope no puddle, surely it would be un-likely for every jet to be blocked? How do I go about unblocking it if it is!?

[Pooky67]

Non return valve round the wrong way? Have they ever worked?

Does fluid come out the hoses if they're disconnected from the jets? What about out of the pump when it's disconnected from the hose?

Edited by Pooky67 on Monday 9th May 00:12

[Taz46]

It's only recently they stopped working, never had a problem with it before

[tmcgurk]

Try unblocking the nozzles with a needle, that's usually the problem with mine. Happens every 6 months or so, almost always when I really need to clean the screen! (03 Clio)

ETA- Didn't see first time round that the back one has stopped working too. In that case, it's probably not blocked nozzles!

[EDLT]

Taz46 said:

Nope no puddle, surely it would be un-likely for every jet to be blocked? How do I go about unblocking it if it is!?

First pull the pipe off the back of the jet then test them, if screen wash comes out then the jet is blocked. You can unblock them by pushing a pin into the holes then giving them a squirt with compressed air or WD-40. Sometimes you can unclip the jet from the bonnet to make it easier.

If screenwash doesn't come out of the pipe you've got a leak somewhere.

[Taz46]

Thanks guys for the suggestions, shall have a look tommorow.

[jayfrancis]

See if there's a filter near the screenwash motor. Sometimes this can get blocked with a film of gunk from the screenwash. I had it a couple of times with an Astra I had.

[parapaul]

If it's all 3 jets, it's more likely to be accumulated sludge in the reservoir blocking the filter or pipes. Not sure how easy it is to empty and check it, but that's where I'd be looking.

[the_scorpion]

jayfrancis said:

See if there's a filter near the screenwash motor. Sometimes this can get blocked with a film of gunk from the screenwash. I had it a couple of times with an Astra I had.

There is. My daughter had a clio a few years ago and it did the same. If I remember right the pump is at the bulkhead and was a pain to get into but it should just be a case of cleaning it once you get to it.

[thinfourth2]

It's not junk it's bug living in the tank.

Some bleach should kill it off.

[groovylee]

i had this once on my GTV. in the end i pulled out the pump, and on the end there was a small strainer thing and it was clogged up with gunk. the screenwash also stank to high heaven and there was a load of congealed stugff in the bottom of the tank, so i had to cklean it out and refill with new stuff. not sure if there are different kinds of screenwash you shouldn't mix??

[Oilchange]

I try to empty the screenwash every once in a while, just run until its squirted all out then refill with fresh.

People invariably just top up washer bottles and they get algae growing at the bottom which clogs filters/pumps/injectors and is a pain to clean out, especially on a Rover 75 cdti!

[stagsmanuk]

I had the same problem with an old Zafira, found out it was because i was mixing different types of screenwash, it had left a gooey sludge in the bottom of the bottle.

I now only use 1 kind for winter and 1 kind for summer, and when the time comes to change from one to the other, i let the bottle run dry, the fill with plain water, draw that through then fill with whichever i am changing to, has worked now for 4 years with no gunge in the bottle.

[hostyle]

Oilchange said:

I try to empty the screenwash every once in a while, just run until its squirted all out then refill with fresh.

I do/did this to on my Renault Laguna. Trouble is that the washers for the headlights (Xenon) don't work anymore when the level of screen wash is to low. Getting them to work again means using the screen wash long enough to fill the pipes back up and create enough pressure for the washers to extend from te bumpers and spray the lights. This almost uses up a ltr of screen wash


Now I know why it has a big ass reservoir (more than 5 ltr)

To the OP: if you have run the system dry before filling it up, it could just take a while longer to fil all the pipes back up.

[thinfourth2]

Or for those of us with a really old fashioned car you unclip the washer bottle and clean it in the sink.

I love progress