Chimaera 500 '99. How to access screen washer reservoir?

[leadfootlydon]

It sounds like a common problem, but what is the solution? The squirter motor runs, but no water gets to the windscreen. So presumably an MoT failure.

I suspect something to do with the little pump/impellor. But how on earth do I get it out?

I have seen suggestions of 'push it up' and 'remove the radiator'. Yikes.

[Dougal9887]

First check the jets on the wiper blades aren't blocked (disconnect a piped and try a squirt).
Next check would be the pick-up gauze which can become blocked, unfortunately a bottle out job. So.... with an arm through the grill....
The filler neck is siliconed, TVR style , onto the bottle and needs to be removed. Just keep wiggling and it will come away. Pull off the electrical connector. The bottle is slotted onto an angle metal bracket and again released with a good push and wiggle upwards. The bottle can then be manoeuvred out through the grill. Bench test is now easy.

[leadfootlydon]

Excellent! I will try that. It certainly helps to know what is *supposed* to happen when you start applying some force.

Thanks for the tips. I'll let you know how I get on.

[Steve_D]

I would remove the pump alone first rather than messing with the whole bottle.
The body of the pump just presses into the side of the bottle. The bottle side acts like a clip to hold the pump.
Make note of which wire goes where, Pull the top of the pump out then lift the pump so the spigot on the bottom comes out of the grommet/seal in the wash bottle.
Pumps are really quite cheap so while you are in there just replace it with a new one.

Steve

[Chimune]

Pretty sure mine was disconnected deep in the dashboard under the windscreen. Wondered why my knee got wet when taking a left turn!
Seem to remember having to remove the top dash panel to fix. Wasn't bad though.

[over_the_hill]

The bottle itself just slides into a bracket that's sort of V-shaped but with the bottom cut off the V

http://www.powersperformance.co.uk/store/slug/wash...

When I took mine out it was very tight due to the build up of crud and dirt so it might need a bit of wiggling and wobbling to free up the bottle.

[leadfootlydon]

I fixed it, thanks to the tips I got from you guys. But you won't guess what the actual problem turned out to be.

First I had to take the front numberplate off. Then I had to remove the two horns by undoing a couple of manly-looking bolts. Following tips on here, I pulled out the reservoir filler pipe and pushed the plastic reservoir up. Yes, it came loose but I still could not get it out until I snipped a couple of cable ties.

Having got the reservoir out, I was able to squirt myself in the face with some force. A long piece of string enabled me to be at the front of the car while pulling the washer stalk on the steering column. So the pump was perfectly OK.

I used a bicycle pump to push air from the windscreen outlets back through the reservoir. I could hear it burbling as I pumped. No problem there. But when I tried to blow from the reservoir end to the windscreen, I couldn't. How odd. Some sort of one-way blockage!

I finally realised that a tiny little plastic connector on the hose must be a non-return valve. When I took it out, a tiny, tiny ball bearing fell on the ground. On a hunch I put it all back together but left out the tiny ball bearing. All working. Squirt, squirt.

So I can only assume that somehow the one-way valve got itself into a state where it was doing the exact opposite of what it should have been.

Now all I need to do is get the fibreglass splinters out of my hands. :-).

Thanks again, everyone.

[fieryfred]

Just to add to this post. My washer bottle was sounding like a asymatic duck with no water flowing.
I bought one from car builder solutions complete with new rubber grommet for the washer bottle.
All for £5 postage £3.33 dreaded VAT £1.67.
It just pulls back & lifts up. I left a review of the pump so you can find the right one.
Opps that was last year they now cost £6.