XKR windscreen washers

[NWTony]

The washer jets on my XKR are absolutely useless, if i want to effectively clear the screen I have to wait for the overspray from the headlight washer. I've flushed the tubing out and adjusted them the best I can but they are effectively useless. Does anyone know of a conversion to the more normal spray ones most cars have?

[a8hex]

I've never found any issue with mine.
I've got a 2010 convertible, I don't know if they vary from year to year or whether the tin and rag tops are different.

Didn't you ask about this last summer?

[reddiesel]

Your Pump has gone I think Tony , otherwise I have never heard of anyone experiencing your problem . Mine were always adequate and cleared the headlights too .

[8bit]

My money's on the inlet for the screenwash pump being blocked. When I collected mine I realised that the screenwash didn't work at all (so how it passed MOT the day before is anyone's guess). You'll need to lift the driver's side front wheel and remove it, remove the rear section of the arch liner to access the fluid tank and pumps. There are two pumps, the lower one is for the screenwash and the other is for the headlamp washers.

I syphoned the fluid out of the tank into a bucket, disconnected the hose and cable from the pump then it just pulls free of the shaping in the tank that holds it in place and then the inlet pulls free from the tank. The inlet sits in a grommet which acts as a seal and a filter, if it doesn't come out on the end of the pump inlet then pull the grommet from the tank. What I found was black, slimy gunk completely blocking the end of the grommet. Clean that off, then reassemble in the time-honoured tradition of reverse of removal.

[NWTony]

Thanks for the replies - I may well have asked last summer too!

I just get a pathetic dribble from the wipers which doesn't spread over the screen as you move forward, which I guess is the way it is supposed to work. I had been told it was a common issue so I thought there might be a kit you could buy to fix it, but maybe its just mine...

The tubing is clear so maybe it is the pump, will have to look into it. Do the headlight washers share the same pump as they are perfectly fine?

Thanks again for the tips.

[mmcd87]

I've got a 2007 XK convertible and the wiper mounted washer jets have been outstanding in recent weather. One push of the stalk should be enough to clear a very dirty windscreen. Yours definitely has a problem - sounds like a blocked or kinked hose.

[8bit]

No, there are two separate pumps. The headlamp washer pump sits a little higher up the tank so that when the fluid level gets a bit low, the remaining fluid is preserved for the windscreen wash facility. It actually sits slightly higher up than the level sensor, so I notice that the first sign of low fluid level isn't the warning on the dash, it's when the pump for the headlamp washer makes a lot of noise but doesn't wash the lights...

Because the screenwash pump sits very close to the bottom of the pump it's far more prone to getting gunked up, hence the headlamp washers still work fine but the screenwash ones don't. Still worth taking the headlamp washer pump out to clean the inlet, and the level sensor while you're at it. In fact, when I did mine I removed the whole tank as well and gave it a good clean out.

[NWTony]

8bit said:

No, there are two separate pumps. The headlamp washer pump sits a little higher up the tank so that when the fluid level gets a bit low, the remaining fluid is preserved for the windscreen wash facility. It actually sits slightly higher up than the level sensor, so I notice that the first sign of low fluid level isn't the warning on the dash, it's when the pump for the headlamp washer makes a lot of noise but doesn't wash the lights...

Because the screenwash pump sits very close to the bottom of the pump it's far more prone to getting gunked up, hence the headlamp washers still work fine but the screenwash ones don't. Still worth taking the headlamp washer pump out to clean the inlet, and the level sensor while you're at it. In fact, when I did mine I removed the whole tank as well and gave it a good clean out.

Thanks, I feel a job coming on, just as soon as it warms up a smidge.

[NWTony]

Thought I'd return to this, mate and I took the wheel arch off and blew through every available hose from start to finish with a compressed airline, washers working great!

Thanks to anyone who responded.

Also, standard 12V washer pump is about £12, Jaguar about £90 for some reason!

[a8hex]

NWTony said:

Thought I'd return to this, mate and I took the wheel arch off and blew through every available hose from start to finish with a compressed airline, washers working great!

Thanks to anyone who responded.

Also, standard 12V washer pump is about £12, Jaguar about £90 for some reason!

Them logos are really expensive.
I know with classic car parts where many British cars used the same parts you do get wildly different prices depending on whether you used the Triumph, Jaguar or Aston part's catalogue.

[Patrick Bateman]

8bit said:

No, there are two separate pumps. The headlamp washer pump sits a little higher up the tank so that when the fluid level gets a bit low, the remaining fluid is preserved for the windscreen wash facility. It actually sits slightly higher up than the level sensor, so I notice that the first sign of low fluid level isn't the warning on the dash, it's when the pump for the headlamp washer makes a lot of noise but doesn't wash the lights...

Because the screenwash pump sits very close to the bottom of the pump it's far more prone to getting gunked up, hence the headlamp washers still work fine but the screenwash ones don't. Still worth taking the headlamp washer pump out to clean the inlet, and the level sensor while you're at it. In fact, when I did mine I removed the whole tank as well and gave it a good clean out.

Thread revival but this snippet has saved me some hassle, thought there was an issue with my headlight washers making a lot of noise but not doing anything but sure enough I topped up the fluid tonight and they're all good again.