Strange issue with windscreen washer on 420R

[Rhmarshall]

Posting to see if anyone else has seen this issue.

My new 420R ‘leaks’ washer fluid under heavy braking. I think this is because the tank is in the boot and therefore under braking the fluid is pushed forwards.

Needless to say its pretty irritating and I will be asking Caterham to look at it for me. For now I plan on using a clamp on the tubing (after the pump) when I expect to be driving in a spirited fashion.

Just wondered if anyone else has seen this and whether they got a fix identified?

Thanks,

Richard.

Edited by Rhmarshall on Wednesday 16th October 18:09

[Scrump]

If you had the tank somewhere other than the boot the fluid would still be pushed forward under braking.

[Rhmarshall]

I was thinking that if the tank was in front of the windscreen it would tend to ‘leak’ under acceleration rather than braking though.

[upsidedownmark]

I have an older car with the tank in the engine bay, but I believe 'they all do that sir'.. certainly heard of it before.

I would imagine that (assuming there aren't any) a non-return valve as found in your regular family vehicle might provide enough resistance to stop it.. or maybe just run the tank half full?

[slime bomb]

Go aero, take bottle out, save weight, problem solved!

[nigelpugh7]

It’s pretty common, my 620r does the same.

It’s even worse when you have the aero screen on if you have an interchangeable screen/aero, as you get a face wash.

There’s a few solutions, use a simple clamp on the feed pipe to the washer Jet, accessed under the dash area.

Or have no fluid in the bottle at all.

Or do what we have and install a one way valve so that water stops until the pump is running.

[anonymous-user]

First time I’ve heard of this though my washer bottle is on the chassis to the left of the engine.

[PeteSV]

It's been an issue here too, but not got a long time now. My washer bottle is on the right of the engine and I would get a surprise splash during hard/fast right-hand bends. However simply keeping the bottle less than half full solves the problem and since its not a daily driver I'll never need too much screen wash anyway.

[Rhmarshall]

Thanks all. Will see how it is with the washer tank less full. I’ve got a clamp on the pipe in the boot now too but not had the chance to try it out - what with the lovely weather,

Glad to hear it isn’t that odd ... Oakmere seemed surprised - maybe nobody reports it back?

R.

[SimonRogers]

Mine used to do it under acceleration

[BertBert]

I always found it an amusing quirk rather than irritating!

[Rhmarshall]

On the road it is fine but on track it was a real irritation as I would lose visibility in the braking zone of each corner. Then I’d need to find time to switch on the wipers as I accelerated out of the corner. Kinda want to be focusing on the corner not the windscreen!

Anyway - putting a clamp on the line is easy, cheap fix so all good again!

R.

[Repo289]

I had the same issue under heavy acceleratio, when the fluid tank (positioned in engine bay) was full. Reducing the fill level to half solved the issue for me