F30 330d windscreen washer help!

[george123]

Hi. Have a 330d estate and the front screen washers have stopped squirting fluid and yes the reservoir is full ! I can hear the sprays working but apart from a split second squirt from each jet nothing more comes out , doesn’t seem they are blocked. Rear works fine and so do the headlamp washers.

Had a look under the bonnet but hard to see anything but the water pipe to the jets is fine and can’t see a leak , at least around the immediate area.

Any ideas ? Loath to take it to the local dealer as it’s just out of warranty. Would it need to be plugged into a diagnostic to see the fault?

Thanks all.

[smashy]

Have you been using garage screenwash? Not saying its not smoke and mirrors from BMW but they do allways say you need to use their product as it will gum up the works if you dont

[Mr Tidy]

Yes, my guess is that there will be some sort of "gunge" blocking the filter(s) on the pumps in the washer reservoir - BMW screen-wash doesn't seem to mix with any other screen-wash, or even just water! And I doubt it's smoke and mirrors, just a way to make BMW owners pay more.

I've taken the reservoir and pumps out of my E46 and E86, removed the pump or pumps (there is one pump for the screen, or 2 if you have headlight washers), cleaned the filters, flushed the reservoirs and re-filled them with pre-mixed from Tesco in less than an hour! So long as you don't mix what you put in it won't cause you a problem. But those 2 cars have the reservoir in the engine bay, so access is good.

Last week I went to see (and put a deposit on) an E91 to replace my E46, and it looks like the reservoir is in the inner wing. Which means the wheel-arch lining probably has to come out - isn't progress great?

[Alonso92]

Put the bonnet up and see if they work then. I bought new washer jets as i couldnt figure out why they were still not working after attempting to clear them but it turned out to be a hose getting pinched everytime i closed the bonnet

[george123]

thanks for all the replies. I have read about BMW's special brew washer being the only one you should use but couldnt believe thats actually true!
will take another look under the bonnet & also try squirting with the bonnet up , but couldnt see anything being pinched last time .

Luckily, I have a good local garage so will have to get him to look at it if no joy. He isnt a specialist but sure he can figure it out for a fraction of what Snow's would charge.

[NDA]

Try a pin or sewing needle gently into the actual jets....

[Triumph Man]

Mr Tidy said:

Last week I went to see (and put a deposit on) an E91 to replace my E46, and it looks like the reservoir is in the inner wing. Which means the wheel-arch lining probably has to come out - isn't progress great?

Same place as in my E39 - not too bad a job to get it out.

[george123]

got this sorted, blocked filter so as said previously it meant wheel and liner off!

Luckily my great local garage only charged me 1/2hr labour to fix it!

Thanks all for the comments.

[Driving Miss Daisy]

I've got exactly same problem on my F10. Only had it few months and it's still under warranty, problem is I filled it up with garage forecourt finest as I thought it was just empty. Balls.

I'll take a look tomorrow in the daylight. What did the garage charge?

[george123]

£27 to sort it , they had to take the wheel liner off to get to it then 5 mins to clean the filter. Don’t go near a BMW dealer ... sure they’d charge 5x that. My sister took her z4 in to Snows as the pop up screen wouldn’t come up , charged her £99 just to take a look!

[wildone63]

Ive recentley unblocked my washer bottle by pulling the washer pipe off at the nozzle,then blowing hard into the pipe so it dislodges whatever is causing the blockage in the bottle,then siphoning off all the water/screenwash in the bottle with a 3ft length of garden hose.I pushed the hose into the bottle as far as it would go (well over a foot),the hose would have been sucking from the very bottom of the bottle where all the dislodged crud would be lying.
I repeated this several times and it worked a treat.
The car is a Vauxhall Corsa which probably had 11 years worth of crud in the bottle.

[Speed 3]

I've just bought a 335D F30 and have this problem. I think its blocked filters as the symptoms are exactly as others have had and I've seen on YouTube. Problem is all the local indies are booked out for a month so I can't get it sorted by them. I ordered some tube to try the syphon method but I can't get it down the pipe (suspect BMW have changed the bloody design looking at earlier models on YT). That means my only option is trying to get the bottle out. Wheel off is easy but I can't find any specific guide to removing the liner and knowing its fixed with plastic rivets, I'm wary of not being able to get it back on.

I'm currently doing a 120 mile commute on cruddy roads and would normally be consuming half a tank of screenwash per day. Can anyone guide me on getting that liner off and on safely ?

[george123]

Speed 3 said:

I've just bought a 335D F30 and have this problem. I think its blocked filters as the symptoms are exactly as others have had and I've seen on YouTube. Problem is all the local indies are booked out for a month so I can't get it sorted by them. I ordered some tube to try the syphon method but I can't get it down the pipe (suspect BMW have changed the bloody design looking at earlier models on YT). That means my only option is trying to get the bottle out. Wheel off is easy but I can't find any specific guide to removing the liner and knowing its fixed with plastic rivets, I'm wary of not being able to get it back on.

I'm currently doing a 120 mile commute on cruddy roads and would normally be consuming half a tank of screenwash per day. Can anyone guide me on getting that liner off and on safely ?

sorry dont have experience of getting one of a BMW but I know from experience of taking them off a 20 year old Alfa that its fiddly and a real knuckle skin scraper! You may need to heat it up to soften the plastic so it doesnt crack and tear, depends how tight they are in the wheel well (v tight in my GTV). maybe hunt around for another local indie? its no more than an hrs work on a lift with correct tools....would save you a load of swearing...!

Also, I had to get it cleared out again in May this year....thats after only using BMW approved screen wash since the 1st time it was cleared out back in 2018 when I 1st posted! Best to use a very weak dilution of BMW screen wash in future.

Edited by george123 on Friday 13th November 13:50

Edited by george123 on Friday 13th November 13:51

[BFleming]

The washer pipe has a joint in it by the bonnet hinge (drivers side). Unclip it there, and blow into it. You will dislodge whatever was gunking it up. When I did this, I had my trusty assistant (son) pull the wiper stalk to activate the pump, I pumped the tank empty into a jug, refilled it from a hose, emptied that, then reconnected the washer pipe joint and filled the reservoir with washer fluid again. Taking it to an indy is not necessary. Neither is removing the tank.

[Speed 3]

BFleming said:

The washer pipe has a joint in it by the bonnet hinge (drivers side). Unclip it there, and blow into it. You will dislodge whatever was gunking it up. When I did this, I had my trusty assistant (son) pull the wiper stalk to activate the pump, I pumped the tank empty into a jug, refilled it from a hose, emptied that, then reconnected the washer pipe joint and filled the reservoir with washer fluid again. Taking it to an indy is not necessary. Neither is removing the tank.

Tried that several times and it didn't work at all.

[BFleming]

Speed 3 said:

Tried that several times and it didn't work at all.

It takes a reasonable puff. Do you have a vacuum pump - or even a pump for blowing up a paddling pool?
If you're anywhere near Hertfordshire I'll help you if I can.

[Speed 3]

BFleming said:

It takes a reasonable puff. Do you have a vacuum pump - or even a pump for blowing up a paddling pool?
If you're anywhere near Hertfordshire I'll help you if I can.

No vacuum pump. I can getting it blowing bubbles out going backwards (and fluid out of filler if its brimmed) but it won't shift any fluid forwards on the pump other than a very slight dribble.

[george123]

the guy that sorted mine said the gunk was at the base of the waterbottle where it connects to the pipe to the washers. Hence need to get the bottle out in my case, sounds like the same for you unfortunately.

[Speed 3]

Managed to get the bottle out with damaging anything, a bit of a mission when you've not done it before and its quite an awkward shape to see/manipulate. Sure enough the tank was full of jelly like gunk and the filter blocked. All now back together and working perfectly. Even got all the different wheel arch liner fixings back without too much hassle, just a couple of plastic rivets to renew. Hopefully don't have to do this job again anytime soon.

[4rephill]

Speed 3 said:

Managed to get the bottle out with damaging anything, a bit of a mission when you've not done it before and its quite an awkward shape to see/manipulate. Sure enough the tank was full of jelly like gunk and the filter blocked. All now back together and working perfectly. Even got all the different wheel arch liner fixings back without too much hassle, just a couple of plastic rivets to renew. Hopefully don't have to do this job again anytime soon.

You won't have to do the job again any time soon providing you use the same washer fluid every time.

Mixing different washer fluids (BMW's own/other brand green/other brand pink) causes a chemical reaction, which results in congealing and clogging in the washer system.

Don't mix - No need to fix!