Hi Guys

I've just been doing a 'shakedown' before I take my XJS V12 for an MOT and everything seems 'A' OK apart from the Windscreen Washers.

I've checked the water in the Washer Bottle and it is full to the brim and was gobsmacked to find the Headlamp washers were working, which was something I was not expecting.

But as for the Windscreen Washers, while the washer motor is running, there is no water spraying on the screen and all the Jets are bone dry, with not a single dribble coming out.

While I am very tempted to remove the grill that surrounds the Windscreen Wipers, I don't want to do this if I don't have to.

Is there a way of removing the jets without removing the grill?

 

The Story so far:

Just inside the engine compartment underneath the Windscreen I found the plastic water tube, that carries Water to the Windscreen Washers and halfway up I found a join made out of Copper Tube.

So having pulled the joint apart I then tried out the Washers and found no water came from either tube, even though the washer bottle was full up with water.

So, using a plastic bottle that had a pump on top, I pumped water down the tube so that I could try and prime the Windscreen washer pump and found to my amazement that it worked!

Or at least I managed to get the Windscreen washer pump pumping water up to the join in the tube but having checked the copper tube I found that it was blocked.

So having unblocked it I rejoined the tube and tried it all over again but once again no water was coming out of the Windscreen washer Jets.

And so the blockage has to be somewhere between the join in the tube and Windscreen Washer Jets, which I am guessing is full of 'crud' just like the copper tube that joined these two tubes together.

Now it gets complicated! as in order to find the blockage, it looks as if I am going to have to remove the grill that holds the windscreen wipers with the windscreen wiper motors underneath.

So pulling back the covers on the Windscreen wiper arms, I undid the nuts on top so that I could pull them off their splines, the only problem being that they won't pull off!

Is there some sort of spring clip apart from the nut on top? because I cannot see one anywhere.

In order to remove the Grill, it looks as if there are 4 nuts to undo, with two big ones up in front that are recessed in two big rubber washers.

With two small ones behind right up near the Windscreen.

Please jump in and tell me, if I have got that wrong?

If I can remove that Grill, then I can remove and unblock the other part of the tube and also take the Jets out to try and unblock them.

Although I think I should point out that I tried to unblock them right from the start with a pin (but that didn't work)

So my question is this:

Can I get the Grill out by undoing those 4 nuts, or even lift it up enough to get my hands underneath to remove the tubing and those Jets?

Without removing the Windscreen Wiper arms which have got stuck on their splines and won't come off without some sort of extractor, not that I want to get them off if I don't have to.

 

Have you tried blowing through the pipes with compressed air?

 

Undo the four nuts, and the entire mechanism, wiper arms and all, lifts out. The fixings for the nuts nearest the windscreen, the small ones, are (on my vintage at least) a rubber/brass composite affair. The rubber can tear leaving the nut captive, or the entire fixing can rotate and not undo. If this happens, jamming it with a screwdriver whilst undoing the nut usually does it!

Greg

 

mine were the same, it turned out the res. was full of thick bacterial growth
due to a mix of different cleaner additives being added to the water, I was lucky that the motor was clearable although it was all a pita to remove the gunge

 

Hi Steve

No I haven't tried that because I don't think it would work, as this piece of copper tube which had quite a big bore was well blocked up and seeing the jets have a much smaller hole & seem to be made of alloy?

My guess is these Jets are either full of 'crud' or internal corrosion.

 

Hi Greg

I am loving your suggestion, this is exactly the thing I was hoping to hear!

The problem is almost certainly a blockage in one of the tubes or the Jets on or under that Grill.

But I was scared to undo those two little nuts for fear they might shear off and although that could still happen, there is no other way to do the job and I have got more patience than any garage mechanic that I know.

As I have a vested interest in trying to do the job right, although right now I'd swop this job to do the Radiator all over again, including the 'Blood Sweat and Tears' of which there were loads!

Windscreen Washers as you know are an MOT Testers dream! and as I will be taking her to a Garage I don't know, I want to try and cover all those bases.

So I will let you know how it all goes, though could involve a bottle of Amber Nectar at some stage!

So thanks for your help.

 

Ditto, these jobs are a pain in the butt!

On the face of it a very small job that could take ages to do and when they put the washers in this, they must have measured that plastic tube with an Atomic Ruler, as there is no slack to play with whatsoever.

 

Hi Greg

Thank you for your help, Genius or What!

I did exactly as you said and it came out no problem at all, apart from a few grazed knuckles and continually shooting myself in the eye with Windscreen washer fluid.

When I took the Grill out I was confused by what I saw inside, as there were two connectors on a pair of trailing leads coming out of the Windscreen Wiper Motor.

And plugged into these was what looked like a couple of Windscreen Washer Jets that were just laying there in the empty space underneath and didn't appear to be serving any purpose.

These Jets had connections for Water Tubes but it looked like they had been cut off and so I don't have the slightest idea what they were doing there.

The blockage appeared to be in a round plastic disk which I am guessing was a non return valve but since I couldn't unblock it, I just left it out of the circuit as I didn't have a new one to replace it with.

Then I greased and sprayed everything, put it all back together with all new plastic tubes and at the moment everything works fine!