This is a new one to me--I was driving in the rain yesterday and noticed the passenger side washer was not working. When I got home, I pressed the washer again to confirm. What surprised me was that the water smelled like moldy pond water

I disconnected the pump output hose and drained some into a container, it was green and horrible. I've only used the blue washer fluid I've put in all my vehicles, never seen anything like this happen. I do rarely use the washer in the Jag, as I don't often take it out in the rain, but still, it isn't 10 years old.

Checked my other car, no issue with the washer fluid there, blue and still smells like soap.

Going to drain the washer in the Jag and rinse it out. Have a new hose on the way to replace the one that broke on the passenger side. Hopefully this is just some kind of fluke!

 

It has been mentioned before on the UK forum about sludge building up in the bottom of the reservoir, in my last x350 my washers stopped working, I could hear the pump working but no water.
The reservoir was fully cleaned out and they said it was clogged with green gunge and slime so I guess that is the same as you had but yours were still able to pump the water through.

 

I had similar with a Rover 75. I had to clean the reservoir out with boiling water, and remove the filter and do the same. So far I've been OK with my two X350s since 2010.

 

Me too, on a 75 as well as other cars, it's like a soap scum in the reservoir and it can clog the little filter and stop fluid getting through, so it's possible here that this one doesn't have a filter or it's been removed, and the scum is getting into the hoses.

 

Interesting to hear that it isn't an isolated incident! I took a closer look at my car last night and started draining out some of the old fluid. I can see why this might be happening: the washer fill has 2 drain holes (for overspill) that drain right into the reservoir. But any rain or wash water will drain right in there as well. I might drill a small hole in the plastic to allow water to drain out under the car instead of into the tank.

 

Yep, confirmed that rain water does indeed collect and drain into the washer tank due to the design. Washed the car today, opened the cover and found this:



I filled in both the holes that drain into the tank with some RTV. Will drill new holes that just drain into the plenum below. Hopefully this will solve the issue of the water becoming moldy.

 

Did they move the washer bottle on the later cars ? My XJR 2003 bottle is at the front ,near the headlamp.
I read that washer fluid can cultivate legionnaires' bacteria, due to the repeated heating and cooling They suggested always using a screenwash additive .

 

Yes, it was moved.
The earlier cars washer bottle is on the right hand side in front of the wheel