Good morning all, I hope the hurricane off Florida/Carolinas does not affect anyone out there too badly! Now to my concern. I have had a warning light indicating low water level in my washer bottle for some time. If I add water, the light extinguishes - but then re-appears a few days later. I summised that there was a leak at the bottle and indeed on closer inspection, not easy without raising the front of the vehicle, there was water dripping from the bottle. So, I found a replacement on e-bay, complete with pump and low level indicator. I removed the old bottle after much struggling with the wheel arch liner and so on. I connected both the level indicator and the pump and added water. The level indicator light is extinguished, BUT, the pump does not operate! I switched to the original pump - it still fails to operate. I have checked the fuse, OK, I know that there is a relay on the right hand fender/wing but don't know which one. Help. Also, is there a way I can supply power directly to the pump to establish that it/they are OK? Can I check the "spare pump" for functionability? AlecG.

 

It would be an unlikely (but possible) coincidence that the relay gave up just as you were changing the pump (assuming it was working before you changed it). Likely suspect would be damage to the connector/cables as a result of pulling/pushing them. They are getting old and probably brittle.

Get your multimeter out and check at the connector for power and ground and then follow the loom backwards.

There's only 2 connections to the pump YellowGreen for +ve and Black for -ve so just connect a 12v supply to test the pumps.






If you're stuck and fancy a trip up the M56 I'm only 40 miles away and happy to help out (I commuted to Chester every day for 6 years before retirement!) - PM me.

 

Do a slight tug on the wires in the pump connector

Look to see if the sockets have migrated back into the connector body

The pump has a internal electrical resistance so you can test it with a battery charger on lowest setting as long as you don't touch the jumper cable wires together

The motor will twerk out of your hand so better in a vice or friend

 

Thanks for the advice. I am charging a small 12volt battery to see if I can get life out of the pumps. If I put a test meter across the black and coloured wires then get an assistant to push the washer switch - I guess I should get some sort of reading if the wires are OK? I could well be driving up to Manchester if I can't fix it! As an aside, whilst removing the wheel liner, I obviously put some physical load onto the wing/fender and some filler fell off from just above a bubbly paint area! Closer inspection shows a previous repair that involved adding a metal plate behind the wing/fender. Over time, water has found its way into the gap and corrosion has taken hold. A job for my friendly team of metal bashers and painters. I have already bought the paint!

 

uhmmm, didn't think of this til just now, but the Low-level sensor connector and pump connector are interchageable. I'm not sure the low level light would be out if the pump wiring is connected to it, but maybe? ANyway, worth checking. I removed the front bumper to shore up the mounting tabs on the reservoir...was down for quite some time, and when putting it back, had to consult the wiring diagram to see which was which. Been a coupla weeks, but from memory, I believe the pump gets the connector with the green/white or green/yellow wire in it. Only one of the two has a green wire, but I can't recall the stripe color. In any case, better go to the diagram and check me on that unless you are absolutely certain you got those right when you changed it.

 

I am currently doing my grandson sitting act and will not be back home for another week when I home to do the required tets and investigation.

 

Well, I finally found time to attend to the Sovereign. After a lot of work with a multimeter, I discovered that I had power but no function. Then I found that the fluid level lamp was not illuminated - even though there was no fluid in the bottle. The light dawned! Have I reversed the level sender and the function connection? Yes I had!!! All is now tickertyboo.