I've searched this forum high and low and can't seem to come across anyone having any issues with their windshield washers. The washers on the headlights both work fine but neither of the washers on the wipers works. Topped off the washer fluid just in case, no dice.

I pulled the little hose that connects the wiper to the car off just to see if maybe that was clogged and and to see if anything would come out of the connector but nothing came out.

Are the windshield washers on a separate pump from the headlight washers? If this is the case any idea which fuse it might be on?

Any other suggestions are greatly appreciated.

On a side note... anyone know where to get a shop service manual for the XK8 or R? The 3rd party books don't seem to offer one for the newer Jaguars.

I saw mention of a shop CD, did some searching but not sure which is which.

Thanks again for any help :-)

Paul

 

The official Jaguar shop manual for your '01 is the Jaguar Techinal Information System (JTIS) CD which is available on eBay all the time. There are 5 available at the moment. http://search.ebay.com/search/search...&category0=

Not a perfect system but it is pretty complete with all the electrical schematics and OBDII DTCodes. The DTC document offers most likely problem issues and is a big help.

For half or less than a printed manual you cannot go wrong.

 

Have you looked at www.alldata.com ? I use it and it seems to give me all I need.

 

Check the washer lines from the wipers back to the pump. The headlight washers cycle at intervals with the windshield washers. Put your hand on the washer pump and have someone operate it. You should feel a vibration if the pump is trying to work. Check you owner manual for fuse locations.

 

In this order...wipers, then a delay, then the headlamp nozzles.

 

Thanks everyone. I guess finding the pumps are going to be part of the trick. I did find the fuse box layouts in one of the manuals that came with the car. I think I've ruled out a fuse as the interior lights appear to be on the same fuse and they work.

Near as I can tell there are 2 pumps because of separate fuses, but it looks like the washer reservoir is inside the drivers side fender. Is this where the pumps are located as well?

Going to check ebay for those JTIS CD's, seems like they might come in handy for this type of stuff.

 

So I decided to take a crack at finding out what was wrong with the windshield washers. I took the inner fender lining out to get access to the washer reservoir where I found both pumps, one for the headlights and one for the windshield. I disconnected the line to the windshield pump and water came pouring out, so far so good. Activated the pump and water shot out, admittedly not under very high pressure but more than just pouring out. So the pump appeared fine.

Looking closer at the tank there was a ton of black gook lining the sides and floating around in it. I decided to completely remove the reservoir and clean it out. Once I got it out and rinsed it out, I noticed that it was probably mold growing in there. I rinsed and rinsed and couldn't get it out so I decided to put a little clorox in there and it came right out. So I believe I've solved the root of my problem however it looks like the line is still plugged somewhere between the pump and the wipers.

Here are some images showing the tank after it was cleaned and reassembly: (should of got a shot of the disgusting stuff)





Anyway, I tried to remove the grill between the hood and windshield but for the life of me I couldn't get the wipers off. I figure if I could get those wipers off I could remove the grill and have complete access to the tubing so I could run a new line.

I tried to blow some air through the line but that didn't seem to help, definitely clogged somewhere.

So if anyone has any ideas on how to unclog the wiper line or better yet, get the wipers off so I can remove the grill and replace the line I would be very appreciated.

Thanks,
Paul

 

You need to get a wiper arm puller. Looks like a bearing puller, but smaller. Not expensive.

 

Thanks hlgeorge, did some searching and found some options. Okay, this may be a stupid question but... if getting them off requires a puller getting them back on is going to require? A hammer? A Rubber Mallet? :-)

 

It is much easier to put them back on. They actually snap on and off with a pressure clip, so be sure that is released when you use the puller. You are just breaking the tension with the puller. Then it is easy to remove it. A little corrosion causes the tension. You may want to clean the corrosion up some before re-installing them.

 

Thanks Lew, good to know. Thanks again for your help.

 

I received my wiper arm puller and it worked great, arms came right off. I was able to remove the gray plastic panel below the arms and access the washer lines. Took each section apart and all the lines were fine. However, the rubber elbows that connect the lines to the gray plastic panel were the culprit. They were clogged. I washed them thoroughly, got a syringe and shot a little bit of bleach into them. This loosened up the gunk and I was able to rinse thoroughly with water and got them flowing again. They also seem to be some kind of one way setup, fluid would only flow through them one way.

Assembled everything back together and I now have functional windshield washer jets, woohoo!

Pretty cool setup, with the 3 little jets shooting right next to each blade, nice.

Thanks to everyone for their help and tips.

 

THE WIPER ARE HELP ON THE A NUT, REMOVE IT FLIP THE ARM UP TO THE CLEANING POSITION AND GRAB IT, PULLING UP AND DOWN LIKE YOUR CHRNING BUTTER AND THEY COME RIGHT OFF, NO PULLER NEEDED

 

I thought I tried everything but I didn't try that. Probably would have worked, doah!

Oh well, the puller was cheap, $19 and looks like it could be useful for other things.

Thanks though, good to know!