Headlight washer common faults?

[paddyred]

Hi guys,

Drivers side headlight washer has stopped working on my 08 V50. The passenger one works fine but the drivers one has stopped. it pulls out fine so its not jammed. It may just be a popped off pipe (haven't had the time to sort it yet!) is there anywhere that has a common issue that I should check before I remove the bumper etc?

[s40manbaz]

its not just frozen ? mine froze up parked car in garage for a bit and stuck loads of screen wash in and it was ok after . one problem I did have with my old v50 was the little o-ring on the back of the jet wasn't seated right so water was slowly seaping out so when sprayed wouldn't work . that's a easy check before you take the bumper off if you lift the jet out and unclip the painted cover it just pulls forward out of the housing . failing that I think the only other thing is like you say bumper off and get a look at the pipe see if its possible come off

[EricMe]

[QUOTE=paddyred;1832975]. . . . it pulls out fine so its not jammed. /QUOTE]

Why not pull it out again & stick a piece of wood, screwdriver etc between jet & bumper then try the washer again. That should establish whether the jet is still connected or if line is broken.

You might also try that test whilst parked on a nice, clean, flat surface and see if (& where) a puddle forms underneath.

[paddyred]

So I took the jet out of the main body today and when activated water comes out of the main body so water is getting to it. Theres a little valve in the top that releases under pressure to allow water into the jets and that isnt working at the moment. The jet comes out the bumper but no water comes out! I took the valve apart, cleaned it and put a little dab of white synthetic grease on the little diaphragm and the main o-ring and tried that. water is escaping from between the main body and the jet part now so I will try and replace that seal. Failing that, whats the cheapest place to get the replacement washer nozzle?

[paddyred]

Just replaced the O-ring but its made no difference. Water no longer comes out the seal between the washer jet and the main piston body but no water comes out of the jet! Looks like a new jet

[EricMe]

Just replaced the O-ring but its made no difference. Water no longer comes out the seal between the washer jet and the main piston body but no water comes out of the jet! Looks like a new jet

The 'jet' is just a bit of plastic with a hole through it ! If you can get water to the back of the jet but not out the front, it's just blocked. have you tried removing it, poking with a bit of fine wire then blowing backwards through it ?

[AJC30]

Hi, I had the same fault on my C30 awhile ago I took the jet assembly out of the extender and tried the washer it shot a steam of water out so the fault was in the jet it has a flap rubber valve inside it seems that it was not as flexible as it should be maybe down to the screen wash used but a trip to the dealer for a replacement jet assembly at around £20 inc vat later and fitted in minutes all back to normal working. Hope this helps

[paddyred]

Thanks everyone! the rubber valve does look perished. I'm currently using halfords advanced berry screenwash at a low concentrate so I cant imagine its that, Probably just age! £15+Vat from the dealer so hopefully that fixes it tomorrow!