V70 windscreen washers not working

[bobsy852]

So it seems I've found my second gremlin with the V70 I bought 2 weeks ago already.
Went to use the windscreen washer jets and a little bit of water came out. I just presumed the washer was empty so filled it up and tried again. It gradually got less and less until now nothing comes out!
Tried the rear washer. Nothing also

Yet the headlamps are being washed?

I filled the bottle up with 6l of water (I didn't have any screenwash handy this morning) and noticed once it was full that it started dripping out quite quickly underneath the car. Fairly constant on the passenger side but also on the driver side. It looked like it was collecting on the under trays and just finding its way out from there?

I guess a pipe has come loose or something underneath? Yet I find it odd that the headlamp washers work?


Anyone any ideas what my problem could be?
I presume the rear washer is powered the same as the front ones?
Also all off one pump?

My first step will be to remove these under trays to see what I can see. Although I can't even see the washer bottle at the moment? Can anyone tell me where I'll find this?

Thanks,
Rob

[TTR]

bobsy 852

hi, try having a read through my thread below it should give you a good idea of what to do, also posted some picture which will help.

Pointless removing the under trays it will not really assist.

Thread was on headlamp washers.

Hope this helps



http://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showthread.php?t=244519

[tt82]

Yup, bumper off is your best bet but you might get away with just looking behind the wheel arch liner on the n/s as thats where the washer bottle is. The pumps are on the rear so you be able to see them quite clearly.

[Moondust70]

The pump is easy enough to change, I have done mine recently ...........

1. N/S front wheel off

2. Undo the 5 torx screws on the lower part of the wheel arch liner.

3. Lay underneath and take out the torx screws that secure the bumper to the upper plastic shield ........ just two will do as that will allow you the lower the shield a little.

4. Pull the wheel arch liner away and you will see the bottle with the pump on the lower side of the bottle

5. Unclip the wiring connector off the top of the pump

6. Pull the pump out ........

7. Then pull out the pump fixing grommet as that has an inbuilt strainer which will need cleaning.

The pump is Ford ............ Focus, S-Max, & Mondeo all fit OK ........ or get an aftermarket direct replacement from 'partsforvolvos.com' (much cheaper)

[bobsy852]

Thanks moondust!
Haven't taken it apart yet, probably going to have to wait until this weekend.
Bit of an update though,I've noticed a slight drip on both passenger and drivers side when I came to a stop this evening.
I managed to get my hand underneath and at least touch the washer bottle on the passenger side. As I did this I moved some, what felt like cables wrapped in cable tidy, but could have been pipes I suppose, which cause more water to flow out. This was clear (I'd filled the washer bottle up with pure water on Tuesday), so I presume a pipe has broken or come loose under there.

Don't know why it's similar (albeit less water appears) on the drivers side..

[bobsy852]

Update on this.

Managed to get to the washer bottle yesterday (took the nearside wheel arch lining out and the black trim on the underside of the front bumper. Managed to leave the bumper in place). Filled the washer bottle up and it instantly started draining from a black plastic pipe which leads to the headlight washers.
It had been tided next to the electrical wiring using a cable tie which had cut through the pipe.



In certain positions the pipe wouldn't leak, but then water would come out at the driver side where the same pipe meets the drivers side headlight washer. So it's leaking in a number of places.

Anyway I noticed that the windscreen washer ran from a separate pump. So I pulled this out too and noticed it was dry. Pulled the filter/bung out which it left in and noticed this was FULL of muck! Cleaned it out and hey presto, windscreen washers!! yay!

However, I still can't fill the windscreen washer bottle up though as when I do, water runs down the headlamp washer system and out of the three splits in the pipe so I'll have to replace the pipe.

Now I tried to pull the pipe off the grey section of the pump (top of this first photo) and as shown in situ in the second:




However, it looks like these pipes are fused on somehow and won't just pull off?

I presume the pipe and Y-section all comes as one piece from Volvo?
When I come to replace it, does it just pull off the grey section of the pump? Or does the grey section come as part of the pipe, and if so, how do you remove this from the pump?
The same connection seems to apply to each headlamp washer jet too...

I'm going to get a quote from Volvo tomorrow for a replacement but I thought it might be worth asking whether anyone has replaced this with some proper rubber hose rather than this brittle plastic stuff? (more like the hose that goes to the windscreen washer jets?) I thought perhaps a couple of jubilee clips and some proper rubber hose might work better and last longer?

[convertisaab]

Hi bobsy852, I have a brand new hose which I think will be the one for your car. It is part no 30655069 and retails at about £44.40 inc Vat !! If you are interested, I can let you have it for £25 delivered. If you care to send me a pm I'll get your details.

[YorkshireDave]

Or buy yourself some silicone hose with appropriate Y pieces... A lot less than £44 and very long living as the silicone doesn't degrade with UV light like real rubber or PVC.

[griston64]

I know this is a bit of a thread resurrection but I followed these steps today to cure my non working windscreen washer.

Didn't quite go to plan as I couldn't get the bl**dy wheel off

After much huffing and puffing I eventually got the little blighter off and carried on. I'd bought a new Ford pump on Ebay for £7 just in case. Turned out the rubber filter was blocked solid. Cleaned that put some water in and he presto

In future ( and as I don't use the car in winter ) I will be diluting the screen wash down to try to help stop the gunge

[Ian21401]

In the olden days when I had a Marina the washer bottle was in the engine compartment and easily visible and the fluid level could be seen so when screen wash additive was required I just added the required guessed amount of additive then filled up with water. When later cars had the washer bottle hidden in the wheel arch I started making up the required strength of additive plus water in a spare 5 litre bottle and then adding that to the washer bottle. What wasn’t put in the washer bottle was put back on the shelf until required again. Over the course of time I noticed that this left over “premix” of solution developed a “scum” on it’s surface. Investigation of the washer pipes and the filter on my 940 revealed that this scum was clogging the filter. I changed the brand of additive to a Halfords concentrate which I dilute depending on the time of year and keep in a 5 litre bottle in the garage ready for use when required. This does not develop a scum. I’ve used it for several years now with no blockage problems.

Re getting the wheel off. Alloy wheel and steel hub creates corrosion between wheel and hub at the wheel centre which causes wheel to “stick”. Before replacing the wheel brush the corrosion (white powdery stuff) off the hub and wheel centre and smear some copper grease around the hub contact area. No more sticking wheel.