I'm having a few issues with my washer jets.  The two front ones let the odd wee squirt out of them, nothing from the back one and the headlight ones are working fine.  Has anyone else experienced this and have any advice on what you think it could be and how to fix it?  I have a long commute on Sunday so really hoping to get this sorted buy then, thanks in advance.

12 minutes ago, Ripper1001 said:

I'm having a few issues with my washer jets.  The two front ones let the odd wee squirt out of them,

!st thing I would do is 'unplug' the 2 x nozzles (just pull the water hose from the nozzle) and see if water is getting through to them in the first place just to eliminate that they both haven't been blocked by some impurity.

Mk8 focus. Are you from the future? 

With the cold they may have just frozen up and will eventually thaw out. On my old MK2 the rear would be the worst and takes longer. You can spray a bit of de-Icer on the front jets that sometimes helps.

1 hour ago, alexp999 said:

Mk8 focus. Are you from the future? 

Whoops 🙈

37 minutes ago, F0CUE said:

With the cold they may have just frozen up and will eventually thaw out. On my old MK2 the rear would be the worst and takes longer. You can spray a bit of de-Icer on the front jets that sometimes helps.

Definitely not the cold, been doing it a while.

It could be the pump if the headlight one has a separate one.

Headlight washer pump is separate.  I'd suggest the 'main' pump filter is clogged up.  

Really needs to be manually removed and cleaned but you might get some short term relief by trying to flush out the bottle or adding a bit of white vinegar etc.

2 hours ago, TomsFocus said:

Headlight washer pump is separate.  I'd suggest the 'main' pump filter is clogged up.  

Really needs to be manually removed and cleaned but you might get some short term relief by trying to flush out the bottle or adding a bit of white vinegar etc.

Thanks Tom, do you know how difficult it is to do this?  Do you know of any tutorials? 

2 minutes ago, Ripper1001 said:

Thanks Tom, do you know how difficult it is to do this?  Do you know of any tutorials? 

Is your Focus a Mk3.5 or a Mk4?  I've got pics of the washer bottle location on the Mk3.  Bumper was easy enough to remove but I'm sure you could access it through the arch liner looking at that.  Not sure where it's fitted on the Mk4.

6 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

Is your Focus a Mk3.5 or a Mk4?  I've got pics of the washer bottle location on the Mk3.  Bumper was easy enough to remove but I'm sure you could access it through the arch liner looking at that.  Not sure where it's fitted on the Mk4.

Its a late 2018 so i'm not even sure what Mk that is now 

Just now, Ripper1001 said:

Its a late 2018 so i'm not even sure what Mk that is now 

2018 is the crossover year between Mk3.5 and Mk4.  

Mk3.5

Mk4

4 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

2018 is the crossover year between Mk3.5 and Mk4.  

Mk3.5

Mk4

Thanks its the mk4 

I've still got problems with the driver side screen wash jet on my Focus Mk4. I've cleared it twice now and it works for a week then stops.

I think it should be covered under warranty but my local dealer wanted to charge £59 just to look at it and if I remember correctly another £52 for a new jet.  It will be a cold day in hell before I pay them sort of prices for a screen wash jet.

37 minutes ago, unofix said:

I've still got problems with the driver side screen wash jet on my Focus Mk4. I've cleared it twice now and it works for a week then stops.

I think it should be covered under warranty but my local dealer wanted to charge £59 just to look at it and if I remember correctly another £52 for a new jet.  It will be a cold day in hell before I pay them sort of prices for a screen wash jet.

How did you clear it?

The best method would be to take the washer bottle off the car and clean it, but that requires some dismantling. Failing that you might be able to siphon the fluid out of the washer bottle and refill with hot - not boiling! - water or a mild vinegar solution, then keep operating the washers to flush the system.

Don't try and use any household cleaners unless you like repainting the bonnet. Also, be careful about using the hot water method in cold weather in case you crack the screen. Put some kind of insulation, such as layers of cardboard covered in plastic, over the front and rear windows so you don't have hot water spraying directly on the glass.

3 hours ago, Ripper1001 said:

How did you clear it?

I used an old toothbrush and kind of tried to stab the bristles in to the tiny jet hole. It does work but my guess is I'm just pushing the obstruction back it to the jet. I tried to remove the jet from the car but that is easier said than done. I might give it another go tomorrow in daylight.

 

1 minute ago, unofix said:

I used an old toothbrush and kind of tried to stab the bristles in to the tiny jet hole. It does work but my guess is I'm just pushing the obstruction back it to the jet. I tried to remove the jet from the car but that is easier said than done. I might give it another go tomorrow in daylight.

 

Years ago, I took my then car to a local garage who just connected an air line to the nozzle base (without removal), that shifted whatever was obstructing it. Such a small job, there was no charge!

If I can get the dam pipe disconnected I will use my little tyre compressor and see if that will shift it. I think Ford have gone out of their way to make the screen jets on the Mk4 impossible to (a) disconnect the hard plastic pipe (b) detach the nozzle from the car. 😟 

3 minutes ago, unofix said:

I think Ford have gone out of their way to make the screen jets on the Mk4 impossible to (a) disconnect the hard plastic pipe (b) detach the nozzle from the car. 😟 

I bet it's the same designer that did the bonnet lock on the Mk2 LOL

Do they use archaic jets on the MK4 instead of mist jets? 

If it's the two ball type jets, you can just blow an air line through one ball and it'll blow out the other side.  No need to disconnect.

Though with Ford parts the whole thing might just explode under the pressure.

 

1 hour ago, TomsFocus said:

Do they use archaic jets on the MK4 instead of mist jets? 

They are mist jets, but they are fiddly to remove because they are on the underside of the bonnet lip and access is via a small hole in the box section with the bonnet open after removing the sound deadening.

@unofix If you didn't manage to remove it, it is clipped on at one of the two short sides of the rectangle. You just have to do it by feel because you can't see anything. The tubing does look tight though and may need some hot water to loosen it.

My drivers side was never as good as the other side, acceptable but not perfect, so I unclipped it from the car after removing part of the sound deadening but left the tubing on and gave a good poke with a thin screwdriver and it is better than before but not as good as the other side.

so I put an airline into the the top fill part of the washer tank and sealed around it as best I could. I got someone to put the washer on while i was blasting it with air and the water was flying out of the jets.  But as soon as i stopped the air the washers failed again, just letting the off wee squirt out of them.

Hi, I feel your pain. I have eventually fixed the washer jet on mine, it took 3 attempts !!

Managed to remove the jet from the car, hardest thing was pulling the pipe off. Tried blowing air through the jet, put it back, it worked once then stopped again. I then repeated this and tried to clean the little centre slot with an old toothbrush. It again worked once and then stopped.

Discovered that the centre of the jet is a large plastic ball, about 8mm in diameter so using fine nosed pliers in the slots at the top and bottom I thought I'd see if it would unscrew. With hot water, fairy liquid and a bit of force I was ble to rotate the ball around and around, but it didn't unscrew. So decided to just put it back for now. Well maybe trying to unscrew it was the answer because now it works 👍 but for how long I wonder 🤔

It may well be the pump has gone.

When my car was in for repairs a few months back the pump had to be replaced under warranty as it packed up.

First symptom was an intrrmittent failure to spray and then nothing at all.

Sometimes the pump clogs up if you use neat concentrated wash fluid as often rcommended in winter, it's just too thick and will clog or strain pumps as it goes syrupy when sitting in the wash  reservoir bottle too long.