Hi all, I have a 1.0 EcoBoost 2014 Fiesta. Recently the front washer jets are not working or works very infrequently but the rear one is. I've removed the stalk and tried looking inside for anything obvious. Is the problem the stalk? Or the pump?. Does the pump spin in the opposite direction when the front jets and rear jets are operated respectively?. Everything else on the stalk works fine such as the wipers and rear jets.

The signal from the steering column stalk is sent to the Body Control Module (BCM) and it is that which controls the screen wash pump. 

On 5/21/2022 at 11:30 AM, unofix said:

The screen wash pump (and a great many other things) is controlled by the Body Control Module (BCM) which is part of the passenger compartment fusebox.

When you operate the stalk on the steering column for the screen wash the signal is sent to the BCM, it then works out if you want the front or rear screen and depending on which it is, the pump is rotated clockwise or anti-clockwise.

If the pump works for the front and not for the back the problem is either a faulty stalk switch or a problem with the BCM. For the purposes of testing you can use a multimeter and check that when the stalk is operated that a 12V signal is being sent to the BCM.

It is common on some models for the pins inside the connector of the BCM to become corroded due to water ingress. Disconnect the negative battery terminal before investigating the BCM connectors. If you don't feel confident to do this then any good Auto Electrician will be able to do it.

If the BCM requires replacing this is quite costly and will require programming for your car

 

Thanks I'll give it a try. Hopefully it's the stalk and not the BCM

13 hours ago, unofix said:

 

Hi again. This morning I removed the stalk and opened it up. I couldn't see anything obvious so I refitted it back. I checked all connections and plugs in relation to the BCM. All seems fine. I then removed the plug from the washer plug and inserted a G4 12v bulb into the plug and tested it. The bulb lit up whilst pulling back on the stalk (rear wiper) but was again very intermittent when pressing the button on the stalk (front wipers). I refitted the plug and now all of a sudden the front washer jets are working???. Can someone enlighten me to what the problem could be?. Is it an intermittent fault with the stalk? or is have I done something inadvertently whilst unplugging/plugging the washer pump plug?

It depends on quite how you meant by intermittent.

If the lamp was dim when it did light up for the front wash, then the fault is with the BCM.

If you mean the lamp was intermittent and only some times came on but when it did it was at normal brightness then the fault is with the stalk.

10 hours ago, unofix said:

It depends on quite how you meant by intermittent.

If the lamp was dim when it did light up for the front wash, then the fault is with the BCM.

If you mean the lamp was intermittent and only some times came on but when it did it was at normal brightness then the fault is with the stalk.

Hi again. I mean the lamp was intermittent and only some times came on. The bulb was at normal brightness. I've come to the conclusion that the stalk is at fault now. Thanks again for your help.

I would agree that the stalk is indeed the most likely faulty part in this case.

On 5/29/2022 at 12:03 PM, unofix said:

I would agree that the stalk is indeed the most likely faulty part in this case.

Thanks again. Still working for now.

it may have been a dirty pin connection on the pump , by disconnecting the plug and reconnecting it you have cleaned the pins. you could try spraying the pins with a switch cleaner and see if this improves the connections. ( disconnect negative battery terminal first)