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Clogged Up Mist Washer Jets?


Brigante
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Driving round Wales today I went to use my wipers to try n get rid of a smear on the windcsreen from a rather large fly that met a messy demise

On spraying the jets, I found that instead of spraying at the windcscreen as they should, they sprayed only a couple inches and Barely managed to trickle on the scuttle panel

Thought some how maybe the washer bottle may be empty even though I filled it the other day

So I've just brimmed the washer bottle again now, yet its still the same n the jets wont even make it near the bottom edge of the windscreen

Any ideas what the problem could be? as I obviously need to sort this asap especially as I have a 4 hour drive in a couple days

Quick helpful replies much appreciated

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Hi mate,

Get a garden hose and open your washer bottle,

Put the hose in the bottle on medium flow and allow it to overflow for up to 30 minutes,

This will clear out the dirt and lime from the bottle,

Remove your jets,

Purchase some clear viniger, yes the stuff you put on chips,

Fill a cup or glass with viniger no water just pure viniger,

Remove the rubber seals from the jets

Steap the jets in the viniger for at least 24hrs

Stirring them occasionally,

Viniger is a mild organic solvent, it will break down lime and dirt.

With the jets removed,

Flush out the pipes using your motor,

But do it in small bursts so as the motor doesn't burn out on you.

And take care,

Your washer bottle and anybody's washer bottle that's over 3 months old contains a range of diseases found in stagnet water,

If you can get some pure isopropanol

Make up a 30% solution

For example 30ml Iso to 70ml water,

Iso is great for cleaning and won't strip your paint or split your bottle,

Do not use acetone if offered it instead of isopropanol mate,

Other option

Use a litre of coca-cola

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Thanks for the reply Lenny mate very helpful

I do not have access to a garden hose here or at home

I should be able to do the vinager though

Where do I get hold of isopropanol from?

I've got plenty of coke around though

My washer bottle is full at the moment with water, so are you suggesting removing the jets to soak in vinager, flushing the jets n running through a litre of coke?

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try cleaning out the jets i vinegar first, if not then do you still have your old jets to hand? use them. if you havent then buy a spare set from ford for now until the issue is fixed. safety first...especially as it will only cost a couple of quid.

if you dont have clear vinegar then try

CILLIT BANG

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Will be going out into the local town shortly to purchase some white vinager

I believe I do still have my old jets, the problem is they are a 4hour drive away back in nottingham

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Just to check, does the pump make exactly the same noise as it always has?

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Your thinking the water pump could be on the way out?

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I've now checked the rear washer jet n nothing at all comea out of it, and still only a trickle from fronts.

So its not just that the fronts are blocked so vinager aint gonna work

what is gonna be the likely causr for front n rear jets to fail?

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There's a small plastic filter between the tank and pump which can clog up.

A tank flush should help dislodge the sludge and gunk.

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When i first got mine i had the same problem turns out mine was just a clogged filter in the washer bottle

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Cheers lads hope it is just that

How exactly do i flush the tank?

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Syphon the fluid out with a bit of hose and suction fuel thief style and get a pressure washer in there but don't blast too hard.

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Ford OC mobile app

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I dont fancy sucking on a hose to get the water out

Will the jetwash at a petrol station be too strong?

I'm worried now cause i dont think i'll be able to do anything before i leave for home

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This may work because I know when they get clogged from the washer end that squirts the water use a sewing pin to clear the holes ..... Possibly ??

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Wont work dude.. The blockage is before the water reaches the jets

The chances of both front jets as well as the rear all being blocked at the same time is nill

So we've established the blockage is before the jets, prime suspect being the filter on the washer bottle

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Wont work dude.. The blockage is before the water reaches the jets

The chances of both front jets as well as the rear all being blocked at the same time is nill

So we've established the blockage is before the jets, prime suspect being the filter on the washer bottle

Ah got ya ! Hmmm

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From what your saying mate due to the rear wash not working it sounds like the problem will either be:

-pump on its way out (does it sound normal?)

-blocked supply to the pump (water bottle clogged or filter gromet blocked)

-pump no longer getting full voltage from control module

Front and back washers use there own seperate supply feeds from two different sides of the motor!

If its cold maybe both feeds have became partially blocked due to

Ice, but you would know that by now!

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  • 3 weeks later...

Update on this

I tried various methods on fixing this knowing it would either be that the filter is clogged or the pump itself has had it

First I tried shooting a jetwash down the washer bottle in short sharp bursts to dislodge any gunk, this didn't work

Next I removed the driverside wheel, removed the wheel arch liner and completely removed the washer bottle. Disconnected the pump and removed the filter, it was clogged up to hell with really thick sludge

Washed the filter out and also looked in the bottle itself, again this was clogged up to hell I flushed it out the best I could

At this point I thought it must be problem solved as for how much gunk was clogging it all up I thought it must be the cause so I refitted the washer bottle, reconnected the pump n filter n finally refitted the wheel arch liner n wheel.

I now put some screen wash back in the bottle and tested the jets. Horror of horrors, there was no change at all and the spray was barely reaching the bottom of the screen.

At this point I knew it must be the pump that had had it so onto eBay it was and a new pump was ordered for a reasonable 15pounds

Had a break in the rain yesterday so I set about fitting the new pump

Decided to make it harder for myself by not removing the wheel n liner n instead pealing back the liner just enough to get my arm in

I pulled the pump out of the washer bottle and sat while the car did a rather long wee as the screen wash drained out

Next I had to pull the tubes off and unplug the electrical connector. This is extremely hard to do if you have big hands as theres no room for maneuver at all. At one point I nearly called the Missus out to do it for me as she has tiny hands.

I stupidly tried the gentle approach as I didnt wanna pull too hard and do any more damage. It took about half an hour before I pulled one tube off as it was on really tight and even longer before the second was off.

It was about another hour of the gentle approach before I just lost my temper and yanked the pump from the tube and then yanked the pump from the electrical connector.

Angrily threw the old pump across the garden for the faff it caused. It was made more difficult by the pump n tubes being soaked in the screenwash when it drained away so I couldn't get a good grip on anything.

Finally come the job of connecting the new pump. The electrical connection plugged straight on easy, as did one of the tubes slid on rather easy, but the last tube was a right faff trying to slide it on the pump, especially hard trying to do it all blind and by feel alone.

Managed to chew my wrist up a little in the process of it all

2013-11-03212145.jpg

When I finally had the new pump all connected up I was elated with joy

I then put some screenwash in the bottle and tested it. At this point I nearly exploded with rage as now nothing at all would come out of the jets and I was worried I'd pulled another connection or tube loose when yanking the old pump out

But then I clocked the warning message saying that the washer fluid was low. I thought I'd already put plenty in to test it but I put even more in n tested it again

To my joy my washer jets are now working perfectly again and spraying pretty much right to the top of the windscreen again

So yeah in the end it turned out it was the pump that was at fault. But there was no noticeable difference in noise of the old one n it sounded like it was working as normal.

I'm thinking the amount of sludge n gunk in the bottle n filter was causing the pump to work harder to try n pump the fluid round which in turn must of burnt out the pump

Quite a lengthy post but I thought I'd update my findings

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well done mate for sorting it out.

sometimes its better to get better access and remove everything. i've tried to cheat and only ended up with cut hands and eventually had to remove wheels/bumpers etc to do the job.

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Was gonna remove the wheel again but i dont have access to a decent trolley jack here n i dont trust the ford jack that came with the car.

Also had to do it on grass n i didnt even have a board to put down under the jack

As it was stupidly windy i just had visions of the car slipping off the jack

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glad you got it sorted Charlie, and I missed this thread altogether lol, my thought was yes the pump was on its way out, but as you are well aware of that now I dont think you need me to tell you :p

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  • 3 years later...

Thanks for updating this post, got exactly the same problem as the OP, think I will order some snazzy new "mist" jets and a new pump and dismantle it all this weekend, hate having to go back and do things twice because I do not have a part and the fair this sounds like a bit of a faff so replace the lot now and move on :)

Will report back my own findings when done.

 

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guys, i was speaking to my dad is who is a mechanic and he says a lot of his customers get the screenwash mixture wrong and make it too strong.

seeing first hand what this does makes me wonder if this is causing this issue. the mixture being too strong made the water viscosity slightly thicker which means the pump has to work harder and this also means the washers get clogged up. my dad uses an airline to blow the washers clear. he reckons staying to the guidelines will help or mix it slightly more diluted.

may or may not help....

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*** deleted as I didn't read the date stamps for the thread! :whistling: ***

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