Weak Windscreen Washers

[TomsFocus]

Final update to this, the glue obviously didn't work.  The seal itself was just too loose and with the pipe being rigid sealant didn't work either.

I lost all 5 litres of screenwash over the weekend... That's £3.38 worth.

Found the seal available through eBay (Trust Ford) for £11.06 delivered, 4 days expected delivery.

Went to local dealer first thing Monday day to check price - £9.91, 1-2 day ETA.  Ordered that.

Didnt arrive until late yesterday afternoon, so collected this morning and found I'd been told the non-VAT price, so it was actually £11.89.  So for an else, it's cheaper, easier and probably quicker to order it online if you need one!

 

 

[TomsFocus]

As you can see, the new grommet is nice tighter than the old one so I'm not sure these are reusable tbh.

Hopefully it's now leak free, I've only put a couple of litres in to make sure there are no more leaks before brimming it again.

[Incontro]

On 19/11/2017 at 9:52 AM, TomsFocus said:

Lol, just a newer car?  Could be flying a helicopter and avoiding all the traffic!

Fair enough though, if it does suddenly get to the point of needing sorted, at least you know you won't have the hassle of the leaky grommet that I do, the extra capacity bottle is for headlight washer vehicles only as confirmed by Wilco in the other thread.  

Yep, that's the one, thanks Clive!  

At over a tenner I'm considering a tube of poundland sealant instead...  

Helicopter? Pfft, I'd be doing it Lewis Hamilton style - private jet registered in Jersey 

Yeh thanks for the detail and explanations you've added to the thread, could come in useful for me one day if I get fed up with it enough to make me sort it out 

[TomsFocus]

You can land a helicopter easily though, just need a flat roof or small field...private jet requires a runway which limits the traffic avoidance...  

[Stoney871]

Jets are far easier to fly than helecopters though.

(I got some way to a private pilots licence until the cost got stupid)

[TomsFocus]

Maybe have one of each?  Jet for long distances, chopper for popping into town?  

 

[briscaF1]

Mines doing the same. I purchased a motor off eBay last year and swapped it and it's either gunked already (unlikely, I cleaned it out) or the new motor was made of chocolate.

Probably the latter

 

[TomsFocus]

Did you clean the bottle or just the filter?  I tried it just cleaning the filter and it immediately gunked again so had to remove the bottles and clean them best I could with the hose.

Unless it was a 99p Hong Kong motor I wouldn't expect it to fail quite that quickly lol.

[biff55]

i personally think many washer tank blockages are often caused by using too strong a solution of screen wash over a long period of time.......

even in winter i never use a mix stronger than 1 part washer fluid to 6 parts water , reduced to a 1:8 solution in summer

[TomsFocus]

45 minutes ago, biff55 said:

i personally think many washer tank blockages are often caused by using too strong a solution of screen wash over a long period of time.......

even in winter i never use a mix stronger than 1 part washer fluid to 6 parts water , reduced to a 1:8 solution in summer

I just buy ready mixed lol...  I think the Focus is the first car I've had with a pump filter though, had much older/higher mileage cars and never had a blockage before.  It also gets through a lot of screenwash due to the headlight washers so it's not as if it sits in the tank for long periods of time either.  In 3 years I've never used any blue, always use the Halfords berry stuff, so I'm not really sure why mine suddenly clogged with a load of blue filth.  

[Micro]

1 hour ago, TomsFocus said:

mine suddenly clogged with a load of blue filth.  

The colour appears to separate from some screenwashes over time, a very! old bottle in my parents shed was clear except for an inch of blue flecks at the bottom. 

I use a lot so no problems there, currently have ECP Bubblegum!

[FatHead1979]

9 minutes ago, Micro said:

The colour appears to separate from some screenwashes over time, a very! old bottle in my parents shed was clear except for an inch of blue flecks at the bottom. 

I use a lot so no problems there, currently have ECP Bubblegum!

I might have to try the ECP Bubblegum stuff  I also use loads (1+ hour daily motorway commute), the stuff that came out of my wife's MK2.5 tank a few weeks after we bought it in the summer was MINGING!  God know what the previous owners had been doing, I'd hazard a guess at it having had the same screenwash in the tank for the last 7 years!

[yamman]

i have a 2009 s max and both front and rear washers have stopped working

there,s water and i know the pump is working as my headlight washers work !

they worked up to aperiod when the car was parked up for a couple of weeks in hot weather

hope someone will have a idea to fix as do not want to go to a dealer

 

thanks

 

[TomsFocus]

11 minutes ago, yamman said:

i have a 2009 s max and both front and rear washers have stopped working

there,s water and i know the pump is working as my headlight washers work !

they worked up to aperiod when the car was parked up for a couple of weeks in hot weather

hope someone will have a idea to fix as do not want to go to a dealer

 

thanks

 

The headlight washers use a separate pump.

[Morty1977]

This was mine a few weeks ago🤣

[mjt]

Screenwash additive is a wonderful culture medium

[JMartin86]

Old thread but for anyone having the issue... Followed YouTube video and guide here. Jack up, take wheel off, liner, screws and then the filler neck. Finally drop the tank.

Pulled the pump off and the rubber filter/gauze on pump was totally blocked. Took off, cleaned up put back in and still the same lack of pressure to the front washers. Noticed just inside at the top of wheel arch right in centre was a non return valve. Took off, tested wipers and fired out. Non return valve on, only a trickle. £1.87 from Halfords for a non return new valve... Problem sorted!! 

Hope this helps someone 

[Morty1977]

Here's mine focus mk3.5🤣