Windscreen Washers Not Working

[Freebird Paul]

Evening All,

I have a 2006 XK 4.2 Convertible which i have owned for 2 + years without any trouble to date, it's been a truly great car. However just today i have no windscreen washers even though the resorvoir bottle is full and the wipers work just fine,

Any ideas what could be the problem would be appreciated?

Regards, Paul.

[Jimbov8]

Hi Paul,

possible causes;

defective pump,

blockage in the line.

The screenwash pump is electronically controlled so no direct fuse. Can you hear the pump when you press the button?

[Freebird Paul]

Evening Jim,

I hope all goes well with you, thanks for you suggestions and NO pump can be heard when i press the washer button! As your comment suggests I guess the pump could be the culprit.

Just a thought Jim, i recently went to Spain for a month and returned last Friday. When i went to use the car the battery was completely dead, so i connected my trickle charger left it on for 24 hrs and returned with the status of a fully charged battery on storage mode. I then went for a short drive and some weird things happened

1) Red Dash light signal for check pedestrian sensors. (Happened twice and has not returned)

2) Drivers side window would not auto return up but auto down was fine. (Happened 5 times and has not returned)

3) Pressed the start button and car was dead with all usual dash lights on. (Happened 4 times then the car started and has not returned)

4) Windscreen washers not working. (Still not working)

As of tonight car is now starting and running normally except for the washers is the remaining problem now.!

Jim, do you think that i should take the car to a specialist to plug it in for error codes to be cleared and reset following the dead battery scenario?

Regards, Paul.

 

 

 

[Jimbov8]

2 hours ago, Freebird Paul said:

Jim, do you think that i should take the car to a specialist to plug it in for error codes to be cleared and reset following the dead battery scenario?

Hi Paul, 

If you don’t have a code reader yourself then it would be worthwhile taking it to a specialist. I would also recommend getting the battery properly checked whilst you’re there.

[Freebird Paul]

Morning Jim,

Thanks for your further comment, i checked the washer system again yesterday and it turns out the pump does work with a noise when i press the button so i was pleased with that at least. 

Still no water coming out though and i was wondering should i be replacing the blades to see if it's the jets that are blocked? 

[Jimbov8]

Hi Paul,

No need to replace the blades. Pull off the pipes and try again. If you still have no water then your most likely problem will be gunge at the bottom of the washer bottle blocking the filter.

You will probably end up removing the bottle to facilitate proper cleaning and it would also be prudent to blow through the pipes with compressed air, just in case.

[Freebird Paul]

Morning Jim,

I took the car to my usual mechanic and had codes cleaned up, after that all that is left to fix are the washers.

My mechanic suggested the same as you that there is a blocked filter at the bottom of the water bottle. He suggested to try adding methalated spirits to the water, leave it overnight to see if this brakes down the gunge and cleans out the filter. I added it last night so fingers crossed it works!

If not which i suspect will be the case would it be a quick DIY fix to change the filter or do I need for my mechanic to do it?

Thanks again Jim for all your help. Paul.

 

 

[Jimbov8]

On 2/21/2024 at 7:40 AM, Freebird Paul said:

If not which i suspect will be the case would it be a quick DIY fix to change the filter or do I need for my mechanic to do it?

Hi Paul, the job is definitely a DIY job though it will be a bit fiddly.

Personally, I would remove the bottle from the car so it can be throughly cleaned out. This will also give better access for the filter which will just require cleaning rather than replacement. Be mindful of any O seals that may be fitted.

Dont forget to blow through the lines also.

[Freebird Paul]

Morning Jim,

The methylated spirit hack did'nt work, no surprises there! 

I am preparing to remove the washer bottle and filter so as to thoroughly clean both, however i have a question:

Watching some online videos for an XF (none available for XK) it shows the bottle and filter tucked behind the O/S front wheel, do i need to remove the wheel for better access?

Cheers Jim, Paul.

  

[Jimbov8]

Hi Paul, you would need to remove the wheel and the wheel arch liner also.

[Freebird Paul]

Morning Jim,

I removed the wheel yesterday then started to remove the 6 wheel arch liner screws, 3 removed ok however 3 were so tight and unable to remove because a previous owner butchered the alan key entry point!

So seems i will have to take it to my independant garage to be done. Thanks for all your help so far.

Regards, Paul.

[Jimbov8]

Sorry to hear that Paul. Hopefully your Indy can get it done for you.

[Norfolk Ian]

Hi Paul, Thanks for starting the conversation as I’ve got the same problem, I think I’ll need to take my XF to garage as I’m no mechanic. Thanks Ian 

[Freebird Paul]

Morning Ian,

I'm no mechanic either however i did try to DIY it but just removing the screws holding the wheel arch plastic cover was imposible, someone had tried before and in the process ruined them so will need to be drilled out.

Looks like it's not difficult to remove the bottle for cleaaning it out together with the filter, take a look at this video should you decide to DIY.

 

[Norfolk Ian]

Thank you for this Paul, it looks like a task my son in law would have a go at. 👍🏻