Front Windscreen Washer not Working

[Daviduk1]

Hi Folks
The front windscreen washer on my Nissan Pathfinder 07 Trek has stopped working.

Rear washer is working fine. I have removed wheel arch protector and accessed bottom of washer bottle. I believe there to be only one washer motor is that correct?

When I try to wash the front windscreen I can hear a motor running, sound the same as when I successfully wash the rear screen.

The motor has two pipes out of it swapping them over makes no difference.

I have a full Nissan manual but can't see any solenoid or similar to change whether it does front or back screen.

Might it be by direction of motor (I think not as when I swapped the pipes over it made no difference to the operation of the system.

Any help appreciated.

David

 

[kitchenman]

Pull the hoses off one at a time until you get to water
My front washer stopped working after an air filter change, I did not twig at first.:doh
I had trapped the hose under a clip

 

[Banshee]

If you can hear the motor then it has to be a blockage somewhere

 

[rustic]

Twin outlet washer pumps, simply reverse the motor, and the water goes one way, then the other when the rotation changes.
I just happened to research them the other day, as I was going to modify one to automatically water plants. In the end I am going to use two standard ones.

I don't think the duty cycle is that great on a washer pump. ie how long can you run one, before resting it, to save it burning out ? after all in their normal application, they only run for 10-20 seconds max... then off for ages.
So I'll make up a circuit to short cycle the pump, rather than run for 5 minutes in one go.
I will be using an electric float switch to cutoff the supply to the pump, when the water tray is full.
Or I could just ask a neighbour to water the plants when we go away...:doh
Not as much fun though...


So in your case, I think a blockage seems to be the problem.
Try pulling the tube off the washer jet.

I had a washer jet one way valve break down, so I pulled it apart and removed the valve parts, I expected the water to run back, but there is water in there as soon as you press the button.
No extra non return valve needed.:thumb2

It has passed three Mot's with it like that, the last one only on friday...:augie:augie did I mention that...:nenau :doh

 

[micktheshed]

I had exactly this prob last year. Rear OK but front went to a dribble then stopped altogether. Tried swapping the pipes: nothing, even though pump could be heard running. This progressed to various weird electrical symptoms signifying actual switch fault but it wasn't (cost me £38 to find that out LOL). Ended up buying a new pump ....& magically all was well.

Beats me why it wont work with pipes swapped around. Mine has a 'U' shaped pipe sticking out the front of the pump & I did think this was the secret to fluid direction...but no. Took the old one apart to find it blocked off by a small diaphragm the purpose of which totally eludes me, Iv'e never come across such a design before.

Got my new pump from local car spares @ 1/4 the price of Nissan Original by buying one that looked (& was!) the same but listed under 'Renault'.

 

[Banshee]

I had exactly this prob last year. Rear OK but front went to a dribble then stopped altogether. Tried swapping the pipes: nothing, even though pump could be heard running. This progressed to various weird electrical symptoms signifying actual switch fault but it wasn't (cost me £38 to find that out LOL). Ended up buying a new pump ....& magically all was well.

Beats me why it wont work with pipes swapped around. Mine has a 'U' shaped pipe sticking out the front of the pump & I did think this was the secret to fluid direction...but no. Took the old one apart to find it blocked off by a small diaphragm the purpose of which totally eludes me, Iv'e never come across such a design before.

Got my new pump from local car spares @ 1/4 the price of Nissan Original by buying one that looked (& was!) the same but listed under 'Renault'.

This sounds promising buddy, PM Terranobreakershrophsire and he should be able to source you a new pump

 

[Daviduk1]

Nice to get some timely replies, thank you.

Following further investigation the pump seem to be working fine in both directions. It has two pipes out of it one with a white flash the other not. I disconnected them and put two lengths of small bore pipe I had to hand. Pull the wiper switch and water comes out of one, push it and it comes out of the other. One without the white flash seems to be the front and there appears to be a blockage between the pipe and washer nozzles.

I suspect a non return valve and recall I have had the problem before on another vehicle, maybe the Trooper I had before.

Looks like the wiper arms and trim between bonnet and screen will have to come off.

 

[kitchenman]

pull the pipe off the nozzle first

 

[Daviduk1]

pull the pipe off the nozzle first

And try it? I will, but will be surprised if water passes, there is little water coming out of either nozzle and not much air when I pumped a bit of air through with a tyre inflator.

I do wonder if the non return valves are in the nozzle bases.

 

[Daviduk1]

P.S. No mention of non return valves in the washer tube layout diagram.

 

[rustic]

I do wonder if the non return valves are in the nozzle bases.

Yes there is... see my post...#4 above.:augie

 

[solarman216]

blocked pipe or nozzle would be my guess, Rick

 

[briggie]

don't do what I did once , and use a airline to blow out the pipe and nozzle

 

[Daviduk1]

Yes there is... see my post...#4 above.:augie

I had seen that, and I expect there to be a non return valve(s) but I could find no reference to them in the pipe layout diagram. If in the nozzle base I would not expect them both to go at once but we will see. Might be frost etc. I suppose

blocked pipe or nozzle would be my guess, Rick

Nozzles clear, but I will check again as I only blew through them. As stated I suspect a non return valve.

don't do what I did once , and use a airline to blow out the pipe and nozzle

Well I did use a 12v tyre compressor but via a poor air connection that would not pressurise the system much, having thought about possible consequences.

 

[Daviduk1]

There I was looking up windscreen washer not working and read the most of the way through the thread before I realised I was the original poster.

Got the same problem again. Front washer power diminished a month or so ago and now stopped. Rear one was fine but has now stopped, motor sounds like it is working but nowt coming out of any nozzles.

Here we go again. If anyone has anything to add after a year or so has passsed please feel free to add it.

 

[Banshee]

There I was looking up windscreen washer not working and read the most of the way through the thread before I realised I was the original poster.

Got the same problem again. Front washer power diminished a month or so ago and now stopped. Rear one was fine but has now stopped, motor sounds like it is working but nowt coming out of any nozzles.

Here we go again. If anyone has anything to add after a year or so has passsed please feel free to add it.

What did you do to fix it last time?

 

[AlexD333]

What fluid are you using? The wrong fluid or mixing of spirt based and non spirt based can cause gunk build up in the pipes, clean the hoses ect and stick to one type of screen wash only, and make it a good one!

I use genuine jaguar screen wash :lol

My washer blocked up at the rear, had to remove door card and undo the hose then turn on again, loads of black gunk came out, after that, good as gold :thumb2

 

[Sweety]

Cheap washer fluid i've found always causes problems as you end up getting little flakes of it in the bottle which can block pumps or lines & at times can stink of rotten eggs:doh every so often I now hose out the washer bottle or even use the pressure washer so every thing gets flushed out:augie
I would try cleaning the bottle then remove the pipes from the pump & then put washers on so the front & rear both use about 1/2 of the water in the bottle each which should help flush out any crap build up in the pump & then connect up the pipes & remove them from the jets & do the same again to try & flush out the pipe work & see what the spray from the jets is like after this

 

[Daviduk1]

Thanks for the replies folks. Last time I had the problem I believe it may have been a non return valve.. This time it was very definitely the washer pump.

The first day I had a look it was cold and as the pump was whirring I went for what seemed the easy option and removed the wipers and lifted the grill housing the washer nozzles at the front and gained access to the non return and Y split valve. Removing the inlet pipe, no fluid came out of it when the pump was operated, so either a blockage or faulty pump.

A few days later I bought a Blueprint pump from my local motor factors for £30, about £5 more than the same on ebay but they were able to order one in and it arrived within the hour.
I removed the Off side wheel arch to access the pump and having labled the two rubber pipes got my wife to operate the washer switch whilst I removed a pipe, water imediately came out and operating the switch made no difference to flow rate despite the motor turning.

I removed the old motor and installed the new one and all seemed find, inspecting the old unit it looked as though the impeller blades had disintegrated. I am wondering whether this may be because of insufficient additive to the washer bottle allowing it to freeze. Unfortunatley my wife has a bad reaction to the standard blue additive if I use the correct ammount. I shall have to look for a different type. Any more suggetions please?

In summary, if you have a system whereby one pump operates front and rear washers and one washer system is working, look for a blockage possibly a failed non-return valve located just before the O.S. washer nozzle for the front wipers and above the roof lining at the rear for the the rear wash wipe.

If the motor is turning and nothing is coming out of either front or rear, suspect the motor.