Faulty windscreen washers - Ford Focus

Honest John Back Room » Technical matters
View Threaded
Tue 17 Feb 2004 12:14
Faulty windscreen washers - Ford Focus - Phil P
The windscreen washers on my 1999 Focus suddenly decided to stop working correctly a month or two back. I can still hear the pump working as normal, but it takes about 5 seconds for any water to appear, and even then the jet is much weaker than it was previously. The rear screen washer jet, which takes it\'s water from the same resevoir, appears to work as normal.

I mentioned this to a Ford technician and he suggested it might be due to screenwash gunking up the resevoir. His solution was to stick a hosepipe into the resevoir, however he can\'t have been overly familiar with Focus design since the neck of the resevoir has a 90 degree turn which is too narrow to fit a hosepipe down!

Any other suggestions? Any help appreciated!
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 17 Feb 2004 15:15
Faulty windscreen washers - Ford Focus - RoadDevil
Is there a split in the hose, possibly where the hose has to flex to allow the bonnet to open? Had something similar with an Astra, I always thought it was odd that the washers wouldn't work properly once the reservoir was half empty. One day I came back to the car and found the contents of the reservoir on the floor as the pipe had split completely. This was about five years after the bonnet had been replaced after a crunch, I think the hose had been damaged ever since. I bought some more hose and then the washers worked correctly right until the reservoir was totally empty. Sold it shortly after!
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 17 Feb 2004 18:44
Faulty windscreen washers - Ford Focus - Wales Forester
Had a similar problem with a Mondeo a couple of years ago, it turned out that the pipe from the pump in the washer bottle had blown off but was still in line with the connector it had separated from, hence most of the water was being pumped straight onto the floor with a tiny amount actually making it up the pipe and through the nozzles.

See if you get a puddle underneath when you operate the washers, but be careful not to strain the motor as they're not designed to run for excessive periods.

PP
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 17 Feb 2004 19:57
Faulty windscreen washers - Ford Focus - BobbyG
Exact same thing happened to a Mondeo I was using. A known Ford fault, access was poor as bottle was set within wing but Ford garage fixed in 2 mins.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link