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It was Espada's post that prompted this one. ;o)
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Remember Volvos and Saabs had wash wipe on their headlights years ago! As a kid, I thought these were really cool! IIRC Renault 18 GTX models had them as well!
Granadas had washers only but they were in huge rubber mounts on the bumpers, think Ford actually called them overriders or something!
Do any cars have wipers on headlights now? Or is it just Xenons and washers?
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Some Volvo's have wipers. Very useful in winter
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The original MK2 Cav Sri had a natty air of wash wipers. No complaints about the ones on any of the recent BMWs I've had. Are they compulsory on Xenons ?
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Yes, wash is compulsory on xenons I believe.
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My Mondeo ST has them - they are standard equipment with normal lights on these. They are the high pressure type which pop up out of the bumper. My observations are they use a lot of screenwash - the tank size is increased to over 6 litres to compensate, they seem to wet most of the car rather that the just the lights, and if you operate them when moving you leave spray in your wake which is great for annoying cyclists and pedestrians.
They operate whenever you clean the windscreen with the lights on, so in winter when the roads are salted I have gone through 6L of screenwash in 300 miles! I did consider pulling the fuse last winter as I was fed up of filling it up. However, they do keep the headlamps very clean - I've never had to wash salt residue off them as I have with previous cars, so I guess they do their job.
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The wash/wipe on Carlton, Senator and mk2 Cavalier was brilliant - effective and standard equipment on higher spec models.
The pressure wash on current Vauxhalls, at extra cost, is better than nothing but not as good as the '80s wash/wipe.
"Change is inevitable, progress is optional"
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Those ickle wiper arms were so easily vandalised byt he 80s equivelent of hoodies...
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the 80s equivelent of hoodies...
The Goodies ??
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A few years ago when I was commuting 70 miles each way in the dark in winter, mainly on crowded salt-strewn dual carriageways/motorways, I often had to stop at least once during a journey to clean the salt off the headlights. At the time I really envied those that had headlight washers. Now I'm retired and mainly use single carriageway roads dirt/salt on the road doesn't seem to be a problem.
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L\'escargot.
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Also useful for attacking unwanted squeegee merchants ;-)
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My Xantia has headlamp wash.
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Xantia HDi.
Buy a Citroen and get to know the local GSF staff better...
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Volvo and Saab no longer do the headlamp wipers on new cars, just the high-pressure wash. First one headlamp, then the other, to avoid reduced visibility at night. I presume that 1) the high pressure wash must be powerful enough in itself, or 2) the wipers were fiddly to maintain, or easily breakable?
My 2001 V40 had wipers, the 2007 V50 doesn't. Progress?
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What I could do with is a pair that pop out and clean the whole car, never mind the headlights.....
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What I could do with is a pair that pop out and clean the whole car, never mind the headlights.....
I have them - I call them left hand and right hand. ;o)
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>> What I could do with is a pair that pop out >> and clean the whole car, never mind the headlights.....
You mean a pair of unwanted squeegee merchants?
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Glowplug, I have a request.
My Xantia has headlamp wash, but it doesn't wash. I know that the pump is ok, I've had the bumper off and tested it. I "think" its the relay/timer which is faulty but I don't know which one it is. Can you have a listen and, if possible point me towards the suspect item, please? I am reasonably certain that it is one of the ones under the bonnet by the battery.
TIA
MJM
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I was living in New Zealand when I bought my Jaguar Series 3 in 1993, and thought that the headlamp wipers were interesting, but pointless. Over here, when it rains, it just gets wet. Some years later, and living in the UK, I had Volvos with headlamp wipers and very useful they were too, especially in winter. I hadn't realised how much rubbish is thrown up off the roads in winter. The washers, without wipers, on a Mazda 626, were not nearly as effective, as the diesel that seems to bind this stuff together is very resistant to being sprayed off. I imagine that modern cars have washers that are more effective.
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I have a Volvo 240 with the old wash/wipe headlights, these are very effective, but we don't do any long journeys in her anymore.
New acquisition is an Octavia Elegance Estate which has the wash only type of headlamp cleaners. Too early to see if they really keep the lights clean as it seems that they only operate if the wipers AND the lights are on. Thus if driving in the day on damp roads with a certain amount of spray but not enough to need daytime lights then the muck could build up.
Washing the windcscreen does not necessarily wash the lights. This seems a less good system than the old Volvo 240 one!
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Our C5 (with xenon lights) has very good washers. The produce a very powerful, wide spray.
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MJM
I'll have a look over the WE and let you know.
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Xantia HDi.
Buy a Citroen and get to know the local GSF staff better...
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MJM,
Sorry for the delay in answering your question but it seems that the relay in question is behind the wheelarch liner of the OSF. If your Xantia has cruise control then that will be in the same triangular box above the indicator repeater lamp. Exactly the same issue is in this month Citroenian magazine and that's where this info's from. Apparently a new relay costs around £45 but the chap in the mag (Richard Gallagher) managed to get his working using some electrical contact cleaning spray.
Good luck!
Steve.
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Xantia HDi.
Buy a Citroen and get to know the local GSF staff better...
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Thanks, Glowplug.
Have just returned from a weekend in Bournmouth or would have responded earlier.
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No problem. I'm not exactly fast myself.
Steve.
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Xantia HDi.
Buy a Citroen and get to know the local GSF staff better...
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