Screenwash leak leading to wet carpets

We've got a 56-plate CR-V; recently we've noticed the screenwash reservoir has been emptying rather rapidly, and there's been a continual drip on the underside of the car.

We took it into a [non Honda] garage, and they could find nothing wrong with the reservoir. Then the next day I noticed the carpet inside the car was dripping wet (not easily noticed - it's got three layers of carpet/mats), so we booked it into a Honda garage; told them what we thought it was and said the reservoir had been checked over.

They had it for a day, apparently pressure tested the system, suggested everything was okay, and then told us we'd obviously split a bottle of water in the car (despite the top layers of carpet remaining dry) and the drip underneath was the aircon.

I then pointed out the liquid smelt of screenwash and was tinted blue, so they now want the car for two days to check for leaks.

Have you got any experience of this, specifically in a mark 2 CR-V?

Surely the Honda garage should be able to work out that [presumably] the pipe taking the screenwash from front to back has a) split or b) come apart somewhere. Do you know where it runs inside the car (it'll be somewhere on the drivers side) - to see if I can find it by lifting the carpets. And more to the point what should I say to Honda for wasting a day of our time and treating us like halfwits by ignoring what we said the problem was?

Asked on 18 April 2011 by amefra

Answered by Honest John
Never heard of this happening before. Normally screenwash reservoirs are not situated where a leak would enter the car. Perhaps the leak is from the joints of the pipes to the screenwash nozzles. But suggest since it's a simple basic repair you take it to an independent garage. No point in paying Honda rates to be given this sort of runaround.
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