[nik_nak]

Hi all, hope someone can help with this one. I have a 56 plate 330d, when I pull the stalk towards me to engage the washer jets, the motor runs and a small amount of water spits out bu then runs dry really quickly, I have checked the levels and the washer bottle is full, so if looks like I have a blockage, is there a filter somewhere, and if so where is it?

Thanks in advance.

Ian

[raf555]

i have the same problem!!

[nik_nak]

Anyone got a diagram of how the washer bottle is put togeather?

[jjbirch]

washer bottle is blocked theres a filter on the bottom on the bottle getting at it is right pain, drivers side front wheel has to come off and plastic cover, i paid bmw £50 to clean it and flush it out and refill as A)never had the tools B) couldnt be assed to do it lol

[nik_nak]

Cheers pal thought as much will have a go this weekend.

[I6Touring]

Did you have any success with this, nik_nak?

A similar issue has started on my car, but the rear washer works fine so I'm guessing the bottle could be ok and the jets themselves are partially blocked.

[rsmallwo]

I had this on my 130i and 335d, on the 130i I cleared out the bottle myself, took a few hours mind. on the 335d I got BMW down to £100 (main dealer) todo it.

You need to use BMW only screenwash to make sure it doesn't come back. See this thread. £40 should sort you out for 3 years of screenwash!!!

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showth...=470414&page=3

[kdiz]

Most of the time its just the jet that is blocked. Using a pin you can unblock it in 3 seconds.

I would never take it to a dealership, £50 for a 3 second job, what a joke.

Depends on what the issue is though but it's worth trying it.

[urfankhaliq]

I had the same problem...best way to clean it is with a compressor!

Open bonnet and take off the plastic cover with the 8 small bolts...then disconnect one of the flexible pipes that leads to the jet and attach a compressor to it (took mine to local garage to do this)...now make sure the washer bottle has lid off and give it a blast....all the water will come out of the bottle along with the crap!!

[SteveF1]

Mine was slightly blocked the other week so I just emptied the bottle and filled it with virtually boiling water from a kettle and a bit of the BMW screenwash. I then pulled the stalk back and emptied the whole bottle of hot water and by the end it appeared to have both cleared the crap out of the bottom of the bottle and also cleaned the jets at the same time.

Has been perfect since.

[rsmallwo]

used hot water on my 130i, worked for a few weeks and then the issue came back. Once the gunk is on the filter for the pump its a bugger to get off it.

[charliesum]

got my stealers down to £130! but thought no way
i have been driving since dec without them working
i have cured it for free and 15 mins
open washer filler cap
unplug washer line on drivers side where it goes into washer arms by front window and drivers door
connect bicycle pump with football attachment connected ( for blowing up footballs _spike)
push through as many times as needed fill up with boiling water and repeat until all the gunk comes up out of open end of washer filler tube!!
job done

note you can buy the pump and attachment for roughly a fiver from most sports shops!
charlie 1 stealers 0


wonder if it works for prostates??? -WILL?????????

[I6Touring]

Originally Posted by charliesum

...
connect bicycle pump with football attachment connected ( for blowing up footballs _spike)
push through as many times as needed fill up with boiling water and repeat until all the gunk comes up out of open end of washer filler tube!!
job done
...

I had been thinking of trying something like this with a 12v tyre inflating compressor, glad to hear it worked!

[Arch Stanton]

this happened to one, took it to a local chap who my doris' family trust, he charged me £40 and it re occured within a day. I let it run out of water, connected my compressor to the tube that goes into the unit under the bonnet (drivers side, gave it a jolly good blast of air. Put a hose in the washer bottle as far down as it will go, give it a good squirt of fresh water. Some blue gunk came out then, re do the compressor air line thing again, repeat process a few times. Quite a bit of blue gunk cam eout and they've been fine since.

[I6Touring]

I finally got round to sorting this on my car today. Blowing air down the pipe didn't help at all so I removed the washer tank and found the filter for the front washer motor completely blocked. After a good clean the washers are working again.

Given the faff of access via the wheel arch £50 would have been a bargain to get this job done!

Having seen the filter & motor setup I'd be concerned about applying high pressure back to the tank, as the filters could pop off into the tank and allow unfiltered fluid through the motors and jets.

[hmi1750]

The pump is tiny at the bottom of the bottle and if you use it too much whilst the blockage is occuring, it will burn out! Happened to mine and so I had to replace it with a new pump!

Was far better and working very well once replaced. Also it is recommended to only use the BMW washer fluid, ideally with distilled water to prevent gunk build up. The coloured fluids can end up leaving crystallised sediment gunk - that is the blue stuff your all pumping out.

Worth getting some BMW washer fluid.

[nik_nak]

Finally sorted this, rather than fanny about removing the wheel arch inner I placed a plastic tube in to the washer bottle, then filled with boiler water. Disconnected the pipe just before it goes to the windscreen connections and blew air back into the bottle then drew the water out, it was full of what can only be descibed as a thick film this must have been blocking the filter, this worked a trick now have full force in the jets, saved a few pennies.

[dobsy]

Just sorted mine yesterday afternoon (E92) after blowing down pipes etc never really cured it-took about one hour in total. Could do it in about half time now I reckon-easy when you know how!
Wheel off, arch lining off (mixture of 10mm/8mm sockets and a hex bit for one plastic bolt underneath). Water bottle off with a 10mm so you can get to the 2 pumps. Pop them off and remove filter. The top pump is for the headlight washers-this filter was'nt too gunged up but the bottom pump for the windscreen was. Clean it out and job done.
As people have said the arch liner was the most difficult but after you remove all bolts (there's some hiding) it comes away pretty easy.
Give it a go-you may enjoy it!

[BanziBarn]

Got the same problem - light washers fine, it's just the windscreen ones, and on both sides.

So I guess I'm right in saying that it's not the filter on the bottle because the headlight ones are fine.

I'm still in warranty so I think the dealer should fix this for free right? I don't fancy trying to fix it myself.

I think I did use a halfords screen wash once, but normally I just fill with water. Never had this problem on any other car though and I've used gallons of generic screen wash on them.

[chris330D]

If I were you i would go for the dealer and insist they do it under warranty.

[BanziBarn]

Originally Posted by chris330D

If I were you i would go for the dealer and insist they do it under warranty.

That's what I'll do but have a suspicion that there'll be issues. I don't know what it is with Bimmer dealers but I always get the impression from this forum that they're always looking for a way out!

Never had this feeling from my other cars / forums.

[BanziBarn]

As predicted!

Wife took car in and they have done a temp fix.. not sure how.

They said it will stop working again and it will be £80 to fix - it's apparently not covered on the warranty because the filter is blocked.

My question is, if the filter is blocked, how come the the light washers worked fine? Surely this implies it's a block further up the system, in which case the filter hasn't worked and therefore it's faulty and should be under warranty..?!

What do you reckon?