[e90yyc]

Yesterday I pulled the stalk to use my wipers... nothing.

Facts

• Fuses are all okay
• There is NO NOISE whatsoever when I pull the stalk. For this reason, I cannot see it being a clogged line or anything like that.
• Washer tank is full
• Solution is good to -40 and I run this solution YEAR ROUND. There’s no way it’s frozen.
• Wipers work in every mode, including AUTO, both intervals, single wipe
• Rain sensor functions fine
• Tried checking in INPA to see if there’s a washer pump activation, but I couldn’t find one. This would help me rule out the wiper stalk itself, though I think a bad stalk is pretty unlikely.

So, everything works great EXCEPT that pulling the stalk does absolutely nothing.

I plan to check the relay next. (I believe it’s K6 at JBBF.) After that I’ll try pulling the pump and putting 12 volts to it, but before I do that I wanted to see if anyone has other suggestions.

[nsjames]

honestly it's not that difficult to remove the fender, 6-8 bolts, pops right off.

pull fender, check the pump voltage in situ, replace if it gets voltage but doesn't work.

Just line up the paint on the bolts when you put it back and it will go back on and need no adjustment.
otherwise you have to pull it out through the wheel liner and it will have to be drained and you'll make a mess. You're already like 90% of the way to just pulling the fender by the time you get there and you can just have easy access to everything.

[Pittz1]

Or you can remove the wheel and fender liner and not have to do any of that above.

[bluewater328]

Originally Posted by Pittz1

Or you can remove the wheel and fender liner and not have to do any of that above.

Agree on this. That's how I did it. It's still a little bit of a pain, but its all very straightforward. Youtube is your friend on this one. You can also empty it all out or see how fast your hands can move to pull and replace, haha. It's not bad either way, just get it done.

[E92_William]

A new pump is like 10 bucks and it's almost guaranteed that it is that. For the e46 I pulled out the pump which wasn't spraying at all and it was rusted out super stiff, thought I could get away with getting a pump from the junkyard for nothing but nope, 3 cars all had rusted pumps.

I wouldn't wanna take all that apart and not have the replacement part at hand lol

[ryan stewart]

Originally Posted by Pittz1

Or you can remove the wheel and fender liner and not have to do any of that above.

Only catch is on mine the wire for the fender signal marker is clipped to the bottle, so just gotta keep that in mind.

When my bottle leaked I know it likely was going to be the little grommet but I went ahead and got new pumps, line, etc. All of the parts are so cheap. I also took the tank and hosed it out with some detergent and got it really, really clean. When I got the car you could tell someone had just thrown water in there once and mold had grown, then putting in the detergent killed the mold and it settled.

[e90yyc]

Thanks all.

Yes—I had planned to remove the fender liner next to check the pump, but I kind of agree with William that I might as well have the replacement pump on hand.

That was kind of the point of this thread: to make sure I’m not overlooking some other issue before I go ahead and focus on the pump. Cheap as it may be, I’d like to be as sure as possible.

Again, thanks everyone. I think I’ll go ahead and order the Vemo pump.

[ryan stewart]

Dont forget if the pump doesnt include it there is a little grommet/screen. Might as well do that as well as mine had cracked causing the leak. My front had cracked and my back (wagon) was all rusty and looked like it was on its last legs.

[E92_William]

The e46 also had a cracked T fitting under the hood and one of the two holes for the nozzle was clogged. However you could still hear the pump when you pulled the stalk which you can't do so

[e90yyc]

One thing I neglected to mention was that I recently dropped the headliner and had to disconnect the harnesses at the FZD module. But I don’t think that could have caused any of this, as the only part of the wiper system that could affect would be the RLS, which is functioning fine. Checked wiring diagrams to confirm this.

If I’m wrong though, let me know.

[bluewater328]

Originally Posted by e90yyc

One thing I neglected to mention was that I recently dropped the headliner and had to disconnect the harnesses at the FZD module. But I don’t think that could have caused any of this, as the only part of the wiper system that could affect would be the RLS, which is functioning fine. Checked wiring diagrams to confirm this.

If I’m wrong though, let me know.

Nah, nothing, these things just fail abruptly. Just have the new one on-hand. It'd be worth it to have to return it if nothing is wrong with the original pump.

But yes, in some cases the grommet isn't provided. Just order one in case. Also be aware: That grommet's strainer loves to find its way into the tank. Your choice whether to fish it out afterwards :P

Also, my opinion, generic is good enough for this piece (Vs genuine BMW). You could go halfway with a Meyle...been working ok for me.

[e90yyc]

Originally Posted by bluewater328

Nah, nothing, these things just fail abruptly. Just have the new one on-hand. It'd be worth it to have to return it if nothing is wrong with the original pump.

But yes, in some cases the grommet isn't provided. Just order one in case. Also be aware: That grommet's strainer loves to find its way into the tank. Your choice whether to fish it out afterwards :P

Also, my opinion, generic is good enough for this piece (Vs genuine BMW). You could go halfway with a Meyle...been working ok for me.

Thanks! I’ll make sure to pick up the strainer. Funny thing is it’s gonna cost half the price of the pump itself

Interestingly, both Genuine BMW and Vemo are made in Czech Republic. All the other brands I checked are made in China. I don’t think Vemo is the OE here, but I ordered it anyway just to see how close it is.

nsjames I appreciate the detailed suggestion there. I’ll admit I kinda missed the part where you acknowledge that you could just pull the fender liner, but would be better served by just yanking the fender itself. Having swapped a fender before (thanks to a nice little hit and run when my car was parked on street at night), I completely agree that it’s super straightforward and not at all bad.

[ryan stewart]

LOL my strainer did make its way into the tank. But it was easy to just dump it out of the fill opening.

[POBEP]

Originally Posted by e90yyc

Thanks! I’ll make sure to pick up the strainer. Funny thing is it’s gonna cost half the price of the pump itself

Interestingly, both Genuine BMW and Vemo are made in Czech Republic. All the other brands I checked are made in China. I don’t think Vemo is the OE here, but I ordered it anyway just to see how close it is.

nsjames I appreciate the detailed suggestion there. I’ll admit I kinda missed the part where you acknowledge that you could just pull the fender liner, but would be better served by just yanking the fender itself. Having swapped a fender before (thanks to a nice little hit and run when my car was parked on street at night), I completely agree that it’s super straightforward and not at all bad.

e90yyc - I was in the exact same boat with my "new" E90 (just 2 weeks ago).

I was reluctant to use China's URO motor (highly prefer German or Japanese).
However, still end up getting one for $10 from Amazon.

It works great. When I took things apart, old motor was not spinning as it was completely clogged.

Before you put new motor & grommet in, take a garden hose and aim water stream into the washer tank through the pump opening and then let it drain. repeat multiple times until clean water start coming out.

I was very surprised how much dirt was there.

[e90yyc]

POBEP Great suggestion, thank you!

Foolishly I topped off the tank when it wasn’t working initially... Now I’ve gotta drain the tank since it’s basically pure alcohol in there.

[nsjames]

Originally Posted by Pittz1

Or you can remove the wheel and fender liner and not have to do any of that above.

yes, or it's like 8 bolts to just finish pulling the fender after you've already removed the liner and then you don't have to work inside the fender.

removing the liner is the hard part.

[mainbearing]

I used a Uro pump as well, but not sure where it was made. China probably ($6 pump plus $2 strainer). I figured anything other than BMW or OEM would be more reliable.

Here are my pictures of the Uro pump and strainer. Later in the thread are cutout pictures. The failure was water leaking past the motor shaft rubber grommet and out the weep hole, emptying out the reservoir (the motor still ran when tested).

https://www.e90post.com/forums/showt...5#post25349645

[e90yyc]

Originally Posted by mainbearing

I used a Uro pump as well, but not sure where it was made. China probably ($6 pump plus $2 strainer). I figured anything other than BMW or OEM would be more reliable.

Here are my pictures of the Uro pump and strainer. Later in the thread are cutout pictures. The failure was water leaking past the motor shaft rubber grommet and out the weep hole, emptying out the reservoir (the motor still ran when tested).

https://www.e90post.com/forums/showt...5#post25349645

Thanks! Interesting to see the cutaway too.

Did you remove the fender or just the fender liner?

[mainbearing]

The liner only. I did damage the plastic rivets but did not bother to replace them.

[POBEP]

Originally Posted by mainbearing

I did damage the plastic rivets but did not bother to replace them.

I think plastic rivets are one-time use. I pushed the pin inside and later replaced it (with undisclosed material )

[e90yyc]

So, I thought I'd cut open my old (200k mile) pump like mainbearing did just to see how it looked inside.

I'm actually shocked it didn't fail sooner. It looks like a metal marshmallow covered in chipotle dry rub.

Not sure why everyone suggests replacing the strainer. The original one is a two-piece design with a rubber grommet and a flexible plastic sieve attached. While the sieve part is clearly prone to falling off the grommet upon removal of the pump from the tank, once the pump inlet spigot is actually inserted into the grommet base, the sieve piece stays on extremely well. It took a couple minutes to retrieve it from the washer tank, but I would think you'd want to do this regardless of whether you plan on replacing it or not.

The new strainer is an updated design. I used a Genuine BMW part for bragging rights . While it's still two different materials—rubber and flexible plastic—they appear to be molded together. The sieve piece also has far more holes, though I doubt the original one bottlenecked the flow in any way.

The Vemo pump is fine. Looked nearly identical to original BMW pump but was noticeably lighter and the tolerances and overall finish were clearly of inferior quality. I got honeydicked on the country of origin; it's also made in China like every other one. FCP listed it as Czech Republic (same COI as the Genuine part), but I bought mine from RockAuto because it was considerably cheaper. Maybe they had different stock but I really doubt it.

[tcphoto]

That looks like it was made by a Germain tribe while battling Roman Troops.