rear and front washer bottle fault?

[smudgerbongo]

Hi all,
please can anyone advise? The wipers are working front and rear, but the washer bottle is not. When i activate the switch to spray the water , we cant hear the pump buzzing or trying to work, which I believe you prob would if was tring to spray.
What shall I do , where do I look??

Sorry for the "thick" question but I am def not mechanical and know is prob gonna be summat simple that I will be able to fix if I can just grab a bit of advice first.

Many thanks in advance for any info , greatly appeciated.

Regards
Kate.

[mikeonb4c]

This kind of things has come up before I think (may be a fuse?). Have a search on here using likely keywords whilse waiting or a techie (which I'm not) to come along with thoughts

[missfixit70]

If it's buzzing it sounds like it's not the fuse, there're two pumps on the washer bottle under the bonnet at the front , so it could be an iffy connection? I take it the bottle is full? did you have any antifreeze type mix in there over the cold spell, maybe could have frozen & knackered the pumps?
Has this just happened or did they ever work? could be blocked nozzles? or even split hoses, be surprised if they have gone front & back though.
The rear pump is mounted higher than the front, so if the level drops, that stops working first.

[g8dhe]

If you can hear the pump(s as there are two separate ones, front and rear) working, and the bottle is filled with liquid then either both pumps have lost the impellers or something is blocking the intakes.
Check that the bottle is filled first !
If so then it sounds like you need to take the pumps out to check them see here http://www.lushprojects.com/bongopartsm ... mgno=.html
Check that nothing has blocked the water intakes, and that the impellers are spinning when powered.
I think the most likely thing is either out of water or something has got in and blocked both pumps up.

Snap again took me a while to find the diagram at the Lush site

[smudgerbongo]

there is no sound at all when i operate the washer bottle,no buzzing,nothing front or rear.i'm sure i read somewhere that the wipers and washer pumps are on the same fuse,or am i mistaken?the wipers are fine!

[g8dhe]

If there is no sound yes then the Fuses may have gone however they are different fuses so ....
Front wiper & washer fuse
Rear wiper & washer fuse
but they power both the Wipers themselves as well as the washers so I very much doubt they have gone!
The switching is all carried out on the stalk so not so easy to get to either.

[missfixit70]

Sorry I read your initial post as "we CAN hear the pump buzzing"
If the wipers are working though it can't really be the fuses can it? I'd check the connections to the pumps, see if they're getting voltage.

[thedogsbollox]

Bit wierd that both have gone. Do they share the same earth?
Did you notice the washers getting gadually worse before failure. If so maybe something got in there and blocked it up and the pumps failed. I would check connections first. Take a bit of emery and clean the contacts.

[Bob]

Possibly try a 12v feed direct to the pumps, that'll show if they're working, or prob in the wiring/switching.

[smudgerbongo]

Hi all,
many thanks for all your advice. I have had a few hours under the bonnet this morning and have more info now..... I have checked and from what I can see there IS power getting to the rear "washer bottle pump motor" , I have not checked the front pump motor as I need to get the bottle off to get at it...and my hands were freezing!!

Could it be a possibility that both pumps have gone , or is it highly unlikely???

More help please .

Thanks and kind regards
Kate.
xx

[g8dhe]

If both pumps have stopped then yes both could have failed, but I still think its more likely that either something has blocked up both of them or perhaps could the water have frozen during the recent weather and then the impellers on the motors have stripped themselves when they were perhaps used in the frozen conditions ?
When did you last know that each pump worked ? Perhaps one hasn't been working for a while and the other has now joined it ?

[smudgerbongo]

Hi Geoff,
it has been used during the recent cold weather and so yes there is a possibility that the "impellers" have gone. Srry for being a blonde twit , but what are these , are they some sort of motor blade thing, and if they have gone do I need to replace the complete pump motors or just these impellers??

Thanks again Geoff, very very helpful.

Best wishes
Kate.
xx

[smudgerbongo]

does anyone have any ideas where to get the washer bottle pumps from if they need to be replaced?are there any other mazda or ford pumps that will fit the bongo?
Thanks

[missfixit70]

Try pming tonic or ebygum who're breaking bongos, or any of the breakers, bellhill, bongobits, etc

[g8dhe]

[quote="smudgerbongo"but what are these , are they some sort of motor blade thing, and if they have gone do I need to replace the complete pump motors or just these impellers??[/quote]
On the end of the rotating metal shaft coming out of the electric pump motor is a small bit like these;
they force the water from the tank down the tube to the nozzle. Being plastic (normally) they have a habit of shearing off the metal motor shaft if jammed and hence you hear the motor whirring around but nothing comes out. Normally you would replace the entire motor and pump, but it might be possible to glue them back on again.