Windscreen washer bottle

[Steve McF]

Well that was a waste of time.....windscreen washer was empty on my way home, so filled it up with screenwash and water when I got home, only to find it all leaking out under the bumper!!!

Obviously it was too dark to do any investigating, but any thoughts on obvious culprits to look out for? Pipe come off, or cracked bottle etc?

[sgould]

Did it freeze in the cold weather?  If so, the bottle is likely to be cracked.  If you are lucky the freeze may have pushed one of the pumps out it's hole.

[Steve McF]

Not sure. I'm sure I filled it up a couple of weeks ago with washer fluid and water, but then again...it did get down to -7 degrees!!

[sgould]

Contrary to popular belief, water expanding when it turns to ice, is not the reason that things burst.  Bursting is caused by the ice blocking any exit for the fluid and then when it freezes and expands the liquid in the trapped bit is hydraulically pressurised.  It's this pressure that causes bursts.  So if it did freeze from te top down, it's quite likely that a pump has been pushed off. 

[Steve McF]

Thanks Will, do you have access to any images that might show the bottom of the bottle and said pump or any pipe connections etc? I would refer to my trusty Haynes manual, but it is burried in the garage at the moment!!!!

[sgould]

saabwisonline is worth bookmarking...

https://saabwisonline.com/images/9440/img-f3/f363r039.jpg

[phoenix]

The actual bottle would be the least likely culprit IME. Could be the pump casing, seal around it where it pushes into the bottle or connecting unions.

[Steve McF]

Thanks both - sure enough no water coming out of the jets this morning......

[Audax]

I hope it's just the seal on one of the pumps that has displaced, I once replaced a failed pump on mine and didn't get the seal quite right and it flooded everywhere. It's a bit of a scraped knuckles job too, especially tricky in colder weather but not too difficult, maybe put some WD-40 or similar on the screws now to clean them  up and make them easier to remove the wheel arch liner when you do the job and make sure you've got a few spare screws for those that break when you do the job.