Windshield Washer Not Working

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MacAttack7

Member

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2011 Mazda2 Sport (Manual)

• Jan 16, 2014

• #1

Looking for some clues as to what may be wrong.
No fluid comes out of the front, but it does come out the back.

Reservoir is full. I checked the fuse with a "20" on top that was labeled P/W on the underside of the fuse compartment lid. It was fine.

Is there another fuse to check?
Are there 2 motors?
Where are the motors located?

Thanks.

 

G

GrasshopperCO

Member

:

2015 Mazda 3 iSport 6-M/T

• Jan 16, 2014

• #2

The fuse marked P/W is for your power windows, and not for the wipers.

I believe the fuse in question is the one on the fuse box inside the car marked "F. WIP" and it's a 20 Amp fuse. I'm not sure if that's a fuse for the wiper motors or for the sprayers, or both.

There is only one pump, as far as I'm aware, and it's off to the side near the bottom of the reservoir. I would definitely check for a blown fuse, but I don't think it would be the pump itself if the rear sprayer is working, since they're fed off the same reservoir.

 

Last edited: Jan 16, 2014

M

MacAttack7

Member

:

2011 Mazda2 Sport (Manual)

• Jan 16, 2014

• #3

Thanks. I wasn't too sure on the P/W fuse. I hope I find one that has gone out; that would make everything nice & easy.

 

G

GrasshopperCO

Member

:

2015 Mazda 3 iSport 6-M/T

• Jan 16, 2014

• #4

There's a diagram on the side door you pull off to get to the fuse box, so that makes things easier for sure.

 

M

MacAttack7

Member

:

2011 Mazda2 Sport (Manual)

• Jan 17, 2014

• #5

I was looking at the fuse box under the hood; didn't even realize there was one on the dashboard also. Anyway the the F.Wip fuse was fine. Is there another fuse specifically for the washer motor somewhere? I thought maybe the F.Wip one was just for the wipers themselves.

If I need to check out the motor do you know the best way to access it. For instance will I have to remove a fender or anything like that?

 

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molex7

Member

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2012 mazda2 sport

• Jan 17, 2014

• #6

could be way off but simple enough to try, check that there isn't any dirt clogging the holes that the wiper fluid shoots out of. When i got my old civic many years ago the wiper fluid didn't work until i got a needle and cleaned out those holes.

 

G

GrasshopperCO

Member

:

2015 Mazda 3 iSport 6-M/T

• Jan 17, 2014

• #7

molex7 said:

could be way off but simple enough to try, check that there isn't any dirt clogging the holes that the wiper fluid shoots out of. When i got my old civic many years ago the wiper fluid didn't work until i got a needle and cleaned out those holes.

Click to expand...

As Molex said, it could just be that the sprayer nozzles are clogged. Does it sound like it even tries to spray wiper fluid when you pull the stalk? Other than the possible fuse and checking the sprayers, I don't have any other troubleshooting ideas. Sorry :/

 

M

MacAttack7

Member

:

2011 Mazda2 Sport (Manual)

• Jan 18, 2014

• #8

I've narrowed it down to something simple. I can hear the motor & I saw a wet spot under my car when I pulled out.
So a hose must be loose or cut or something like that.
Hopefully a quick fix if I can get access to everything.

 

M

MacAttack7

Member

:

2011 Mazda2 Sport (Manual)

• Jan 19, 2014

• #9

Crap........that wet spot under my car must have been from something else. Nothing is leaking.
So the best guess is that the actual line that feeds to the nozzles is clogged. Neither nozzle works, but I got a little
to fizz out after using a pin to try to clear them.

So now I need to disconnect the hose from the washer fluid to the nozzles & flush it out. It doesn't look all that easy to me.

 

M

MacAttack7

Member

:

2011 Mazda2 Sport (Manual)

• Jan 19, 2014

• #10

I disconnected the hoses up near the nozzles & the fluid shoots out from the hoses both prior to the 1st nozzle & after the 1st nozzle. I guess I need to get access to the hoses underneath the nozzles which looks like it requires removing the big plastic panel. That looks like it could become time-consuming unless anyone knows an easier way to access that area under the nozzles where the hoses attach to them.

 

M

MacAttack7

Member

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2011 Mazda2 Sport (Manual)

• Jan 19, 2014

• #11

Does anyone know if the nozzles themselves can just be popped off without removing anything. If I could pop them off & replace them that might work. I think a piece of plastic is lodged somewhere because I noticed the plastic dipstick for the fluid was broken in 2 pieces, so a little piece probably got sucked up the hose.

 

M

MacAttack7

Member

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2011 Mazda2 Sport (Manual)

• Jan 25, 2014

• #12

In case anyone else has the same problem it turned out to be the nozzles. They were completely clogged with partially-dried soap also known as gunk. I can't believe how much of it I kept picking out. Even boiled them to really loosen it up.

So to get to the nozzles I had to take the plastic cowling off & use some pliers to squish the tabs on the underside of the nozzles. The plastic screws holding the cowling in place just pop right off & are not disposable like I thought there were.
I didn't have to buy anything.

It was sort of a pain, & I can't believe I didn't break anything, but it sure beats paying probably $150 for a mechanic to fix a minor little thing like the washer nozzles.

I have no idea why they got all gunked up. Seems like I may have bought cheap washer fluid last time, but I'm not sure. Just to be safe I'll spend an extra $1 from now on.

 

G

GrasshopperCO

Member

:

2015 Mazda 3 iSport 6-M/T

• Jan 26, 2014

• #13

It wouldn't hurt to put warm water in the reservoir when you run out of washer fluid and run the sprayers to flush the gunk out.