rear washer problem

[marsmail]

My rear washer has stopped working. Originally I thought it was frozen, like the front one. However after the rest have unfrozen the rear still does not spray. Originally even the pump did not even sound to be working, but can be heard working now although no water comes out.
Does anyone know if the pipe from the front mounted tank runs inside or outside the bodywork and where the pump actually is?
Can it be got at without having to take the whole car apart or is it a case of paying through the nose for the stealers to find the problem and fix it?

Any suggestions as to how to fix it would be welcome.
As an aside the car is just over 5 years old, but still brings a smile to my face when I drive it.

Marsmail

 

[ms1083]

Have you checked the inside of the rear boot liner. My car did something similar and it was actually dribbiling water on the inside of the rear door rather than squirting the windscreen. The motor for the rear wiper incorperates the squirter nozzle and has a copper tube that, in my car, had worn and split. After replacing the unit all fine (about £90 for the part from audi dealer). If the pump is working but no water reaches the rear window there must be water leaking somewhere?

 

[330_2_S3]

I have the same problem...this always happens to me during the cold months on my S3 whilst my dads 55 plate polo is fine :/

I have given it to the dealer while under warranty to fix and its not a major issue....they seem to fix it rather quickly too so I can't imagine it being a big issue.

I am gona take the panel on the inside of the tailgate off and investigate....I suggest to use a more concentrate mixture of washer fluid for the future to avoid this problem. I am going to do the same.

 

[richardpolo]

Had the same problem on my 07 Avant - the frozen washer fluid in the pipework had forced the junction apart. It's located behind the tailgate nearside hinge cover. I removed the upper and lower tailgate trim, which in theory is simple but proved a real pig to release the clips and then reinstall it, breaking a couple of clips in the process. In hindsight, I think the hinge cover could be removed without going to all this trouble.

 

[TheBigUn]

Same here with my 2002 Avant. The nozzle had come off during the recent winter weather. The tailgate trim was dripping in leaked screenwash.

I removed the two screws, one in the tailgate handle recess and the black plastic one in the folding warning triangle holder, then unclipped the lower trim and it came away with the upper trim. Be careful not to let it fall as there are a couple of electrical connections.

The washer pipe just needed pushing back onto the wiper connector. The clips were hard to align when re-fitting the trim but I sorted it eventually.

A 10 minute job.

 

[ms1083]

p.s. to my last thread. I have just discovered (off my copy of ELSA) that if the tube inside the wiper motor had corroded/broken as mine had there is a repair kit avaliable from audi rather than having to replace the entire motor unit as I did.

 

[marsmail]

My problem is that there does not appear to be any fluid reaching the rear. There is no evidence of any wet patch or drips at the rear of the vehicle, hence the original query as to where the pump actually was and the routing of the pipework to it

 

[ScottD3]

I had to chase my pipe from the right hand side of the boot to the front passenger foot well.
Thats where i found the disconnected pipe.
This was on a A4 B5, not sure where the pipe runs on a allroad.

 

[Cockney Boy]

Well today i replaced my rear washer motor as the ***** design pured water intot he gears. It cost £100.00 for the motor, but i had to butcher the wiper arm to get it out. Only took 30 mins to replace. but be warned that the hose near the LHS boot hingle can break and pour water onto the MMI system.

 

[Flat 6]

Hi there, check your passenger footwell carpet. In my A6 (2003 Quattro Sport Avant) the pipe taking water to the rear wash had separated in the front passenger footwell. See my reply today to a much older post about this. Cheers, Allen

 

[mwarrey]

Hi there, check your passenger footwell carpet. In my A6 (2003 Quattro Sport Avant) the pipe taking water to the rear wash had separated in the front passenger footwell. See my reply today to a much older post about this. Cheers, Allen

Can you describe a little bit more exactly where the washer pipes run and where the offending joint is? Did you need to take the seat out to do this ?

Thanks

 

[DRS]

Hi, I don't visit often and realise this thread is a month or so old now but...

I had a 07 plate A6 Avant and the rear washer stopped working so I stopped using it. I then had it serviced by Audi, they replaced the rear washer. Driving home the MMI stopped working...long story short the MMI needed to be replaced at a total cost of £2600. Luckily I got the bill down to £300 though I feel kind of ripped off really, it was probably their fault...it was working before it went in for the service.

Moral of the story, check your MMI system in the rear of the car anytime your rear washer stops working otherwise you'll have a really big bill.

Thankfully I now own a nice 10 plate A6 Avant, it doesn't have the electrical assembly in the rear so that's one less thing to worry about.

All the best

 

[marsmail]

To update.
The washer pump is located on the washer bottle and can be reached by removing the wheelarch inner liner.
In my case, the pipe had come off the punp outlet there and eventually I saw water running out from the back of the wheel arch. That is what threw me, I was looking for leaks further back while thinking that the pump was down the back and water was not getting to it from the front!
Ah well, it has taken a long time for the penny to drop, but at least it didn't cost anything which it would have done if I had succumbed to taking it to the dealer!

 

[Cockney Boy]

STOP what your doing if its a C6 chassis, dont use the rear washer until you've checked under your passenger seat and in the left corner of your boot lid. these are two areas where the hose leaks/splits. Both locations will destroy your MMI (under the passenger seat is the BT Unit and the left hand side of your boot is where the Radio and nav units are.

I recently had the same problem with mine, have a look at the underside of my passenger seat. Luckily my car has been upgraded to the MMI 3G so there is no BT Module.

You will see that the hose has become separated fromt eh connector.

 

[marsmail]

Cockney boy, thanks for the warning, but if you had read to the end you would have seen that I had solved the problem and was fortunate that the pipe connector that parted was in the wheel arch, not inside the car.
I shall certainly bear the warning in mind if I am unfortunate enough to have it happen again.
Perhaps it might save someone else from an expensive "accident"

marsmail

 

[Gavin0478]

mine went on the boot hinge but i managed to get audi to replace it for free.

 

[mwarrey]

Hi,

finally had a chance to look at this on my C5 Avant. The pipe had come apart in the passenger foot-well. To access this you just need to take 2 screws out of the side "kick plate" and pull to one side. You can then pull the carpet back. The washer hose is behind the wiring loom. As said above, it is right next to a whole load of connector blocks, not the best place to have a join in a water pipe!. There was a cable tie around the joint, looked quite neat so not sure if someone had previously tried to fix it or whether Audi knew this was a weak point. Anyway the good news is that it turned out to be a 5 minute job and the rear washer now works!.

 

[beyondchrisbird]

Hi
Fearing the worst (removing carpets, seats, trims, etc) just sorted a rear washer fluid leak on my 2001 Allroad with surprising ease. There is a flowline union tucked away in the wiring loom directly above where the toolbox is located behind the removable panel nearside rear left. This had separated - probably when we suddenly went down to -8C a couple of nights ago - the toolbox was full of washer fluid! Reconnecting required removing the 2 clips holding the loom in place but thankfully nothing else. Thanks to previous poster for the photo - helped me to figure out what I was looking for.
Lesson learnt - get the low temp protection into the washer system before it's needed.

 

[Papagenu81]

I seem to have no fluid coming out and the rear wiper isn't working either. I have a 2003 a6 avant. I ave tried o remove the panel over the rear washer motor etc but can't get it off. I did however find that the pipe had come apart at a connection in the left compartment in the boot.

 

[PeteS]

Feel the carpet near the front passenger footwell if it is damp then you have a broken pipe under the front footwell trim panel. Remove the lower trim panel and within the wiring loom the rear washer pipe which has a join in it. Chip the two back together and then tape it up as the clip will come off again.

 

[Taggart]

Hi all
I have an Audi A6 Allroad 2.5tdi V6
I have had the same issues as the above emails.
My water for the rear wash wipe was not working even though the motor could be heard.
I remove the panel in the foot well of the passenger seat(2 screws) and part of the moulding thar runs along the kick plate. It was soaking underneath. I found that the hose for the rear screen wash had come apart.
This was pushed back into place.
I tried to see if it worked, but it did not. I then noticed screen wash running to ground behind the rear wheel on the passenger side.
I removed the tool box, and also the CD and housing (4 bolts 8mm)
In the well I found that the screen wash hose had come apart. (The hose here is ribbed. Two hoses run down to the wheel arch and then join together. Easy fix
All working now
Yay

 

[mrnice]

Nice one, mine had sprung a leak next to toolbox too, also rear passenger footwell where it had been bodged (well) with a piece of central heating pipe. I checked all connections and glued them to avoid further issues