Rear Windscreen wiper stuttery/water jet not working-any ideas?

1) renew rear wiper blade?
2a) popped hose: Park car somewhere dry. Operate rear screen wash for a good few seconds. Wait a few mins and then check under the car for puddles for indication which hose join has popped.
2b) Or, the wiper mechanism has rusted inside?

Alex C said:

1) renew rear wiper blade?
2a) popped hose: Park car somewhere dry. Operate rear screen wash for a good few seconds. Wait a few mins and then check under the car for puddles for indication which hose join has popped.
2b) Or, the wiper mechanism has rusted inside?

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Yup like alex said, renew the wiper blades first. But sometimes, I had to, you need to 'adjust' the angle of the wiper arm to stop the 'judder'.

Try and use your nose to locate where the washer fluid is ending up, common places for the tubes to pop off are in the boot left side panel near the CD changer/sub/alarm sounder, or tubes can split/pop off the motor assembly.

If the tubes are still attached, and you can smell/locate washer fluid in the tail gate, there's a metal pipe which the washer fluid goes through inside the motor to get to the outside. When this seizes, the pipe splits and all the washer fluid goes inside you motor and rusts it. It can also make the wiper motor do some funny things.

If you switch on your rear wiper, look at the spray nozzle, it should stay pointing up (vertical) all the time. If it rotates when the arm rotates then it's that tube in side the motor.

It's easy to get the boot cover off - but be careful you can break it.

You can replace the whole motor unit for around £70 - £120 depending on where you go or get a rebuild kit from Audi/TPS for about £35.

If you find the pipe connectors have split etc. then get some pvc/vinyl tubing and some generic connectors instead of getting original parts.

Liam

A quick way to tell if the thin tube is broken in the rear wiper mechanisum is put wiper on and see if jet head turns with wiper. If it does then its likely its broken as there surpossed to just squirt in one place and the wiper pass threw it.

Im having a similar issue, but this time i cant actually hear any motor or any kind of noise (when trying to use the rear spray jet) could this be a fuse out?

or is it likely a faulty motor or the part that attaches to the bottle in the engine bay?

thanks.

James

mcpickering said:

Im having a similar issue, but this time i cant actually hear any motor or any kind of noise (when trying to use the rear spray jet) could this be a fuse out?

or is it likely a faulty motor or the part that attaches to the bottle in the engine bay?

thanks.

James

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Checking fuses would be a good first step.

Switch the ignition on, open the window, open the bonnet, stand by the washer bottle as close as you can while pulling the stalk the correct way. You should hear the pump running - I think it's the same pump for the front and rear washers.

I've used a MityVac pump in the past to help track down blockages and splits in the washer pipework

If it's a broken tube you'll be getting a puddle water somewhere ...

Liam

vfr800, thank for the advice bud.

I checked the fuses this morning,

there is only the one fuse for the pump overall, it can't be that because the front washer jets work (i did check it anyway) and that was fine.

so there doesn't seem to be an issue with the fuse. I'm fairly sure that i'm not getting a puddle of water anywhere, but have just remembered that i can't actually fill the washer bottle up to anywhere past about half (maybe 2 litres) as it all starts leaking out, so i guess there could be a crack in the bottle or something to do with the rear pump being loose? anyone experienced this?

also, when looking at my fuses this morning, i realised that my headlight washer jets aren't working, so i changed the fuse (for the correct 20A one) and then turned the ignition back on, put my headlights on and tried to spray the washer jets, the window ones(front) worked fine as usual but i physically saw(the fuse cover was still off) the 20A fuse for the headlight washer blow as soon is i tried it!!

anyone know why it would do this?

Thanks again,

James

The water leaking out of the bottle is NOT a good sign. Sounds like you need a new pump for the headlight washers.

I replaced mine last week as it was just dead, but I have seen posts that they can split and leak water through.

Best bet is to go on fleabay - there are some febi/bilstein ones around for £20 in delivery. The only thing is you'll need to trim the connector on the new switch with a craft knife to remove a plastic 'key' on the plug, don't worry it's very obvious when you try to plug the pump in.

When you replace the pump, I found it was easiest to remove the bumper and headlight to get to the pump and tubing. This will allow you to check everything is connected properly.

Liam

EDIT: Forgot to say, if the pump is that far gone, it'll be shorting out internally and causing the fuse to blow. Try filling the washer bottle up with water and look to see where the water comes out. I found using cheap screen washer knackered and clogged up the washer jets - screen and headlight. I'm not ONLY using the VAG "Windscreen Clear" stuff G052164M2 and it's much much better than any thing else IMHO.

I just ordered the rear wiper rebuld kit from Audi £40 inc VAT.

Another job for the weekend!

Mi7rennie said:

I just ordered the rear wiper rebuld kit from Audi £40 inc VAT.

Another job for the weekend!

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When I rebuilt mine and fitted it went crazy, I had to remove and dismantle it to clean the contacts properly with contact cleaner - so make sure you do this.

Liam

Alright, will do. Cheers!