Missing washer fluid .

Mike X

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Here's a strange one .
Jumped in my A3 3.2 today , turned on the ignition and got a warning light on the dash - low washer fluid .
Strange cos I always top it up every time I wash her , usually only a couple of glugs from a washer fluid top up bottle and its full again .
I popped the bonnet and started to pour in fresh fluid , and poured and poured , it was disappearing as fast as I could lob it in , it didn't seem to be pouring out from under the car though .
I had to take my daughter to school so shut the bonnet and drove off .
The washer icon was still lit on the dash as I parked up at a retail park about 20 mins from home , after dropping my daughter off of course .
When I got back into the car and fired her up the warning light was off , tried the washers , they worked fine , went home and stuffed a hose in the washer tank to see if I could see where it was leaking from but after a bit off gurgling it filled up and held .
I hadn't used the car for a few days before this , only thing I can think of is a joint somewhere that sealed when warmed by the heat from the engine ?
Anyone else had this ?

Cheers ,

Mike .
 
Strange that it didn't leak. I wonder if the fluid in the washer had frozen. So you pour water in and it overflows (not sure if it does have an overflow but my BMW does) although you would see this coming out from under the car. It does take a bit to fill the washer bottle. So you get in the car and as the fluid is still frozen it still shows empty. As the car warms your washer fluid melts and the car then shows its got fluid in.

Still puzzled by it not leaking from underneath.
 
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Pretty sure that your washer fluid shouldn't freeze if you put correct mix in. If it does freeze, you risk damaging the pipes due to ice expanding inside and that would be a bad thing.
 
That's true leshkin , I had the premix stuff in so I think it should have been ok .
It must be leaking somewhere because it's still disappearing .
When I fill it up it doesn't empty quickly but most of it is missing after a week or so .
I have been reading up on it , I might be able to gain limited access through the fog light grill ?
 

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