Headlight washers.

redspudder

redspudder

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Has anyone had a problem with the square cut outs stopping open?
I have not moved the car for a few daysdue to the snow,i was just outside clearing the drive when i noticed the front square cut outs that open to allow the washer jets to come out of,the drivers side is open and i can pull it down with my hand and the passangers side is slightly ajar.I fired the car up expecting them to close but they stayed in the same positions,im wondering if the mecanism is frozen keeping the cut outs open and also wondering how they have opened in the first place.

I have put some pictures below to show the problem on both sides.

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IMG]http://i515.photobucket.com/albums/t360/redspudder/SDC11812.jpg[/IMG]

SDC11813.jpg
 
the ice had pushed it out
broke both off mine
 
Hello mate....yes ive had the same.Both of mine popped out, and one of the nozzle heads has disappeared.The bad news is that this means that they have frozen, and the freezing water has pushed out the piston which has opened the flap.They come as one unit @£46 and require the bumper to be removed to fit.Thats whats happened to mine.Hopefully yours have taken up the expansion and might be ok, but mine are ********.A case of not having enough af in the washer bottle.
 
So i take it that the water is sat in the line that goes from the bottle to the light washer and this has frozen obviously expanding and pushing out the head?i dont take the car out in the snow and hardly ever use the washer on my screen never mind the lights this is a very very poor design if thats the case
 
the washer fluid is in the pipes primed ready for when you use them
i cant see it as a bad design as all cars with this feature work more or less the same way
like above poster prob not enough AF in the washer bottle
 
As i say i hardly use the washers if ever i dont like it all over the screen and bonnet and i dont use the car in the snow, to me it should have a none return valve in line from the bottle that lets the correct amount of fluid through when the lever is pressed then the valve shuts so that no water is left in the pipe.If the water is going to freeze when sat in the pipe causing the head and cover to damage and the require replacing everytime there is a hard frost granted these temps are very low, but whay happens in colder countries so in my eyes it is a poor design
 
And as the car was serviced by Audi in October should they not check and add the correct consentration of af in the bottle?
 
in colder places they use the correct amount of AF same as we all do or should
but a non return wouldnt work as its the water preasure that makes them pop up in the 1st place
there not powerd theres no correct amount of fluid all depends how long you hold the lever and not driveing in snow wont make a diffrence in this icy weather if there was no water in the pipe then it would take ages to spray and 1 would spray b4 the other as the pipes are diffrent lenght
 
redspudder said:
And as the car was serviced by Audi in October should they not check and add the correct consentration of af in the bottle?
Click to expand...
they may top it off but its not included in the service
thats realy the owners job
 
I guess we will agree to disagree!i have just been reading the hand book and this states thst the washer jets are heated should the temperature be low enough so i would hope if i fire the car up with the lights on that the heaters should kick in and heat up the heads and hopefully they will retract,i would prefer it if i didnt have the washers due to this issue and also it spraying all over the bonnet but they are part of the law with the lights.I just hope that the arnt goosed and need replacing
 
Last edited:
it only heats the jets not the pipes same as window ones
also the heater only kicks in when the washers are active mot with lights on
iv been all through this with audi dealer sheffield and audi uk
it all comes down to it been my fault for not useing the correct mix of AF
 
This used to happen a lot on the Mrk I TT. It was just generally accepted that you shouldn't use them in these sort of conditions which isn't good but will save you cash.

I think I'm going to disable mine again.
 
scoTTy said:
This used to happen a lot on the Mrk I TT. It was just generally accepted that you shouldn't use them in these sort of conditions which isn't good but will save you cash.

I think I'm going to disable mine again.
Click to expand...

Thats the annoying thing Scotty i havnt used them,i have used the car once in 5 weeks due to snow and didnt spray them then,I dont like to use the screen wash if i can help it.This is very annoying im not best pleased but there is nothing i can do about it unil the weather warms up a bit.
 
On a previous thread somewhere- audi screen wash ( if diluted/ undiluted) takes you down to -70oc, I have just bought 3 litres for heading south after Xmas, I think I'll need it fir the motorway driving.
If the screen wash was audi stuff and diluted properly then it shouldn't freeze


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
PaulTheo said:
Why would you pay for a car fitted with them and then disable them?
Click to expand...

That made me laugh :laugh::thumbsup:

But since you ask there's a few reasons :

[1] Basically coz I can protect myself from the cost of them getting broken and it costs me nothing other than two mins to do it.

[2] I always keep the lights front and back clean so it's extremely rare I feel the need to wash them

[3] In the nicer weather when the cars all clean, I don't like the head light washers splashing all over it.

[4] Coz you can't buy a car with factory fitted Xenons without headlight washers.
 
rosscotdi said:
On a previous thread somewhere- audi screen wash ( if diluted/ undiluted) takes you down to -70oc, I have just bought 3 litres for heading south after Xmas, I think I'll need it fir the motorway driving.
If the screen wash was audi stuff and diluted properly then it shouldn't freeze
Click to expand...

That's true for the washers but you can still get frozen headlight washer cover panels as melt water can re-freeze around them and stick them in place.
 
I agree I hate the mess they leave as well and do the same I avoid using them except when really needed. But as stated a good level of protection from the AF is the real answer.
 
scoTTy said:
That made me laugh :laugh::thumbsup:

But since you ask there's a few reasons :

[1] Basically coz I can protect myself from the cost of them getting broken and it costs me nothing other than two mins to do it.

[2] I always keep the lights front and back clean so it's extremely rare I feel the need to wash them

[3] In the nicer weather when the cars all clean, I don't like the head light washers splashing all over it.

[4] Coz you can't buy a car with factory fitted Xenons without headlight washers.
Click to expand...

Scotty couldnt agree more they are more of a hindarence than a help.How do you disable them?
 
I bought a litre of screen wash from VW yesterday (-70oC stuff)although its probably to late i will add this at the weekend,although that said i have not added anything in the past (even water)and as i say i hardly use the screenwash as i have carlack window seal on my windows and don't want this to be worn off by screen wash.Whatever is in the bottle at present is the mixture Audi put in when the car was new and last serviced in October.
 
DaveW said:
How did you get on, redspudder? Mine's the same :(
Click to expand...

Alright Dave

I have just been out to the car and the jets have retracted and the cover is now flush with the bumper wether they still work is another matter,i did not put any screenwash in last week but will do it today,it has been raining all night here and still is so the temperature has risen and the thaw has started.

Andy
 
Just stuck my head out the door and mine appear to have retracted. I'll give 'em a go a bit later.
 
Well, they didn't work at first, it took a good couple of hors driving, then they finally started working. There must have been some ice still in the system.
You may already know this, but just in case you didn't (like me!), as well as the headlamp washers coming on every 5th squirt of the screen washers, if you hold the stalk in the wash position for 2 secs or more, the headlamps will also wash.
Good luck,
Dave
 
You can also use VCDS to change it from every 5th to something else...but you can't stop the first one! grrrrr
 
Glad they are working Dave,as i said above i hardly use them or the wind screen wash anyway as i hate the spray all over my bonnet from the headlights and i have carlack window seasl on my windscreen and this almost illiminates the need to use the wipers,this said i havnt used the car in the snow with all the crap on the roads getting on the screen making it impossible to drive without using the washers,i use the wifes Focus in the snow and mine stays on the drive!!!
 
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