6 replies to this topic

[bradderz]

hi i have a 1991 mini cooper 1.3i.

short story
washer jets keep getting blocked up with gunk! should i just replace the tubes and washer bottle, or is it easy enough to just give it a good clean?

long story
when i bought my mini about a month ago the window washers did not work. the previous owner had recently down a respray and obviously forgot to take the washer jets off or forgot to cover them up. anyway the jets got covered with paint and blocked the holes. i tried poking the holes with a pin and wigggled it about a bit, turned the jet on and only a little bit of water was getting through. i thought that some paint had just got stuck and so decided to replace them. fitted new ones and worked fine. but a couple of weeks later they just stopped working, i know the pump was working because i could hear it. so i got the pin out andtook the jets off and had a good scrape about, found some black gunk, got all of that out, put the jets back on and worked perfectly. the next day they werent working, they had obviously got blocked up again. so obviously there is crap in the pipes and/or washer bottle. now should i just replace all the pipes and washer bottle, or do you think that it is easy enough to just give it a clean?

thanks

ps. my washer bottle is in the boot, where do the tubes run and are they easy to get to and replace?

thanks

[bradderz]

anyone?

[The Colonel]

take off the tube at the washer bottle and blow in it with a high pressure air line but rememebr to take the jets off!!

[R1minimagic]

The reason they block up is because of micro organisms growing in the washer bottle (the black stuff). Same would happen if you didnt put washing up liquid in your kitchen bowl and just used the same water for months on end without changing (same as in your washer bottle). I have taken out many washer bottles from Minis with just plain tap water in and they are always coated in black mould on the inside, i recently took one out with screenwash in ( a rarity but not sure why) and it was as clean as you like.

Suggestion is to clean the system out thorughly using detergent, then water, then top up using screenwash which will have anti bacterial agents in there, shouldn't happen again.

[bradderz]

i cleaned out the washer bottle, it was filthy. seems like no gunk is coming out now, but noticed that the tubes are filthy on the inside, but couldnt figure out how to clean the tubes, might just replace them, they are cheap enough.

any ideas on how much tubing i am needing?

is it easy to take the tubes out and then feed them back through?

[R1minimagic]

Probably an absolute pain i would have thought!!

You can try flushing some mild detergent through them with the jets removed..

[pantera2075]

Fire some vinegar or diet coke thru the system, the acidity should help - leave it in the pipes overnight.