Headlight washers and low washer fluid level warning

[Adrian E]

Hi all

My S8 is going back to the garage who replaced the mirrors tomorrow, as I noticed that the nearside headlight washer isn't popping up at all. The offside is definitely working fine. They had the bumper off and the arch liner out on the nearside to paint the door to remove the scratches.

I dropped in on Monday and they were happy to have it in to have a look, but I need to leave it there for the day as it'll be a couple of hours work.

I gather there's a fairly common issue with a kinked pipe for the headlight washers - does this sound like it's the probable cause? I do wonder if there's been some typical bodgery in there in the past that could do with being rectified properly. Any experience I can pass on would be handy.

On a related (and probably unconnected) subject, I have the low fluid warning light on all the time, despite there being plenty of fluid in there. The washers are working, although don't seem to be all that powerful across all the jets. The car had serious amounts of work done last year by a local specialist, including a replacement washer pump. Is the level sensor part of the pump itself? The garage who did the work have said they'll have it apart if needed, but suggested I let the weather warm up in case it's just frozen fluid in the sensor which might take a while to thaw out. It's less than a year since the pump was replaced, so if it is part and parcel the work should be covered FOC. It's a right pain in the @rse with it beeping every time you start it up and move off!

Adrian

[Adrian E]

Just to update this, the headlight washers have been re-piped and some previous bodgery undone - there was apparently acres of pipework not doing very much.

Took the car in to Camspec in Crawley today as they fitted a washer pump last year to the car, before I bought it. Unfortunately the pump cracked while they were trying to remove it to test, but because TPS have a no quibble parts warranty below a set value they are covering the cost of a new one they've also ordered a pair of new washer nozzles as they're not giving a very good spread.

They also spotted that one of my front wheels is lightly buckled I can't feel it through the wheel so I may just leave it as it is - I'll end up doing it every couple of months otherwise!

[RanjS8]

Just to fill you in....

In the washer bottle there are two pumps....one for the windscreen washers and the others for the headlight washers.

There is pipework which goes from the headlight washer pump to the headlight washers. There is a push fit connector between the headlight washers and the pipework from the pump.

Now when the bumper is removed this pipework can get disturbed, or the headlight washer may not be sitting properly in the connector, and therefore leading to a leak. In which case washer fluid will leak out to a level where it is just below your leak point.

That is why the fluid level warning light is on, but u still have fluid in the bottle.

My hunch is that when the bumper was put back on the car, either the washer pipe was not connected properly or the headlight washer was not sitting properly in its connector.

You know the headlight washer pump is working because you will hear the motor running when you pull on your headlight washer stalk.

Good luck.....hope this helps


ps....its really easy to break those pumps when you are pulling it out of the bottle...done it once myself.....cos they are lodge in really tight

[RanjS8]

The washer level sensor has nothing to do with the washer pumps....

Further if your wheel was buckled you would definitely no about it.....you would get shaking in the steering wheel above a certain speed.....kind a like when the wheels are not balanced properly......if you are not getting those symptoms then you will be fine with what you have.....for the sake of sanity however....just rebalance the wheel and move it to the back and dont worry about it......

[Adrian E]

When the low warning came on it took no more than 0.5 litre to top it up to the maximum.

The headlight washers are now working perfectly, after the re-pipe.

The pump was cracked while trying to get it out, so that is being replaced FOC anyway under parts warranty along with a new seal. Garage told me the level sensor was integral to the pump, at least on my '02 S8

Car should be going back in on Tuesday - the pump is the last thing to come into stock! They have the seal and the pair of washer jets which I'm having done as well as they're a bit lacking in spray pattern.

On the wheel front, I'll see how many of the wheels need attention - he forgot to check them all before getting it off the hoist, so he said he'd let me have a look as well when I take it in again and he'll point out any problem areas on the wheels as we go round.

Given how bad the wheels are round here I'll just wait till I find another mega pothole and will file it with the council to try and get some money back. Luckily the tyres seem fine.

[Adrian E]

New screen washer pump fitted today and no low warning light for screenwash now new washer jets fitted too, so all good

The buckled wheel is a proper job flat spotted almost! Will defo need to be repaired and can't believe I can't feel it through the steering!! Luckily my spare is OK, although needs a refurb, so I may opt to get the spare re-furbed and put the decent tyre back on that, then have the repaired wheel as the spare.....

[jayzee]

Lepsons will sort the buckle to better than new

[Norretal]

Adrian, did the new washer pump definitely solve your washer fluid level problem, or was it just coincidence and maybe a connection was remade properly when it was all fitted back together?

The reason I ask is that I had a washer pump replaced last year and it's all been fine until a couple of days ago when my fluid level warning light came on and I topped it up as normal. However, the level warning light has remained on, which is annoying but nothing more. The windscreen and headlamp washers are working fine and I'm not losing fluid through a leaking pipe or anything so I was just checking before I start investiagting further under the bonnet.

Thanks in advance, this was the only thread I could find with any reference to the problem I'm experiencing

[Adrian E]

A new pump under parts warranty has sorted it and never had a repeat of false warning since. Whether that was down to the part being replaced or dodgy connection I can't say as I didn't change the part myself

[Norretal]

Cheers, I'd suspected it's just a matter of eliminating things as I go but just wanted to check. I can't find any mention of anyone else experiencing this issue so I'll just have to check the connections etc first