Rear screen washer not working

[The Cardinal]

The rear screen washer isn’t working on my 2016 PFL RS3. No fluid is coming out.

I’ve removed the nozzle and it’s not that, because no water is coming out (should shoot straight out of the pipe without the nozzle in place). I’ve checked inside the boot panel and all looks in order, with no leaks.

I’ve had the car 4 months but I don’t think I’ve used the rear wiper as I tend to drive it in dry weather. It did have a rear camera retrofitted, which may or may not be related (but I can’t see anything obvious).

The pump is making a noise and the wiper arm is working. There doesn’t seem to be a leak anywhere inside the car from the hose that leads to the boot.

Anyone have a suggestion for what to try next?

 

[jaypers777]

It’s nearly always the tiny impeller thing under the black cap. Only a couple of quid….just try a new one.

 

[45bvtc]

The rear screen washer isn’t working on my 2016 PFL RS3. No fluid is coming out.

I’ve removed the nozzle and it’s not that, because no water is coming out (should shoot straight out of the pipe without the nozzle in place). I’ve checked inside the boot panel and all looks in order, with no leaks.

I’ve had the car 4 months but I don’t think I’ve used the rear wiper as I tend to drive it in dry weather. It did have a rear camera retrofitted, which may or may not be related (but I can’t see anything obvious).

The pump is making a noise and the wiper arm is working. There doesn’t seem to be a leak anywhere inside the car from the hose that leads to the boot.

Anyone have a suggestion for what to try next?

You need to carefully push a small diameter wire down the feeder-tube, maybe 1mm dia - see what you have available. The feeder-tube blocks in the last few inches/cms. As with any drainage obstruction carefully push the wire down the tube and operate the pump. Take care NOT to push any obstruction further down the tube. Had the same issue recently (RD3) and an easy fix, just take care....

Exactly the same issue here: https://www.audi-sport.net/xf/threads/rear-wash-not-the-plastic-nozzle.433199/#post-3748868

 

[45bvtc]

Last time I used 1mm Nylon thread, not 'wire'

 

[45bvtc]

See: Amazon product

 

[The Cardinal]

Thanks - we have some of that thread in my wife's jewellery-making box at home so will give it a go.

 

[The Cardinal]

Unfortunately I've not been able to clear the tube with a pin inserted 2 inches - so I'm going to have to take it apart to have a better look.

I can hear the washer pump working at the front of the car, but not at the back. This makes me wonder if the rear pump itself is faulty (assuming there is one inside the assembly?).

I did wonder about swapping over the rear wiper motor assembly from my Skoda Fabia mk3... but despite looking the same as the 8V's at first glance, the Fabia has a separate washer hose outlet at the top of the boot and therefore no pump inside the rear assembly.

 

[45bvtc]

How far from WS12 are you? Fancy a ride over....

 

[The Cardinal]

I’m in Bristol, so quite a way! Thanks for the offer though.

 

[45bvtc]

I’m in Bristol, so quite a way! Thanks for the offer though.

No worries. But it is just a water/wash fluid congeal in the pipe, so why don't "you" push down the nylon thread while "she" operates the pump.

Your other options while admirable are OTT.

Lack of use is the cause - as you've said already...

Same with our RS3 and SQ5.

Fortunately our TT roadster doesn't have a rear wash or I guess that'd be the same too.

 

[The Cardinal]

Update…

Having tried the unblocking methods described above yesterday, I had another look today. I was a bit sceptical about getting a result to be honest.

I took the tailgate trim off again, located the washer pipe and disconnected it. Some brown water dribbled out, but no new water came out of the disconnected pipe when I ran the pump.

I got a bit disheartened at this point and thought I might have a problem elsewhere in the system.

However, I kept on trying some pipe poking and, only after turning the ignition off and on… hey presto - water sprayed all over the boot.

I reconnected the pipe and ran the pump again. But it still didn’t work - nothing came out.

I was thinking at this point that I might need a new wiper motor assembly, because cleaning it with the pin & thread still wasn’t working.

The last thing I tried was to prise off the black pipe elbow connector from the motor body (seen in place below in the first pic, then removed). This isn’t something I’ve seen mentioned before. Having done this, I poked the thread through both the motor body and connector separately…

…and finally a shot of water blasted straight onto a neighbour’s car!

Finally, I reassembled everything and felt smug about being able to use the washer about twice a year again.

TLDR: don’t give up on this method without first taking the pipe elbow connector out and cleaning that separately.

 

[Wallbrik]

Thanks for this post it's been really helpful. I have the same problem and same symptoms, tried some strimmer wire and poked it right back up the pipe after removing it from the back of the wiper motor. Still not getting anything. No water coming out at all. I've taken out the front driver wheel arch and lowered the undertray, can't see any leaks around there, it's definitely wasting water somewhere as I filled to the level you can see and the motor is going. Can't find any leak anywhere...
The 2 pipes coming out the bottom of the washer bottle have the same clips as the one connecting to the rear wiper motor so as looking in i removed the rear pointing one and water came flying out the connector on the bottle. Then I thought I'll remove the front and no water came out, ah must be blocked. Poked it and water came flying out, but as soon as I removed the strimmer wire it stopped like it has a ball return in that connection unlike the front one..... I'm really gutted I can't find the problem anyone gone further??? I may put this into a new post as well.

 

[dlittlefair1]

I had this same problem but it ended up being the seal in that plastic black elbow. It had completely corroded & formed a blockage in the elbow itself, so when I cleared it out it then leaked everywhere. I had to replace the whole unit as I couldn't find anywhere that sold it separately unfortunately.

 

[Boydie]

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[Swanny356]

Managed to finally get mine working again after 3 weeks of it being out of action.

Took off the cover and jet assembly, totally ’gunked up’ with rubbish. Cleaned it through with an air duster and pin.

Reassembled and still not working. Repeated as there was more rubbish and this time I blew into the outlet and lots of dried screen wash came out. Still no joy.

Repeated this about 3 times and hey presto, it’s now working. Slowly, slowly, catchy monkey!!!