A couple weeks ago I made the mistake of not refilling my windshield washer fluid, and somehow overnight my windshield got incredibly dirty, so I practically had to run the whole tank dry the next day.

So I went and bought some concentrate, mixed it up, poured about 1/3 of a gallon into it, then tried running the washers. Only one of the spouts shot out the fluid, the one on the passenger side -- the spout closest to the washer fluid tank. Nothing comes out of the one on the driver's side.

I tried running them for a little bit to see if anythign would come out of the other, but the pressure just builds up in the one that is working, spraying some on the roof of my car . I'm like 99% sure there isn't anything clogging the other spout, since it was working just fine until I had to tap the thing dry.

Any ideas on how to fix this? I REALLY don't feel like taking it in somewhere to get it fixed. I can't see anything in the dry spout, no blockage or anything. I'm convinced it's probably just an air bubble, since I ran them dry...

and sorry if this sounds like a sorry thing to seek advice on... you know the story.

 

I think you can pull the hose from the nozzle under the hood, do that and see if you get water. If you do but it still doesn't squirt hooked up then you have a plugged nozzle. You can often clean them with a straight pin.

 

Well the hose seems to run under that kind of weird cloth-like material they snap on to the hood. I don't want to pry that thing off and look at it if I couldn't snap it back on.

Maybe I should take a picture or something to show what I'm talking about.

and actually I did use a pick, plus maybe some things I shouldn't have (compressed air that was probably full of weird chemical crap) I think the thing clogging it is somewhere in the tube.

 

one of my nozzles were weak and i removed the cloth material, and took apart the hose section by section. The nozzels were fine but there was a chuck of stuff that clogged up one of the hoses. They work great now.

You could have also just taken the window washer fluid tank out, dumped it and put it back then refilled it. Running dirty fluid through the hoses and nozzles might have clogged it.

but i dont use my washer fluid, so mine is just completely empty. good for weight savings.

 

Yeah I figured I'd take out the cloth material this weekend, take a look...

to be honest I would be surprised if there was dirt or something else in there. It was running fine until I ran it dry. If it's anything other than an air bubble, I'll be surprised.

 

well you said the water was dirty. so that means there are forgien objects in the water. The holes of the nozzles arent very big. If there was any bubbles, it would be out of the system by now.
If your taking of the material, be careful. It rips easily. It also slides in near the bottom of the hood, so if it catches, check there first. And finally take care in taking off the clips. Its best if you use something flat like trim removal tool or something. I used a wire cutter.

 

I actually didn't say the water was dirty...

 

oh sorry, you said your windshield was dirty. But i still do suspect a clog of some sort. maybe you sucked up some sediment from the bottom of the tank.

 

Alright, I unclogged it. Turns out there was a ton of debris and crap in that plastic coupler that connects the hose to the plastic nozzle. Just took the couple out, used one of those interdental brushes to clean it out. Took out a lot of crap, now it works perfectly.

And Jesus Christ those plastic snap-on things that secure the fabric material to the top of the hood... they're a real pain in the ass to get out. I used mostly my thumbs on almost all of them. I tried using needle-nose pliers but I ended up gashing the palm of my hand pretty hard...

Anyways yay, they work now That'll teach me to run them dry again.

 

lol i warned you. but you shouldnt have a problem now, even if you did run it dry.