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Xantia: Removing the front bumper to access the washer-bottle

I feel kinda daft asking this, but I'm posting here because surely one of the wise heads on this group will be able to put me straight in no time.

I bought a 1993 Xantia SX turbo diesel cheaply at auction a month ago and the window washers don't work. Both front & rear washers are affected and when I try to top up with water it runs straight out & puddles on the floor underneath the car.

Any Xantia owners will know that the washer reservoir on this model is behind the front bumper and looking in the bonnet all I can see is the filler and determine that a hose disappears down to it. I can't see any cracks in the reservoir itself when the car is raised on the ramp so either it's the hose that's damaged, the bottle where they meet, or maybe the hose has just come off.

So the sensible thing to do is remove the bumper & take a look.

The bumper is secured with three screws under its lower front edge, a couple behind the fog-lights and one on each side, the latter being accessed by removing a little cover under the wheel arch. This is the dumb bit: having removed the cover & spent ages slackening one of the side bolts, I just can't get it out. It'll unscrew until it's out about a centimetre and a half but after that no amount of unscrewing will shift it any further.

My father suggests that the bolt is off the end of its threaded section and merely wedged in a narrow hole that leads to it, however I'm not convinced by this argument as there is _no_ movement in the bolt _at all_. If this were the case I would expect to be able to feel at least the tiniest amount of play in it (wiggle) but it is rock solid in that direction - tapping the bolt with a hammer & drift has no apparent effect on it.

The only movement in this bolt is rotary, yet after initially observing it with 1.5cm of thread exposed I was still racheting at it maybe as much as an hour later with no further progress!! It's like the retainer in the bumper, into which this bolt screws, has broken from its mount. Is this possible? It seems to me that this would be more likely to happen when the both was at its tightest, not when it was nearly out so that doesn't make sense to me, either. Also, that would probably allow play in other directions and, as I said, the both it solid except that it'll twist & rotate freely.

Having given up on the job and driven the car for a couple of days, I looked at the bolt & found it to be in the same position - vibration hasn't loosened it at all.

I'm the first to admit I'm an idiot, so if someone would kindly beat me with a clue I'd be extremely grateful.

Stroller.

Reply to
Stroller
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I'd take the washer jets off and see if they are blocked, first ;-)

Reply to
.

. (-@-.com) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

Nice one, Dot.

Reply to
Adrian

So would I if it were not for the facts that both front & rear are affected and that water is able to enter the washer bottle filler hose but does not reach the inside of the reservoir.

Any clues on the removing the bumper thing? I'm hoping this is a common problem and that someone can say "do it like this, you numptie".

Stroller.

Reply to
Stroller

the rear jets are worse, ime. has the OP described backtracking over the system to see where wates /is/ rather than noticing where it /ain't/ ? no.

perhaps the bottle is full, the jets are blocked and the breather hose has become dislodged ??

to the OP:

is the washer motor turning ? pop the tube off the jets and try the washers again, if there is water shooting into your face then the jets are blocked and you've learned to not look down the barrel of a hosepipe :-)

it's the cheapest least time consuming way of determining if the jets are connected to the bottle, blocked, if the pump is fubar and if you /really/ need to take the bumper off to get a closer look.

Reply to
.

Yes - I intended to mention this, but obviously got hung up in my own diagnosis of the problem - it is quite audibly doing so.

You'll be pleased to hear that I've pulled the tube off the jets (in fact it was so tight that it took half the bleedin' jet with it) and no water shot into my face or anywhere else. The tube is quite visibly dry.

Stroller.

Reply to
Stroller

It's a common problem for the flexible filler hose that goes through the inner wing to crack, this will cause you to lose the water before it gets into the washer bottle.

To check, try lifting the blue top and filling with water! does the water pour out from inside the wheel arch?

My guess is yes it does.

If so, remove the front wheel and the plastic wheel arch liner, then you will be able to see the washer bottle, if you then remove the front indicator, it is possible to get your hand in and replace the filller hose.

Not easy, but possible, Trust me!! I have done this job several times.

Regards Slim.

Reply to
Slim

Somewhat late, but I just wanted to say THANK YOU VERY MUCH for posting this - you have saved me a very great deal of effort.

When I filled up with water it did indeed leak as you describe, but quite slowly. I was trying to identify exactly where this was coming from but since, thanks to your advice, I was able to access the pump I decided to remove it to be sure the reservoir was empty. Sure enough, I got a face full of soapy water.

So it seems that Dot was in fact on the right track, although his advice alone would not have allowed me to identify the blockages in the hoses. It seems that the leakage in the filling hose is quite small and only noticeable when the reservoir was full up and this hose backed-up.

Having refitted the pump & removed the hoses I was able to identify that it was working quite happily in response to both front & rear washer-buttons so then followed the hoses through the car reconnecting them.

The front hose is routed through a large rubber grommet in the front bulkhead and has a joint in it before a second section of pipe takes a somewhat contrived path into the engine bay. It was this at this joint that that there was a blockage. The rear blockage was in one of the connectors where the hose routes through the wiper-arm motor.

Thanks for the help,

Stroller.

Reply to
Stroller

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