Windshield sprayer on '71 bus defunct

Yes and no. If it is like my '68, there is a rubber hose connected to a pressurized bottle behind the kick panel. The hose goes to the wiper switch where another hose goes to the nozzles on the front of the car. The hose tends to leak over time, especially where it attaches to the nozzle and the switch. I have had success with trimming the hose and reattatching it.

--Dan E

Dan E, where does the pressure come from that pressurizes the bottle? (Still waiting for my service manual to arrive).

Mike Elliott

On mine the bottle has a air valve on it, like the ones on a tire. You put about 20lbs of air in it and it is good to go.

--Dan E

Amazing. I'm halfway surprised that VW didn't provide a little hand lever for pumping the thing up! I just got a copy of "How To Keep Your Volkswagen Alive," and Muir sez to inflate it to 40psi. At which point the hose that feeds the dash button starts to drip at the point where it fits into the rear of the button. I cut the last half inch off and re-shoved it onto the barbed fitting, but it still drips when I get to

40psi. But if 20psi works for you, it oughta work for me! Problem solved (dusts hands off).

Mike "At least this model has power brakes. Oh, wait - do I have to inflate them, too?" Elliott

As originally supplied, VW put an extra rubber sleeve around the hose over the hose barb connection. This gives just enough extra compression to keep these from leaking. You might be able to find one of those sleeves on a car in the junkyard; they were used on all the aircooled cars.

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----------------------------------------------- Jim Adney snipped-for-privacy@vwtype3.org Madison, WI 53711 USA

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Hiya All,

I'm always amused when I read this sort of thread - about VW's windshield washers. There seems to a school of thought on this subject which goes like this.........the damned things ought to be ripped out and replaced with an electric pump. And that's the way VW should have designed them in the first place!

Maybe so. On the other hand, I'm a guy who likes to tinker. And I've restored about six or seven of these systems on Bugs and Busses. I've found them to be very dependable and work very well when in good repair (like anything mechanical).

As to the drips.........I pressurize my Bus systems at 42 lbs. If you use new, high quality hose, you should not have any problems. However, it occurs to me that a small (SMALL!) zip-tie placed around the hose just behind the nipple edge would secure things very nicely.

Just a thought.

Mike

1970 Bus - The Ruptured Duck