Technical Washer bottle pump problem!

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Technical Washer bottle pump problem!

seburne

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Hi,
Tried to use my front windscreen washer the other day, and it didn't work!
The rear worked fine, so i assume they have separate pumps...?!
I then checked under the bonnet- No leak, no split in the tank!

So my guess is that there are separate pumps, for the front and rear so I need another pump?!?!

Help please?!?!!! How much would a pump be? How do I change?!?

Thanks a lot!
 
There should be a small black directional valve attached to the tube that goes to the windscreen (if it's a Cinquecento but Seiscento should be the same) . Easy to take off and see if it is blocked by blowing through the tube. Easy to unblock too with wd40 or a compressor or a small wire (did that to mine for the rear tube but can't remember wich way I used for unblocking... it's easy). It's a small round plastic thing in the tube, with a directional arrow marked on it.
 
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some are 2 direction motors and some are 2 seperate motors. in both case check the connections, youll gain access thorugh the wheel arch after removing the liner. if its 2 seperate motors swap the connections see if it works after that
 
When you say it didnt work, was there no sound from the pump (ie. pump not working at all) or was it buzzing and not pumping any water? Did you check for any water appearing on the floor under the car - possibly from a split pipe? If there are no leaks then it is either the pump itself, or the pump isnt recieving 12v power.

I know on some Fiats there is only one pump for front and rear - it pumps one direction to the front, and the pump spins the opposite way to pump to the rear.

Assuming the cinquecento has two pumps it is possible that the mesh "filter" has become clogged. I've had this problem several times over the years. You just need to pop out the pump from the tank (disconnect the wires and pull the pump hard) and then clean off any dirt/residue from the part that goes into the tank. You will obviously need to remove the wheel arch liner (or at least loosen it) to gain access to the tank/pump.

If you do need to fit a new pump you can get these from stores such as halfords for around £10. they should have one to fit your car in stock, but I would recommend taking your old one with you to compare and make sure it looks the same.
 
There's no sound, a slight humming sound, but nothing like it usually is for the rear when i can hear the motor/pump going!
I checked the tube- no rips or tears.
There is also no leak spilling onto the floor!

I guess i check the mesh first then after a clean if it still doesnt work..buy a new pump?

Cheers!
 
not nessicarily like i said it could be the wiring connections. swap the connectors for the front and back washers. then pull the back washer and the front should work. if not then it probably is the motor
 
I have had exactly this problem. The fault is the in directional valve at the bottom of the pump. The pump can be popped out of the bottom of the bottle. On the side of the pump there is a very small canister containing the directional valve. This can be prised off the two pipes connecting it to the pump, the valve can then be pulled into two halves. Inside you will find a rubber pellet which will have become swollen. Use some coarse wet and dry paper to wear the diameter down until it is a loose fit in the tube it lies in. The diameter is not critical, as long as it is loose enough to move freely. Snap everything back together. Before snapping the motor back into the bottle I would advise you to cover it with a liberal coating of grease as the motor casing rusts badly. This should solve the problem for some years.
 
On a 2002 Seicento there was a single bi-directional pump with a directional valve as I described in my reply yesterday. The main agent tried to sell us a new bottle with two pumps at an exorbitant price. The reason why the single pump just squirts the back when the directional valve fails is because the front screen washers have four jets there is less back-pressure resistance than there is with the single jet at the rear so theb back pressure from the front jets is insufficient to move the swollen pellet and it stays stuck in the rear screen position.
 
Sorry for my silence.. i've had another problem with my car over the past week which needed priority and have been without my car for a week!

Today i checked the pump out, its covered in rust so no surprise it doesn't work!! I swapped the rubber tubes around, the front worked, the back didn't, just as suspected!
I then swapped over the electric cables, after some testing through a small bulb circuit the motor clips (the bit that the wiring head attaches to) attached to the pump didn't give off any power (bulb didn't light).... so the motor is dead i assume. It confused me at first as to why it wouldnt work when the cable itself was live when testing.

So i have come to 2 conclusions ideas:

1. replace the pump/motor- however it does not seem easy to take this off the pump without getting wet. To replace it would i need to take out the whole bottle (tried taking the bolts out- too rusty to move)???

2. T-valve- this idea would block the pump to the front, attach a T or Y valve/tube to the rear pump so when pushing away (rear) both would spray at the same time. This would essentially leave the front pump obsolete (put stopper over pump end) and pulling leaver towards wouldnt do a thing...


IDEAS AND THOUGHTS, THANKS VERY MUCH FOR YOUR HELP SO FAR
KIND REGARDS!!
seburne
 
I then swapped over the electric cables, after some testing through a small bulb circuit the motor clips (the bit that the wiring head attaches to) attached to the pump didn't give off any power (bulb didn't light).... so the motor is dead i assume. It confused me at first as to why it wouldnt work when the cable itself was live when testing.

motor clips= plug, sorry couldnt think of word:bang:

+ sorry meant wire cable was NOT live; also where do they go to? i could swap them over or find where its live to? easy to find?
 
the motor is push fit into the bottle... you could always try draining the bottle by squirting till there is not water left.. then its a case of giving the motor a pull out of the bottle
 
Hi. I just replaced mi water pump only a few days ago. From what you´re explaining you only have 1 motor with that cool valve that sends water front or back... The connection in my seicento for the water pump bottle has two circuits, the one connected, Front Wiper(lever towards you) and another circuit which was hanging relatively close to the motor. Has the same end plug, a T shape, which serves for Rear Wiper(lever towards dash). Did you try using that plug to the pump? The Negative leads usually is the black wire, the other one being the positive. Check out the two plugs. If they have a pair of same colored wires than that´s the negative.
If no movement or sound, pump is kaput. If the pump works, you should be turning the valve 180 degrees(the black-white thing sticking out of the two little tubes) , to squirt front, at least. Sorry for not making/having pics, hope you understand what i am talking about. The pump goes out turning it 90 degrees, away from the tank,(using a plane screwdriver) then pulling it downwards,(don´t misplace that rubber seal) at least mine had that system. Hope I helped.
 
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Thanks for the help, photos would be great if anyone has them just so we're on the same page!..

I've been under the impression that the 2 pumps have motors attached to them? the way you're making it sound seems like your Sei is different :confused:
Both wires were the same colour.. tried swapping them around as previously explained to no avail! The plugs/wires swapping around didn't make any difference!???

I'm warming towards the idea of a T-valve thingy coming off the working pump so when one sprays they both do..will have a look on the net to see if this is purchasable!
 
Seems like that. My bottle only has a motorpump and 2 circuits front and back, but only front connected... My sei is a Van, probably done like that to reduce costs... :) Silly question, did you check the FUSE? :D And tell me again, did you change the connectors one with the other to see if anything works?
 
maybe thats right, i can imagine the vans different to my sporting!
yeah checked the fuse, the fuses are the same, and yeah also swapped the connectors around, the front wiper connector/wire/lead is not working..hmmm:confused:
 
Seicento s 2002 with a single pump and only one washer working. This might be a simple way of fixing this problem. I just pulled apart the black and white valve (that hangs under the pump) and removed the small 'rubber' plunger, put it back together again and I had lovley front and back washers again. That made me think that the plunger was a needless design complication. Yes, I know the little devil might try and equalise pressures but I certainly didn't need it!
 
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* The reason your washer is only washing the back window is that there is a single pump, which is bi-directional, it has two outlets, one to the back and one to the front. There is a small pellet between the two output ports, this swells and gets sticky. When the motor changes direction there should be enough back pressure to push the pellet to the other side, but once it has swollen it get stiff and, as there is more resistance because of the single jet on the rear wiper, when you try to wash the front screen, which has four jets there is less back pressure in the pump, so it cannot push the pellet to cut off the rear washer.

To fix it, which takes a bit of time but doesn’t cost anything, you need to undo the self-tapping screw holding the inner, plastic wheel arch protector (I did not need to remove the wheel). You will then see the washer bottle and motor. Disconnect the electrical plug from the motor (it just pulls off). The motor and pump can then be pulled out of the bottom of the washer bottle. Pull the two pipes off and you should be able to see the pea-sized pellet between the two outlet pipes. This part is just a press fit onto the pump and can eased off, you can then ease apart the two parts that the pellet lies between. You will see that the pellet has two tapered ends, these must not be damaged but you need to reduce the outside diameter of the raised parts – either using coarse wet and dry paper or a sharp, fine file – until it is a really loose fit in its plastic housing (on this part precision is not necessary). Then snap it all back together.

I did this several years ago and it hasn’t given trouble since. I did cover the motor in plenty of grease, as it was very rusty on the outside. What really decided me to attempt my own repair was that there was not a direct replacement available and I did not want the excessive expense of having the unit replaced as the replacement would have been a two-pumped bottle and new wiring would be required.
 
I hope this adds to all the information at least. I have found that the Fiat manual is wrong about the wiring for the washer pump. Both wires that go to it are green/black and pink/black respecivly. Those 2 wires go all the way to the stalk switch which you operate with your RIGHT HAND. No earth wire is connected directly to the pump as shown in the manual page. I think the reason for this is to drive the pump in both directions in order to swich it to front window and back window (by changing the polarity) and that is what the small plunger allows. The tinyist bit of dirt in this valve would stop it working and also it looks a bit as though it was more designed as a PLUG than a valve. Is all that any use. I don't actually tink wet and dry paper would do much to it as it is silicone rubber but it might have cleaned it a bit?
Andrew.
 
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