A word of warning for you 500 owners out there. The washers jets on the 500 are of a comically bad design. Basically you have the body of the washer jet and then the nozzle is a little plastic cylinder which slots in the side with an opening for the water to come in and then 3 holes for the water to go out and spray onto your windscreen.

Well it seems that when you get a bit of ice on the car and the washer fluid freezes up it then pushes the little cylinder out the side of the washer jet body and no matter how much you push it back in it just comes back out when you squirt the washers Well it's going to have to go into the garage to get this sorted under warranty but you could prevent this from happening by not being a retard like me and having the proper concentration of washer fluid in the bottle so it doesn't freeze up For anyone who doesn't know how much to use it's on the bottle.

Same design on the Panda and same problems. I can see the forum being full of this when the weather starts to cool down properly

https://www.fiatforum.com/panda/126641-100hp-screen-washer-jets-rubbish.html

I hope you enjoyed your 5 minutes of Bill O'Reilly as well I was out there for a good 30 minutes before trying to adjust the washers and make them stay in but the ****in' thing does appear to suck and they just won't stay in.

306maxi said:

when you get a bit of ice on the car and the washer fluid freezes up it then pushes the little cylinder out the side of the washer jet body .

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bol*ocks!

T14086 said:

bol*ocks!

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Was alright up until the car iced up the other day. If you look on the Panda forum it always seems to happen to them around winter time Coincidence? Methinks not.

Used to happen on my Stilos. Good to see Fiat reacting so quickly.

Mine did this a long time ago, fiat put a new one in straight away.

Yeah mine did this last winter; trip to the garage sorted it

First my Panda, now the 500, both on the drivers side too! Thing is, i'm not sure the ice is the reason, as i keep my car undercover where it's always a few degrees warmer, and it still fudged up.

DraigFlag87 said:

First my Panda, now the 500, both on the drivers side too! Thing is, i'm not sure the ice is the reason, as i keep my car undercover where it's always a few degrees warmer, and it still fudged up.

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If it's in a garage yes but if it's just out in the open undercover it won't be that much warmer.

Had the same all last year, just don't touch the washer if its slightly icy. It's a terrible design and should atleast clip in.

I'm not sure if the washers are different in the LHD version or not, but there was no problem with mine (still live in Hungary). Also I have many friends who's got a cinq but they didn't experienced any problem with the washer. We survived one winter season with no problem and here comes the next wintry weather...

Thanks for the heads up on the washer issue.

On a random note - One of my mates once had to have all her washer lines, pump and sprayers replaced - why - because she had been filling it up with 'moisturising hand wash' and it had congealed and blocked them up and she bust the pump trying to spray it out - why? - because she liked the smell....

The world is doomed!!!

306maxi said:

If it's in a garage yes but if it's just out in the open undercover it won't be that much warmer.

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It's under a carport with a transparent roof, so you get a mini green house effect which seems to keep it a couple of degrees warmer. Either way, it's never frosted over under there, even in the coldest of cold frosts.


I seem to remember a Fiat garage replacing the jet on my Panda under warranty, but then a few weeks later, the other one went. That's when the blue tac came in handy!

306maxi said:

Same design on the Panda and same problems. I can see the forum being full of this when the weather starts to cool down properly

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306maxi said:

If you look on the Panda forum it always seems to happen to them around winter time Coincidence? Methinks not.

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thankfully, the tiny minority of panda people who have had this "non-issue" deal with it and move on, and we don't have extended whining moaning bitching and general flailing away on the floor like a screaming 4 four year old who can't get the red instead of the blue.....

DraigFlag87 said:

It's under a carport with a transparent roof, so you get a mini green house effect which seems to keep it a couple of degrees warmer. Either way, it's never frosted over under there, even in the coldest of cold frosts.

I seem to remember a Fiat garage replacing the jet on my Panda under warranty, but then a few weeks later, the other one went. That's when the blue tac came in handy!

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What a beautiful scenery And I love the Minor van

Offtopic I know but I just had to say it

wreckmaster said:

What a beautiful scenery And I love the Minor van

Offtopic I know but I just had to say it

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Thanks, but it's actually a Morris Traveller (Estate) with a wooden frame!

Jai said:

thankfully, the tiny minority of panda people who have had this "non-issue" deal with it and move on, and we don't have extended whining moaning bitching and general flailing away on the floor like a screaming 4 four year old who can't get the red instead of the blue.....

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Ah come on I was just being melodramatic It's just a silly bit of design is all

306maxi said:

It's just a silly bit of design is all

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manfully resists temptation to say it.....but now you know he is thinking it....

T14086 said:

bol*ocks!

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BTW went into Slaters today and mentioned it and the guy said "yeah we've had a couple recently" and they actually had them in stock. As it was a bit late I'm going back on Friday. Does seem to be related to cold weather

if you say so

I'm on my 2nd 500 now, and had no problems with the jets on either of them I'm pleased to say.