Metrik
New member
- Joined
- Nov 28, 2009
- Messages
- 17
- Points
- 8
I just recently bought a 2008 Grande Punto and enjoy it very much. But the washer jets on it is a disaster. They are really badly designed and to make it even worse, all three of them, 2 x front, 1 x back are fixed.
When driving, the front jets spray water onto the wipers and the water rarely makes it above the lower half of the wind screen. The huge drivers-side wiper blade, needs at least two dedicated jets, but only has one. Result is that 50% of the blade never gets properly "wet". When examining the bonnet panel holding the two front jets, you notice a third dummy jet in the middle. This could have been the perfect number two jet for the drivers-side wiper blade, but Fiat decided to make it a dummy. Why?
I couldn't stand it, so i decided to do some tests and mods to the front washer jets. I haven't tried the result on the car yet, but here are some pics for you to see. I modified the jets to try make them better. The result (in the lab) is very promising.
Here's the original front washer jet, pulled from the bonnet panel:
And a rear view shot:
I have two problems with these jets. They aim too low and the drivers-side jet spray is too narrow (horisontal wise) for the huge wiper blade. Both being fixed, i had to modify the nozzles.
TO WIDEN THE SPRAY HORISONTALLY on the drivers-side jet:
Here's a top view shot of the original front jet in action. Notice the narrow angle at which the water exits the nozzle. Imagining a clock, the spray covers from approx. 2:30 - 4:00 o'clock:
I decided to cut/melt the plastic on one of the sides of the jet. Being from Denmark and seated in the left side of the car, i need more water to the right on the wind screen, so i melted the right side of the jet just slightly with a small flat piece of metal, heated up by a candle. This is the area i "flattened" out / melted (the yellow area):
The result. Look how the water exiting, now covers from approx. 1:30 - 4:00 o'clock. I actually think this will work!:
Comparing them side by side, top most is the modified one:
TO ANGLE UP THE SPRAY on both jets:
Now on to the vertical problem. Both jet nozzles needs to be opened up upwards, but i've only done one so far, to be able to compare it with an non-modified one. This time i flattened out / melted this area with the hot metal piece:
Result. Both jets are shown here. The closest to the camera is the original, the furthest away the modified one. I tried to align them in the shot, which is hard, but the result is pretty clear. I think this will work too!:
My jet lab setup
I hope this is useable info for some. I will report back when i mount the jets on my car and test them on the road.
Notes:
I am quite sure that the new, widened spray will clear the bonnet panel.
I think the jet design on the new Evo is the same as the GP, unfortunately.
The bonnet panel consists of two parts, separated in the middle. They are held in place by two 10mm bolts, accessible from the underside of the bonnet.
To help future searches: sprinkler, adjusting
When driving, the front jets spray water onto the wipers and the water rarely makes it above the lower half of the wind screen. The huge drivers-side wiper blade, needs at least two dedicated jets, but only has one. Result is that 50% of the blade never gets properly "wet". When examining the bonnet panel holding the two front jets, you notice a third dummy jet in the middle. This could have been the perfect number two jet for the drivers-side wiper blade, but Fiat decided to make it a dummy. Why?
I couldn't stand it, so i decided to do some tests and mods to the front washer jets. I haven't tried the result on the car yet, but here are some pics for you to see. I modified the jets to try make them better. The result (in the lab) is very promising.
Here's the original front washer jet, pulled from the bonnet panel:
And a rear view shot:
I have two problems with these jets. They aim too low and the drivers-side jet spray is too narrow (horisontal wise) for the huge wiper blade. Both being fixed, i had to modify the nozzles.
TO WIDEN THE SPRAY HORISONTALLY on the drivers-side jet:
Here's a top view shot of the original front jet in action. Notice the narrow angle at which the water exits the nozzle. Imagining a clock, the spray covers from approx. 2:30 - 4:00 o'clock:
I decided to cut/melt the plastic on one of the sides of the jet. Being from Denmark and seated in the left side of the car, i need more water to the right on the wind screen, so i melted the right side of the jet just slightly with a small flat piece of metal, heated up by a candle. This is the area i "flattened" out / melted (the yellow area):
The result. Look how the water exiting, now covers from approx. 1:30 - 4:00 o'clock. I actually think this will work!:
Comparing them side by side, top most is the modified one:
TO ANGLE UP THE SPRAY on both jets:
Now on to the vertical problem. Both jet nozzles needs to be opened up upwards, but i've only done one so far, to be able to compare it with an non-modified one. This time i flattened out / melted this area with the hot metal piece:
Result. Both jets are shown here. The closest to the camera is the original, the furthest away the modified one. I tried to align them in the shot, which is hard, but the result is pretty clear. I think this will work too!:
My jet lab setup
I hope this is useable info for some. I will report back when i mount the jets on my car and test them on the road.
Notes:
I am quite sure that the new, widened spray will clear the bonnet panel.
I think the jet design on the new Evo is the same as the GP, unfortunately.
The bonnet panel consists of two parts, separated in the middle. They are held in place by two 10mm bolts, accessible from the underside of the bonnet.
To help future searches: sprinkler, adjusting
