Let It Flow

Those little bumps under the edge of the bonnet, bottom left and top right of the photo, are the windscreen washer jets for my car. And today was the day they decided to stop working. The flow had been a bit sporadic of late but halfway to Barrow this morning there was nothing forthcoming no matter how many times I pulled the lever. Luckily, I made it without the screen getting too dirty and first of all tried topping up the reservoir. There is supposed to be a warning light when the washer fluid is running low, but I reasoned the sensor might have failed and the washer had simply run dry.
Unfortunately, even after topping up nothing issued forth from the jets though I could clearly hear the motor whirring away. As the dealership was on my way home, I called in to see if anything could be done. No service appointments available until a week on Friday but, after I explained I would be needing to travel up and down the M6 to Lancaster every night for the next fortnight, they offered to try a “blow back”.
This entailed using the air line to blow through the jets, back into the reservoir, to try and shift some of the silt that was obviously blocking the filter on the pickup tube. I’m pleased to say it worked and I hope it will last until I can take the car in for a thorough clean of the system. With below freezing temperatures forecast this week, there could be a lot of salt on the roads, and it doesn’t take long for your screen to turn opaque in those conditions if there’s no way of washing it. I’ll keep my fingers crossed and carry a 2 litre bottle of water in the boot, just in case I have to pull over and sluice the windscreen if the washers clog up again.