Windshield Washers Stopped Working
 

Hi,
I have a 2017 Justa with 20k kms and my windshield washers just stopped working. The fluid is full and the back one works fine.
I don't think they're clogged as both stopped working at the same time. I opened the bonnet to check if the line was pinched and didn't see anything. I can hear the motor running when I operate them but the fluid barely dribbles out - after a very small initial burst.

I know it's still under warranty but the dealership is an hour away. Any ideas are appreciated.
TIA.

if you hear the pump run and juice don't come out the lines either

1. the line is clogged/pinched or

2. if the line broke or came off the pump you should be finding a puddle of juice under the car .....

3. I have not seen the wiring diagrams for a 17 but earlier GEN there was just one pump and it turned one way to pump front and reversed to pump rear ... involves check valves ... maybe a blocked valve is the clog .... maybe

Took the car to the service center. Turns out the blue fluid (even heavily diluted) I use had clogged the filter. I've been using the stuff for decades in all my cars, even two previous Minis. Seems strange but I have to go by what they told me. Guess I'll have to look for something else as I don't like using plain water.

filter the juice b4 you put it in? .... a chunk of old panty hose would work. I'd use the filters I get for straining auto paints b4 they go in the spray gun ..... even a coffee filter would work.

https://cdn.eastwood.com/media/catal...p/1/p14748.jpg

never heard of this either ... maybe it reacted with something in the bottle already ... if you live it the frozen north you don't really have too many options, plain water will just freeze.

I use windex but right now it is 80 degrees outside.

Sounds more like you have some contamination in the tank rather than 'bad' fluid. I am guessing you are using one of the commercially available 'blue' low-temp juices out there, which are pretty well filtered from the manufacturer. I use whatever is on sale at my local Wally World and haven't had any issues...ever, like you. Even in super cold temps, the flow restriction will only be temporary till the deep freeze lifts. The idea of having to filter your fluid is not right. I would continue to use your regular fluid unfiltered and see if it happens again. If so, I would press the dealership to flush the lines and pull the tank to clean to make sure no contamination is in there...I am sure they may fight you for it, but something isn't quite right IMHO.

Thanks. It's also didn't sound logical to me. I had a 2015 F56 for over two years and never had a problem using the same stuff. Plus, I'm in Israel so I hardly think cold weather comes into play. But I will try some other stuff for now. Maybe just a few drops of Windex but I seem to remember trying that in the past and ending up with bad streaking. Looks like a trip to the auto store is coming up.

Thanks for all the input.

I agree that filtering should not be required ... it was a thought of finding the problem ... sorry if that was not clear

btw when I lived in the frozen north you could buy gallon jugs of the 'blue stuff' to pour right in

OR

pints of a concentrated BLUE that had to be diluted ... it would be 'thicker' in full strength . . .

It was over 80 here today ... such problems are only memories for me . . .

The driver-side washer stopped yesterday - one month after their "fix". And I haven't touched the bonnet since then. I only opened it yesterday to add plain water just to make sure it wasn't empty before taking it in for another "fix".
This is starting to piss me off. I knew their explanation about the blue windshield wiper fluid clogging the filter was ridiculous.

Now I have to waste more time at the service center. But this time, I'm trying a different Mini Service Center instead of the importers center.