Hi all,

Just since yesterday, when the weather here in Montreal started to get a wee bit cold (down to -17C last night), my headlight washers stopped spraying. I'm going to get the dealer to look at them and fix if necessary, but I was wondering if anyone else has had cold-weather problems with these? This is the first time they have not sprayed at all, and the xenons are getting a might dirty...

 

Umm,......get paper towel and some windex.

Seriously, might just be cheap washer fluid - not rated for low temp's. That will often freeze up in the line.

Also, check spray ports - clear of debris (dirt, frozen stuff)

 

I agree with Tallman, may be just the cheap washer fluid freezing. Happened to me last year here in NE, when it was so cold, even my windshield washer jets froze. Let the car warm up and maybe turn the lights on and see if that helps.

If not, could be the connection.

 

The fact that BOTH quit simultaneously supports freezing over debris. My car does not have the cold weather package, but I'm guessing it's pretty standard in Montreal. That may explain why the windshield washer works, but not headlights (assuming only the screen nozzles are heated).

One other thing to consider is that there might be a check valve between the reservoir and the headlight washers, which may become stuck. The washer bottle is pretty low in the MINI, so it probably doesn't have one. On some cars, they are needed to prevent the headlight washers from siphoning the bottle dry.

 

I took it to the dealer yesterday and they diagnosed the problem to be the pump - $300+ to replace it, so I'll pass on it for now!

 

Yea I'd agree with you on the "pass on it for now"! They are certainly cool but definitely not $300 worth of cool haha!