Hello out there, has anybody dis-engaged there headlight washers. I'm thinking about doing this as it seems to waste a lot of windshield washer fluid and realy doesn't clean much of the grime off of the lights.

thanks for any info,
tommyb

 

Its actually not wasting fluid from the windshield nozzles. The xenons have their own resevoir on the other side of the car. So dont worry, its not stealing from the windshield washers

 

RallyMINI,


I know that there are two places to fill the washer fluid but I thought one was for the front windshield and headlights and the other one was for the rear window, at least that's what I think it says in the manual.

tommyb

 

The reservoir on the driver's side is for the headlights, the other for the windshield. There has been some discussion about the headlight washer motors burning out if the reservoir is run dry. There may be a thread somewhere on NAM about this...hope this helps.

 

I'm 100% sure. The resevoir on the driver's side is definitely JUST the xenons. And the other one on the passenger side is the front and rear windshields ONLY.

I have a non-xenon car, and thus only have the passenger side resevoir. I did research to retrofit xenons and found that ALL of the plumbing is separate for the xenon-resevoir versus the windshield resevoir.

 

If you look at the fill caps on both, one the drivers side indicates headlights the other indicates windshield.

 

you're both right, I must of had a brain fart this morning, I reviewed the c/d that came with my MINI and it said the same thing that you both said, that being the case it seems it would be easy to disconnect the headlight washer,


tommyb

 

No problem...definitely seems like it would be easy. Be warned...it IS indeed illegal to not have a working washing system with xenon lights. There is nearly NO POSSIBLE way you could get in trouble for it....the stuff would all still look like it was there...i'm just giving a heads up

 

Why is it illegal? Is the thinking that if they get dirty, they're more likely to blind oncoming traffic?

Makes no difference to me, since I like the washers.

 

How do you figure this? Many cars (non Mini) are sold with Xenon lights and no washing systems.

 

I think it's illegal in Europe to not have working washers. EU xenons require self-leveling and headlight washer. In the US it isn't required, that's why you see a lot of misaligned xenons here.

 

Your right. There is no regulation here in the States, unlike in Europe where antiglare laws have been in place for decades.

very long:
http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/rules/rulings/glare.html

 

oh alright....i was mistaken, i figured that the washer law was in the US as well since they have been cracking down on xenon-usage. My bad :smile:

 

So... 200 complaints in two years... to do an investigation on headlight glare.

How many complaints about windshield cracks does it take???

 

Pumps need fluid for lubrication, <don't burn it up for the next owner> remove the fuse instead (f25) Fuse panel next to your left foot location #f25, 2nd row 7th one down, 30amp

 

namwob, thanks for the reply, sounds like the way to go, just pull the fuse and nothing is damaged in the process and if I feel I want to use it again all I need to do is re-insert the fuse, I knew some one out there would have a solution,


tommyb

 

In Canada the windsheild resevoir is on the drivers side,HIDs is on the passenger side.Now why would they change that?I like using the lamp washers to get ice off ,then I don't have to scrape the coversPlus the spray looks kind of cool at night,motoring on the highway

 

Then there are those folks, that re plumb the washers to become intercooler sprays. I wish I had the head light washers....

John

 

just use water.

 

Back to the question...I have removed one. The passenger side needs to be removed if you want to mount an OCC up front for clearance. I plugged the line with a rubber cork and clamped it. Never missed it

 

Forgot who said it, but the headlight washers do serve a purpose. Like Rallymini said, it is most likely illegal to disable the headlight washers. Not that anyone can tell, but if you were involved in an accident because of headlamp glare, and they find them to be disabled you could be found liable.

The washers are there to make sure the lights work properly and do not distract other drivers with glare from the headlamps. Xenon headlamps are required to have a self levelling system to compensate for increasing the level of the cutoff due to weight you may be hauling, so they don't point up into driver's eyes. The washers keep the outer lenses clean, which is a two fold benefit. Xenons have a wider pattern than halogen, so the dirt on the outer lens is more likely to diffuse the lighting pattern, which will not only cause more glare to be evident to other oncoming drivers, but will impair your visibility as well.

As I understand it, those are all requirements for Xenon installations on cars in the US. I cannot find the document that says so, but I remember reading that the levellers and washers are required for any install of HIDs. It's one of the reasons that so many aftermarket outfitters have been closed down by the DOT.