Windshield Washer Motor

E

ez153

I'm not sure where the motor is located on the
99 Forester. I checked the fuse, disconnected
the line and checked the fluid level. Still unable to get the washer to
squirt fluid. I saw two
cylinder units connected to the washer reservoir
with wires running to the bottom of the main fuse box. Any suggestion?

Thanks,
Emmy
 
ez153 said:
I'm not sure where the motor is located on the
99 Forester. I checked the fuse, disconnected
the line and checked the fluid level. Still unable to get the washer to
squirt fluid. I saw two
cylinder units connected to the washer reservoir
with wires running to the bottom of the main fuse box. Any suggestion?

Thanks,
Emmy
If like on my 96 Brighton, like I presume, those «cylinders» ARE the
motors.There are two, one for the front and one for the back. Are they
both disfunctionnal or only one of them? The back pump gets starved
sooner than the front one cause it's higher on the reservoir. A simple
voltage test could also be made at the pump's connections.
 
Neither of the motors are operational. Is it common for both to go out at
the same time?
I rarely used the rear washer. Do you know if
it difficult to install the motors yourself?

Thanks for answering,
Emmy
 
ez153 said:
Neither of the motors are operational. Is it common for both to go out at
the same time?
I rarely used the rear washer. Do you know if
it difficult to install the motors yourself?

If neither are operational, I would suspect an electrical problem
like a fuse or the switch. Have you checked the fuse? Both motors
quitting at the same time is a little too much coincidence and even more
so since you dont use the rear one very often.
I would begin by checking for voltage at one of the motors connection,
then if no current (like I presume you will find) I would check the fuse
and if the fuse is good presume that it's the switch.
Never replaced the motors, but if it came to that, i would think it's an
easy job.
Gilles (Montreal)
 
ez153 said:
I forgot to ask how do I check the voltage and with what?
No offense but maybe you should leave that to a professionnal or buy a
Haynes manual for your car and start from there. All the basics are
explained in the first chapters.
Cheers!
Gilles
 
Neither of the motors are operational. Is it common for both to go out at
the same time?

Not really. I'm guessing a fuse has blown. Did you check the in-cabin
fuse box as well as the engine fuse box? It could also be a faulty
wire or something.
 
ez153 said:
Neither of the motors are operational. Is it common for both to go out at
the same time?

Both of the motors out of operation tends to point toward a common cause
as the first place to look. They get their power from two separate
switches, but there could be a common fuse that feeds both switches.
I'd be surprised, however, if windshield washer motors merited their own
unique fuse, so if it were a blown fuse I'd expect that you would have
noticed some other things not working as well.

Another potential common cause might be the ground. It's quite likely
that the grounds of the two motors would be connected together and then
go to ground via a common wire. Look for one wire leaving the motor
assembly and heading toward the chassis. Check for corrosion at the
connectors.

A different possibility might be sludge buildup in the pumps. Have you
been using water or alcohol-based fluid? If the former, it could have
been a breeding ground for sludge. I don't get the impression from your
posting that you would consider yourself epecially handy with electrical
things, but one thing you could try would be to disconnect the wires
leading to the motors and put voltage directly across each of them to
see what they do.


--
 
If someone actuates the washer can you hear the pumps running?
Have you had the car waxed recently? Could be clogs of wax in the spray
nozzles.

Carl
1 Lucky Texan
 
Hi,
I wonder if it really is motor not running. maybe pinched hose or
something already metnioned.
Tony
 
With a voltmeter, a Volt-Ohm-Meter (VOM) or something like that.
Radio Shack sells these for (probably) under $10 up to ??? A cheap
one will tell you just as much, in this case, as the most expensive.
Give it a try, or get someone who is just a bit into electrical stuff to
help you. (Hint: 12 Volts can NOT give you any kind of dangerous
shock; this is NOT hazardous to do.)
 
Do you happen to know if the same fuse operates the wiper and the washer?
When I press the washer the wiper works but not the squitter.
 
I had the same problem too...no water coming out but hear the pumps running.
Turns out there was gunk in both the nozzle section. A good wipe fixed it.

ST
 
"Gilles Gour" <(e-mail address removed)
No offense but maybe you should leave that to a professionnal or buy a
Haynes manual for your car and start from there.

Except there is no Haynes manual for the Forester. Considering the quality
of the other Haynes I have seen, perhaps that's a good thing.

Emmy better hope it isn't the pump that has gone bad. US$120.00 - yikes!
 
al gu said:
If you put 50 car batteries in parallel you have 12 volts and enough
amperage to kill quite a few people.
:)))

Is that your symbol for humor, or does it merely warn of a dangerous lack
of knowledge? Do you really not know that putting 50 (or 500) batteries
in parallel would not hurt anyone?
 
no mas panzon said:
With a voltmeter, a Volt-Ohm-Meter (VOM) or something like that.
Radio Shack sells these for (probably) under $10 up to ??? A cheap
one will tell you just as much, in this case, as the most expensive.
Give it a try, or get someone who is just a bit into electrical stuff to
help you. (Hint: 12 Volts can NOT give you any kind of dangerous
shock; this is NOT hazardous to do.)
If you put 50 car batteries in parallel you have 12 volts and enough
amperage to kill quite a few people.
:)))
 
al said:
If you put 50 car batteries in parallel you have 12 volts and enough
amperage to kill quite a few people.
:)))

No--you have enough energy to kill quite a few people, if (im)properly
used, but that in itself won't give you any more amps. Ohm's Law still
rules! I still equals E/R, and your 50 batteries wired in parallel
aren't going to change the resistance of the people in question!

--
 
Ken said:
"Gilles Gour" <(e-mail address removed)



Except there is no Haynes manual for the Forester. Considering the quality
of the other Haynes I have seen, perhaps that's a good thing.

Emmy better hope it isn't the pump that has gone bad. US$120.00 - yikes!
Haynes is not perfect but was enough to guide me successfuly thru lots
of maintenance and repairs on my 96 Legacy. I was specialy referring to
the first chapters where the use of basic automotive tools (like a
multimeter) are explained.
I dont think it's the pumps but one can get one much cheaper than 120$
at intenet retailers like 1stSubaruparts.
 
ez153 said:
Do you happen to know if the same fuse operates the wiper and the washer?
When I press the washer the wiper works but not the squitter.
news:Esbpb.3578$(e-mail address removed)...

I'm afraid I can't help you with that tonight but will try to look
tomorrow if I can.
Very unlikely that it is something impeding the flow of liquid thru the
tubes. Again it would be a very unlikely coincidence that this would
happen front and rear at the same time. Your definitely looking for
something electrical. I'll see if I can find which fuse it is tomorrow.
Good luck meanwhile.
Gilles
 
Very unlikely that it is something impeding the flow of liquid thru the
tubes. Again it would be a very unlikely coincidence that this would
happen front and rear at the same time.

Maybe not, but some years ago both of the headlights went out on my Honda
Prelude. Of course I thought it was the relay but swapping relays around did
no good. In fact, both headlights had burned out at the same time.
 

Ask a Question

Want to reply to this thread or ask your own question?

You'll need to choose a username for the site, which only take a couple of moments. After that, you can post your question and our members will help you out.

Ask a Question

Members online

No members online now.

Forum statistics

Threads
13,889
Messages
67,365
Members
7,364
Latest member
Cimarron49

Latest Threads

Back
Top