w124 washer system
 

I just bought a 1994 W124 E320, and nothing comes out of the nozzles when I activate the windshield washer system. I looked under the hood and I didn't see any leaks anywhere. When the lights are on, the headlight washers work fine. Could it be a bad pump? Are there 2 pumps... one for the headlights and one for the windshield??
Thanks,
Matt

Welcome to Mercedesshop and congrats on the car.
Is water getting to the nozzles but not comming out? If so then you may want to take a niddle and clean out the nozzles becuase they get cloged quite often. If that does not work then it could be the motor and there are 2, look at the motors and see if there is a leak there (the motors are on the outside of the resovior). You may need a new motor or you may just need to put a hose back on.
Subman

mcdill, your headlight washers are working fine. I thought mine didn't work either till I learned they will only work if the lights are on. The windhshield washer will, of course, work with or w/out lights.

If your car has one, read through the owner's manual - I learned how to do a ton of little useful things. Guess that's why they have owner's manuals to begin with :rolleyes:

like Subman said, periodic cleaning of the nozzles with a needle (or small paperclip) will keep them blasting away.

Nice choice of car, btw - hope you love it!

Regards,
- Ryan

I cleaned the nozzles and checked the hoses, they all seem fine. Still not a drop of water comes out of the nozzles on the hood. There is a leak underneath one of the pumps... I'm assuming that the pump is bad? Ever since I fiddled with it, now it leaks constantly.
Matt

You could switch the motors so you can have the windshield washers working. Then go get a new motor. Anothor thing it could be is the gasget between the motor and the resivor, but I doubt that is your problem.
Have someone push the switch while you hold and listen to the motor to see if it works.
Subman

That's what I did -- switch the headlight pump for the windshield pump just to confirm that the pump was the culprit. New pumps are not too expensive or too hard to replace (even I was able to do it!)

Washer sealer
 

Make sure you set your washer and pump the first time. They have a habit of leaking if you take them in and out too many times. Pumps are around $14.00 each.

If water is leaking from underneath the pump, then the grommet has expanded and is most likely leaking. Replace it and get a tight fit and the pump should be able to suck water out properly.

I would be surprised if your pump has gone bad so soon but you never know.

Good luck!

~Paul

__________________
'91 300E, 209k miles

I happened across this dead thread tonight. I had the same problem once on my car, a 1993 300D.
The problem with mine was the clip broke that holds the washer fluid tube out of the way when you close the hood, so it was simply getting pinched every time I closed the hood and that resulted in no flow.
Zip-tied the line back in place and haven't had an issue since... well, until today when the nozzle burst into flames, but that's another thread