Just had a nerve racking experience with my 91 W126, and wanted to share... this failure is probably common to all the ~89+ cars with heated washer sprayers and heated washer lines.

I was driving home when suddenly I saw a puff of smoke come between the windshield and the hood above the battery, and a moment later a huge cloud of smoke blew through the air vents. I've smelt enough burnt electrical things to tell what this was right away... an electrical fire

I pulled over ASAP, shut the car off, and opened the hood. I saw smoke around the battery but didn't find anything burnt or loose. I turned the key back on, waited, then saw smoke coming from the hood itself. I walked around, heard sizzling and saw what the failure was: The heated washer fluid line had shorted out where it enters the hood and all of the hose was burnt. Note this is on an 8A fuse in my car, which did not blow.



I had opened the hood earlier in the day to jump start another car, that was probably the final flex that broke the camel's back.

I had noticed a crack down lower which I fixed with tape. I'd suggest everyone take a look at this. The wires hide inside an outer black rubber tube, so the problem might be hidden.

-Jason

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1991 350SDL. 230,000 miles (new motor @ 150,000). Blown head gasket

Tesla Model 3. 205,000 miles. Been to 48 states!
Past: A fleet of VW TDIs.... including a V10,a Dieselgate Passat, and 2 ECOdiesels.
2014 Cadillac ELR
2013 Fiat 500E.

Looks almost like somebody closed the hood on it one too many times?? Looks kinda like the wire and that vertical steel edge by your forefinger in the photo became acquainted at some point. One of the reasons why loose wiring is bad. That's not a crack, that's a chop.

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No, there was no crack there before the incident and there was no wear on the outer coating. It's melted through. The blue clip you see in the background held the wires tight to the hood.

-J

I hate to see how much that hose cost.

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Jim

Here's the section of burnt line:



The hose is actually 3 tubes in one, a larger one for the washer fluid, one for the heater wire, and one for the ground. I wonder if there was a crack between the three at this spot and the washer fluid helped a short along?

-J

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1991 350SDL. 230,000 miles (new motor @ 150,000). Blown head gasket

Tesla Model 3. 205,000 miles. Been to 48 states!
Past: A fleet of VW TDIs.... including a V10,a Dieselgate Passat, and 2 ECOdiesels.
2014 Cadillac ELR
2013 Fiat 500E.

I noticed my outer black soft part is cracked on mine. I will take a closer look inside!

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1991 560 SEL / 185k miles
1992 750il / 17k miles - project car

$85 bucks when I bought mine a few years ago.

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Eugene

10 E63 AMG
93 300te 4matic
07 BMW X3
14 Ford F-150 Fx2

Wisps of white-smoke in the area above the passenger side battery. Shut her down quick.

Output side of windshield nozzle heater "black box" that is located between hood-pad and hood was melted away, along with the hoses w/built-in wires to the windshield nozzles.

No fuses blown = poor design.

Whew! Glad I dodged that one!

:-) neil

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Good save, thanks for the heads up. That will be something ill remove asap, ill never need it. I never had heated fluid in all my life up in MN, I dont need it now, not here. Probably keep the coolant line running through the reservoir though, thats not going to hurt anything.

Just wanted to give this thread a bump. I definitely recommend everyone check these wires out.
One of my nozzles caught fire today. It's burned so badly I can't even begin to guess where the fire started, or how to go about putting it back together.
I'm hoping to source the components from the scrap yard tomorrow and replace any wiring that looks even remotely suspicious. All the plastic parts are damaged beyond salvage, and there was about 6 inches of wires with no sheath that I simply cut off in the heat of the moment because there appears to be no way to unplug them and I had to drive the car home.

8A X 14.5 V = 116 Watts of power in a small area.

Also, except for old British fuses, the stamped rating is what the fuse will carry not what it will blow at and a fuse will carry over the rated value for a measurable period of time. There is a time Vs. amp chart available from the manufacturer that shows how this works.

Fyi the nozzles don't heat the fluid much at all but it keeps them from freezing. .1 amp through each-the mirrors are 3 amp each and have a thermostat on the back

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1981 300SD 512k OM603

So I know old thread but what is the solution here besides removing the heated hoses at the hood?
Possible to put a smaller rated fuse along that hood edge along those lines?

isn't it the small auxillary water pump, caused climate control to burn up car too.?

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1999 w140, quit voting to old, and to old to fight, a god damned veteran