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Windshield washer won't wash.

bnow48

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My '84 Jimmy Sierra Classic has the wiper motor and washer pump built together. The wipers wipe but the washer doesn't wash. Can someone point me to a fairly detailed rundown on how to check it out. Is there a common work around? (Washer system out of something else?) The plumbing is OK, but when you call for washer fluid, the pump does nothing. I hate to admit that at 69 I don't know more about wiring than I do, but I misspent my youth in other ways. Here is your chance to shine!
 
My '84 Jimmy Sierra Classic has the wiper motor and washer pump built together. The wipers wipe but the washer doesn't wash. Can someone point me to a fairly detailed rundown on how to check it out. Is there a common work around? (Washer system out of something else?) The plumbing is OK, but when you call for washer fluid, the pump does nothing. I hate to admit that at 69 I don't know more about wiring than I do, but I misspent my youth in other ways. Here is your chance to shine!

Assuming the hoses aren't broken from the fluid reservoir or from the pump to the wipers (the usual cause) the wiper motor should push fluid without much trouble. If it doesn't, a new pump would be best bet.
 
I've gotten mine to work after long inactivity by taking the hose off the washer fluid tank that goes to the wiper motor & pump and blow into it or give it a quick blast with an air gun,that usually primes the pump and gets any gunk out so it can pump again.
(I assume the pump is working when you hit the button,but nothing squirts out ?)..

If you cant hear the pump clicking when you push the button with the wipers on high speed,it might be the contacts under the plastic cover on the wiper motor are corroded...try cleaning them with an emery board and see if it'll work then..

I have put one of those Trico "universal" washer pumps in line with the hose to the tank rather than try fixing the original one built into the wiper motor--I had a few oem pumps that worked great,but refused to shut off--they kept pumping until the tank ran out of fluid!..its pretty easy to splice the wire that activates the stock pump onto the universal pump,so it'll spray as long as you hold in the button..
 
Thanks guys! Now I have a place to start. I need to post some new photos. Jimmy is registered, inspected, runs and drives in all gears and has COLD blown' air! This is a Texas truck so it is not a rust bucket, but I do have some body issues to address.
 
Its been a long time since I worked on one of those. Not sure it its the type I'm thinking about. But for years the most common failure of that system was not shutting off, instead of not pumping.
If its the system I'm thinking about, the windshield motor works the pump. There is a solenoid that engages the pump to the motor. I want to say that the solenoid pulled in to turn off the pump, so when it burned out, the pump was engaged to the motor all the time.
Most of the time, I just tied off the lever so that it never engaged. Back in the day, you had to buy the whole motor to get the solenoid, and most folks would not pay it. Later, I found some "universal" kits with a separate pump and bypassed the whole system. Adding a button on the dash.
Its easy to tell if yours is that type I think. You can pull the washer wire connector off and you should hear the pump clicking when the motor is running. If you do, and no fluid comes out, then its probably stopped up.
Although, some people just ignored the noise until the pump wore out from no fluid. Might be your problem.

I note that Rockauto does not sell the pump, but does sell a rebuild kit for about $7. Their most common repair, is a stand-alone replacement, which runs from $9 to about $23 if you need the tank.
If your pump engages the motor, and you want to stay stock, you might try the rebuild kit. But if it was me, as many of those things I bypassed, I would replace the whole system.
 
My suggestion is that if you determine the pump in the motor is bad, convert to the later style pump in tank. I believe it's a pretty easy conversion. Not sure if they are any less problematic (they are just newer), but at least they aren't tied to the wiper motor.
 
I went down this road a few years ago. I'm a little hazy on details, but I tried to fix it with the kits and such, but eventually found a full replacement on ebay and swapped that in.

...I found the order in my email, looks like $55 but the link is dead by now.
 
My suggestion is that if you determine the pump in the motor is bad, convert to the later style pump in tank. I believe it's a pretty easy conversion. Not sure if they are any less problematic (they are just newer), but at least they aren't tied to the wiper motor.
Thanks for the suggestion. Your collection of data is mind boggling. What a body of work!!! Thanks for taking the time and making it available.
 
Mine didn't work initially because of both old and cracked washer lines and a pump that had become clogged with dirt and deposits over the years. Once I cleaned it up and replaced the plumbing, it worked like a charm. The system is pretty simple.
 
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