Washer Pump Woes - Not Working / Faulty Wiring?

[jason7579 5]

Hi all,

 

I previously owned a 1.6 GTI but got rid of it to get a 'family' Vectra. For my 30th my lovely wife decided to get me a nice shiny red 1.9 GTI

 

I am having a couple of problems with the shocking dodgy French wiring - I have just taken out the knackered brown connector block for the passenger side front indicators and replaced with insulated bullet connectors.

 

My next job is the faulty front washer.

 

When the wires were connected and I tried the stalk nothing at all happened, I have tested the pump directly to the battery and it works fine so my next job was to strip the wires a bit as they were connected badly and put nice shiny new spade connectors going to the washer pump - still no joy.

 

However when it is all disconnected and I try pulling the stalk the wipers do their 3 swishes. Do you think its a faulty earth? Where should I start looking?

 

Also now I have disconnected it all I can't remember which wire goes on which side - I have a whiteish wire and a green one. Which is + and which is - please.

 

Thanks

Jason

 

Once this jobs out the way I can get on with the faulty heater motor and the oil leak Don't you love older cars.

[phat205 0]

Had the same problem with mine

 

Try removing the washer pump from the bottle and strip it down, I found that mine was corroded / seized inside, used a fair amount of Silicone Spray to loosen it up. within minutes it started working, it will sound horrible for a couple of minutes, but will settle down.

[jason7579 5]

Thanks for the reply - The washer pump works fine when connected directly to the battery, do you think it will help to remove and service the pump?

[phat205 0]

I really need the read post properly!!! If it works when connect dirct then i wouldn't bother servicing it.

 

could be a bad earth or connection, if you have a multi meter it might be an idea to the test to wire back to the switch.

[jason7579 5]

Thanks. I do have a multi meter hidden away somewhere. I'll dig it out and see if I can work out where the problem lies.

 

Done a search on this forum and seen that a couple of people have had the same problem a long time ago (including wipers not working when pump connected but working when pump disconnected) but unfortunately there was no last post saying whether it was eventually sorted and how.

 

If I get to the bottom of it I'll let you know - otherwise I suppose I'll just rewire it back to wherever it goes myself.

 

You wouldn't happen to know which colour wire goes to which terminal on the washer pump as I have now disconnected and stripped them both but didn't keep track of which goes where.

 

Thanks for the help.

[Tom Fenton 1,542]

On some pumps if you look carefully there is a - and + moulded in next to the terminals.

 

Most likely cause of your problem is the earth block that lives on the headlamp panel. Best bet is to get rid and use either a fixed blade bolted down, or some ring terminals to earth directly.

[jason7579 5]

Is the earth block just for the washer pump? I have lots of ring terminals so if the earth is just for the washer pump I will forget about the cable I have and run a new one. If the earth block is used for other things then I will locate it and sort it out.

 

Thanks

[Tom Fenton 1,542]

I think it earths about 4 wires, here is how I sorted mine out-

[jason7579 5]

Thanks Tom, thats tonights job then.

 

I'll let you know how it goes.

[jason7579 5]

Ok, Earth has been checked and it is fine. I also tested with the washer pump connected directly to the battery -. There is definitely a problem with the + wire somewhere along the line.

 

I connected a bulb to the Washer pump + and a known good earth and pulled the washer stalk and the bulb didn't light up.

 

Where would I find the other end of the Washer pump live wire? I imagine it will be somewhere in the mess of wires that is in the glovebox but which one is it?

 

Any help greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks

[james_pug 26 1 Cars]

plese could you post the solution if you find the problem, mine isnt working either though im yet to look at it closely.cheers.

[Rock Lobster 28]

I too have the exact same problem!!!

[Theo205 0]

1)Check that the pump is not seized and is working properly. Connect it direct to a 12v supply (car battery?) If it works move to step 2 else replace the pump.

2)Measure with a multimeter the voltage across the two wires that go to the pump, while actuating the pump from the stalk.

Sometimes the reading can be correct (12v) but that doesnt mean that a healthy pump will work. The contacts in the stalk sometimes go bad and cannot carry the required amount of current(amps) to the pump, but the reading is still 12v at the end of the cable.

 

I had the same problem years ago and one morning I removed the stalk, opened it up and repaired the bad contacts. Years since its still working perfectly. But beware. Repairing the internals of the stalk mechanism is a delicate job (little springs everywhere). If you think you can't pull it off its better just to replace it with a known good one( if you can find one)

[jason7579 5]

I will hopefully be getting my multimeter at the weekend and also get some more time to check exactly what is wrong.

 

So far I have:

 

• connected the pump directly to the battery and it works fine

• connected a bulb to the washer pumps earth wire and the battery + and it lights up = Washer pump earth is fine

• connected a bulb to the washer pumps live wire and the battery -, pulled the stalk with the ignition on and no light = washer pump live not getting 12v

• stripped a bit of the insulated wire a few inches down on the washer pumps live wire just to check and still nothing.

 

Jobs to do - Check the voltage at the fuse / relay box (I think I know roughly where I need to check) and check the washer stalks connections.

 

I did ask Peugeot for a price for the stalk today and it was over £60 so I will try to find out exactly what is wrong first then it will be a trip to the scrappies. At the moment I'm thinking that either the live is shorting out somewhere or there is a problem with the stalk - however when the pump is disconnected the stalk does activate the windscreen wipers so it definitely works to some degree.

 

I will report back when I have any more answers.

 

Jason

[fast_eddie 0]

Could always re wire it to a switch on the dash to save you a shed load of money?

[welshpug 1,657]

I would check the relay, sounds like the signal from the stalk is triggering the relay fine, so it must be from there on to the washer pump.

 

no need for a horrible aftermarket switch, just fix it

 

 

actually, checking the wiring diagram, wire 87 goes straight to the washer pump from the fusebox plug F pin 1 (horn goes from same plug pin 5)

 

the circuit goes to plug S pin 3, which is wire 102, then to the stalk.

 

the relay is shown to be after the spur to the washer pump, so the problem is either a dirty joint or a wiring fault, if the wipers work it wont be the stalk or the relay.

Edited June 3, 2009 by welshpug

[jason7579 5]

Thanks for the replies. I'd prefer to fix the fault rather than cutting a hole in the dash or bodging in a switch.

 

Welshpug all of that info will come in very handy - thanks. I think I have got what you are saying is this about right?

 

 

 

 

Stalk ---- Relay ------- {Plug S, Pin 3, wire 102} ------ {Plug F, Pin 1, wire 87} ------- Washer Pump

[fast_eddie 0]

Mmm I think something like this would look a lot better

[jason7579 5]

When I had my previous GTI I would have wired in another switch with no questions asked, but I want this GTI to stay as standard and in as good nick as possible.

[welshpug 1,657]

Thanks for the replies. I'd prefer to fix the fault rather than cutting a hole in the dash or bodging in a switch.

 

Welshpug all of that info will come in very handy - thanks. I think I have got what you are saying is this about right?

 

 

 

 

Stalk ---- Relay ------- {Plug S, Pin 3, wire 102} ------ {Plug F, Pin 1, wire 87} ------- Washer Pump

 

 

nearly!

 

Stalk ---- Fusebox ------- {Plug S, Pin 3, wire 102} ------ {Plug F, Pin 1, wire 87} ------- Washer Pump

 

 

the spur for the relay is shown after the connection to Plug F, that would lead me to think its a wiring issue than a fuseboard or relay fault, easy to check though, multimeter or power probe onto pin 1 of plug F

 

Pugtorque has posted up a picture of a fusebox with the plug numbers and colours marked I think (the fusebox has the plug sockets marked with dabs of paint in the corresponding colours IIRC)

 

There's a black and white picture with the lettering marked in the Haynes manual too

[stufarri 98 3 Cars]

I had the same annoying issue.

 

£5 plus delivery later a used stalk off ebay solved the problem.

 

6 months later they stopped again and it was due to the washer jets being blocked. I took the ball bearings out of them and cleared out the crap inside and hey presto!

 

Good luck!

[jason7579 5]

Still haven't managed to pick up my multimeter but yesterday I took the stalk apart and cleaned the contacts with white spirit (just in case) but still no joy.

[jason7579 5]

Checked the fusebox with the multimeter today and its reading ~4v with the switch off and ~12v with the switch on. Same with the wires by the pump when disconnected, however when the pump is connected I'm getting 0v.

 

Going to try a new pump and I'll report back...

[jimistdt 1]

Can't be much left!

[jason7579 5]

New pump didn't work - next is to try a known working stalk....