Need a dispenser here.

February 12, 2009 2:42 PM

Front windshield washer fluid dispenser doesn't dispense. This feels like an easy fix....is it?

At the start of the year, my girlfriend and I bought a new 2009 Nissan Versa while visiting family up in Vermont (we live in the Boston area). The car had to be delivered from another dealer so she went up a week later to get it and discovered a crack in the windshield. We took it back to the dealer to be replaced at their expense and had some friends drive it down to us last weekend. They reported that the front windshield washer dispenser doesn’t work. Awesome.

When I try to dispense the windshield washer fluid, the wipers activate and it sounds like it’s trying to dispense the liquid but nothing happenes. The rear dispenser works just fine.

I’ve tried holding the lever down for a while to get out any air packets but that did not work. I doubt the nozzles are frozen because the temperature hasn’t been below freezing for quite a few days and they used the “good” fluid that won’t freeze ever.

Since everything sounds like it should be working fine, I’m assuming that the dealer didn’t hook everything up properly when they replaced the windshield and this should be an easy fix but I’m not mechanically inclined and I don’t know enough to trace which tubes go to where.

I’m assuming that this is an easy fix if all that needs to be done is hook up a tube to a nozzle but I don’t know where to look. I would like to attempt to fix this issue before calling the dealer because if I can get it done myself, all the better.

Can anyone offer any tips? Google / Nissan forums were no help. Thanks!

posted by Diskeater to travel & transportation (10 comments total)

Do you know where the fluid reservoir is, where you add window fluid? there will be one or more small pumps on that each with a hose leading away from the reservoir. I just fixed a similar problem on my truck with a little epoxy. The hoses stay connected with friction, and mine had worn so much that they kept falling off the pump. A little epoxy on the nozzle and everything is right as rain.

IF the hoses are loose it's also quite possible that you've been squirting fluid all over your engine block, in which case you'll need to refill the fluid.
posted by Science! at 2:46 PM on February 12

Also, unless your car is set up very oddly, the dealer would not need to disconnect any of this to replace a windshield.
posted by Science! at 2:48 PM on February 12

this should be an easy fix but I’m not mechanically inclined and I don’t know enough to trace which tubes go to where ... I would like to attempt to fix this issue before calling the dealer because if I can get it done myself, all the better.

I know it's a pain but your best bet at fixing it yourself is to get under the hood and trace the lines. As Science! says, you can start at the reservoir, or you can start at the sprayers near the windshield. Odds are there is a blockage, kink, or disconnection somewhere.
posted by exogenous at 2:57 PM on February 12

If it's a 2009 it's still under warranty, right? I'd let the dealer do it. If you do it with epoxy or whatever and later something worse breaks on the same system the dealer will have evidence of your mucking around and they could use it to refuse a warranty claim.
posted by COD at 3:29 PM on February 12

2009? Don't even think about fixing it yourself. Take it back to the stealership who "fixed" your windshield and tear them a new one. If they give you any guff, call Nissan USA, complain and name names.
posted by rhizome at 3:32 PM on February 12

Okay, it doesn't sound like this is what's happening here, but as a public service I have to tell you that a few years ago--in NEW ENGLAND--I bought 'summer formula' windshield wiper fluid. If you didn't know there was such a thing, neither did I. It kept freezing in the lines and on the window. I told people about it, they thought I was out of my mind. Fortunately we still had a bottle of it in the garage and after more days than I care to admit, I looked at the bottle. 'Summer formula'. Without alcohol, I guess, a cheaper formulation?

I can't tell you how many times I nearly got killed due to that shit freezing on my windshield and blinding me as the sun rose, first thing in the morning as I rolled into the city on the interstate.

I hate you, summer formula.
posted by A Terrible Llama at 4:08 PM on February 12

@Llama: I think it tends to dry clearer when it evaporates and the alcohol in winter formulas wears out the rubber in the blades and parts of the car faster. Plus, there's some evidence it's bad for the environment. And it's better than just distilled water as it has some mild detergents to help clean the windshield. But it's not a good option unless you're really far south.

End derail.

I strongly recommend you get a warranty repair. You shouldn't have to do this yourself, and if you break something by accident, they probably won't be so helpful without asking for a good fee.
posted by mccarty.tim at 6:51 PM on February 12

I've had debris in the nozzle gunk up, but usually there's a loss of pressure first and you know something's wrong because fluid is dribbling down the hood. Sticking a pin in is an easy diagnostic/fix in my experience, but be careful - some nozzles are adjustable and you may end up pointing them in useless positions.
posted by rigby51 at 8:55 PM on February 12

It sounds like you can hear the pump/motor operating when you push the thing to get fluid to the front window and there is fluid in the reservoir (because it's getting to the back) so hard to see it being something other than a line problem. Should be doable to follow the line from the little sprayers, see if there is a connection problem.

Not clear if that car has two front sprayers, if there's one line from the reservoir that branches into two, etc. If so, it'd seem that the problem is before that split.

If not, maybe the line is somehow kinked. Failing that, seems a clog or a hose-connection problem are the only options.

If the former, the thin-wire-in-sprayer-end prospect has been known to work.

Dunno how convenient it is to go to a dealer to get it done under warranty, but if you have a go at sorting it out by yourself, feel like you're anywhere close to getting over your head, dealer time. With their knowledge, they should be able to fix this in a couple minutes.
posted by ambient2 at 11:49 PM on February 12

Update: I arranged to have it fixed under warranty at a local dealer. Turns out something came loose and it took them less than an hour to fix it.

Thanks eveyone!
posted by Diskeater at 7:24 AM on February 20