Windscreen Washer 300SE

Walshy12345

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Hi

I have a 1986 W126 300SE and am having problems with the windscreen washer, I am now down to one jet of water from four, and the MOT is due in 10 days, I have checked the nozzles and they seem clear, can you advise?

Thanks
Mike
 

television

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Does the pump get 12v when you operate the switch
 

television

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You need a voltmeter and have someone press the button to see if 12 volt is there across the 2 wires.
 
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Walshy12345

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You need a voltmeter and have someone press the button to see if 12 volt is there across the 2 wires.

Sadly no voltmeter, do you think I should replace it? maybe EBay can help

mike
 

Gary Hanson

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Your Mercedes
A Jag. Jags are my favourite.
....down to one jet of water from four.....
The pump motor must be getting some power if it's working at all. I'm not familiar with the set up on that model. On many cars, the screen wash motor / pump is mounted on the outside of the reservoir, so theoretically at least, with the engine turned off and the bonnet open, you should be able to hear the buzz of the motor, if it's working. On a decent car like the 126, it wouldn't surprise me to find there is more than one motor or pump, and as I've said, I don't know the set up on that. The last time I dealt with a non functioning screenwasher on a German car it was on a 1990 Audi 100. The motor had seized up, and I found a spare one off a similar aged BMW 5 series which fitted and worked.

On some cars, there will be more than one pump, for example, if the car has headlight washers, so there might be a separate one for that. Just thought I'd mention in case you find two on there.

But, if one jet is working, I'd guess there's a blockage somewhere other than at the jets. Is there a T piece type junction in the pipework between the reservoir and the jets. The other thing you could do to check what's happening, is to take the pipe off the non functioning jets, and have an assistant press the switch inside the car, and see what happens. Or basically just follow the pipework back towards the reservoir and pump until you find where it's blocked. Someone showed me a good trick once to unblock screenwashers. Put warm water in the reservoir and let it pump through, as it seems to clear the green slime that can build up over the years.

The dead one of that Audi I mentioned got binned. I took it apart to see what was wrong with it.

Sometimes, the jets become blocked beyond where you can push a pin or nozzle cleaner in. If you can take them off the car without breaking anything, you stand more of a chance to clear them, or at least identify why they're not working. I'm not saying you would break anything by the way, just that I know some of those screen wash jets are a pain to remove without having to butcher them, or damage the surrounding paintwork (have done a few when respraying bonnets).
 

television

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I completely miss read this and thought headlamp washers, yes if only one outlet working then jets or pipes blocked or pump poor, its mounted just in front of the water tank, you could pull all the pipes off and see how much water comes out of the pump
 

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