Fixing the headlight washer pump...

[ian65]

A common problem with older 1st gens is that the headlamp washer pump gives up the ghost.
The pump is located low down just ahead of the offside front wheel and appears inaccessible without dismantling some of the front panelwork.
The result is that it rusts away unseen and eventually stops working.
It can actually be reached by removing the front offside wheel and the plastic wheel arch liner and is held in place by 3 no 10mm nuts from inside the engine bay.

The metal body of the pump motor eventually rusts and this rust expands opening up a gap between the plastic part of the motor and the metal body. Water gets in and the armature rusts to the motor body, causing the whole thing to seize.

The pump motor on my project car was completely seized.
I cut off the 2 small bolts holding it together and managed to prise the casing ( the metal housing and the plastic part ) apart enough to spray plenty of WD40 into it.
This was left overnight to soak and then carefully pulled apart the next day.
Great care is needed when separating the motor as sometimes the magnets can some away from the metal casing as the armature is pulled out if the whole thing is well rusted.

This motor was well seized. The brushes were seized in their housings,
The commutator was black and burnt and the inside of the metal motor housing was extremely rusty.




The inside of the metal casing was cleaned out with brake cleaner to get rid of the WD40 and then cleaned with a wire brush on a Dremel to get rid of all the rust.
The commutator was also cleaned with the dremel and the brushes freed up in their housings. The inside of the metal housing was then painted with POR15 paint to stop it rusting up again and ther whole thing was put back together with new bolts and test run by connecting it to a spare car battery.




Success!! It runs perfectly, should last a good few more years now.



.

[chc]

You certainly wouldn't find a better description or pics than this - top man

[codge]

Bit of a panic today…..

Gus is going to a new MOT station this week and I suddenly remembered something about new MOT rules requiring headlight washers to work.

Of course Gus's headlight washer was last used to admire it in 1993. Not used it since then and when I tried to work it - it's seized up.

Then I checked the net and the MOT test only requires washers to work (if fitted) on LED headlights and on Hi Intensity systems - which also have to have working self levelling.

Phew…..Yer Grandad thought he'd been stuffed by Brussels whilst his back was turned.

[spirit r]

Fixing the headlight washer pump...

SV100308.JPG (174.19 KiB) Viewed 6064 times

[codge]

Thanks Thomas, but I'm a lazy old devil. I haven't used the washer except once more than 20 years ago. I'm going to leave it.

But your pic is very useful to see where it is fitted.

[spoddy]

Indeed that is the only stipulation for the light washers to work, these HID headlights. I have them on the rx-8 and to be honest
are a pain as when the lights are on you hit your washers gently to clean the windscreen and the damm lights get soaked when you don't
want them to as washer fluid gets all over the wings. But the nephews love seeing them in action as they get a laugh out of them popping
up out of the bumper and spraying the lights before returning into the bumper again.

It's not great in frosty weather as the plastic covers can get stuck and break the mechanisim or you loose the cover.
So if it is frosty/snowy, I have to clear any ice around them as you need your lights on and windscreen washers working.
Atleast the washers are heated for the windscreen and the mirrors too, ah the luxuries of modern cars.

The washers are two rubber nozzels in the fb which sit on the bumper?

[spirit r]

But the nephews love seeing them in action as they get a laugh out of them popping
up out of the bumper and spraying the lights before returning into the bumper again.
turn the washer nozzel in direction to jaywalker and your nephews love driving rx7 in the london traffic
Thomas

[codge]

Yes Spod, that's it, 2 rubber nubbins things on the bumper.

Thomas......Ha ha, yes a good reason to fix the washers. (A 'nubbins thing' Thomas, assuming you don't know, is an odd english expression for when you don't want to work out what something's called......you can call it a 'nubbins').

[ian65]

Yes Spod, that's it, 2 rubber nubbins things on the bumper.

Thomas......Ha ha, yes a good reason to fix the washers. (A 'nubbins thing' Thomas, assuming you don't know, is an odd english expression for when you don't want to work out what something's called......you can call it a 'nubbins').

an odd Yorkshire expression if you ask me
I must say you all seem to be taking a very frivolous attitude to these essential safety items.... adapting them to squirt pedestrians and wilfully neglecting their maintenance for 2 decades!
I seem to remember Elfords did a modification with them so that instead of washing the headlights, they gave a high pressure wash to the windscreen.... never seen it in practice though.... anyone else seen it?

[Lucky]

"nubbin"? Surely it's a doobrie isn't it? Possibly a widget. Maybe even a wossname...