washer sprayer weak

[dhay13]

A few weeks ago we had some really cold weather and my washers must have been froze and wouldn't spray. After thawing out my spray is week now. Only sprays about the bottom 6" of the windshield, barely clearing the wipers. My first spray will shoot up like normal like there is pressure built up or something. But hitting it again after that and barely comes out.
Thoughts?

 

[Curmudgeon]

Only 2 things come to mind right away...
1. stop using rain-x as washer fluid, it has a history of clogging
2. try to spray with the hood open, look for leaks from cracks.

The rain-x has reportedly clogged the pump, the lines, and the jets.
Any cracks in the lines or nozzle bases will reduce pressure. I have already replaced both nozzles in my 2014 about 2 years ago.

 

[Rlaf75]

First off make sure the washer fluid reservoir is full and not frozen. Secondly, with the hood open, have someone spray the washers while you look for leaks. They are tiny hoses so it doesn't take much to clog which can obviously reduce the pressure and if it's clogged enough it can cause a hose to pop off. As far a using the rain-x washer fluid is concerned, I've been using it for years and never had a problem with it clogging anything. During my entire ownership of my 11 ram and now my 21 ram I've been using it and I still swear by it.

 

[Bigskyroadglide]

Rain X will put a rather large clog in the tank that looks like slime or mold. Once it blocks the pump, it requires disassembly of the bottle and pump to clear, unless it burns up the pump and it needs to be replaced.

If it's the nozzle, they are expensive from Mopar. Cheap replacement with Amazon available parts will result it a varied spray pattern. It might be optimal it might not be.

A weak pattern typically indicates a problem at the pump, a blockage in the line or at the nozzle will stop the flow of spray, not reduce it.

My recommendation, raise the hood look for leaks by running the pump. If water doesn't run out from the hood liner, you have a problem at the pump which will involve disassembly of the grill to get to the bottle which houses the pump.

Good luck

 

[Raife]

I had this scenario this last December ... Cold weather then no spray. Discovered the hose had disconnected from the nozzle. Shoved it back on and no issues. Biggest challenge was finding new clips for the hood liner.

 

[dhay13]

wondering if the pump was damaged from being frozen? definitely not frozen now. we had days of 60* weather

 

[Bigskyroadglide]

It's fairly easy to run out of the truck once you get it dismounted. It attaches to the bottle with a rubber grommet and can easily be disassembled plugged back into the power source and cycled.

 

[Scottly]

Common problem...clogged nozzle from the detergent in the fluid. The nozzles are cheap and easy to change.

 

[markabby]

Only 2 things come to mind right away...
1. stop using rain-x as washer fluid, it has a history of clogging
2. try to spray with the hood open, look for leaks from cracks.

The rain-x has reportedly clogged the pump, the lines, and the jets.
Any cracks in the lines or nozzle bases will reduce pressure. I have already replaced both nozzles in my 2014 about 2 years ago.

100% correct on rain x. I worked at a wiper manufacturing facility where we tested all that crap on the market like rain x...and it also ruined the life of the wiper blades as well. stay away from that stuff!!

 

[Curmudgeon]

100% correct on rain x. I worked at a wiper manufacturing facility where we tested all that crap on the market like rain x...and it also ruined the life of the wiper blades as well. stay away from that stuff!!

I've never had any issues with Rain-X but I've never used it "full strength" either. I would add maybe 1/2 gallon to what was already in the tank or vice-versa. When my nozzles failed the cracked off as though dry-rotted or something. Weird.

Bosch Icons on both vehicles, and a pretty mixed bag of about 8 gallons of washer fluid in the garage, and no Rain-X.

 

[dhay13]

I have never paid attention to what fluid I use but i did just top it off with winter stuff. its a purplish color

 

[JohnnyAlabama]

2022 Ram 1500. Same thing happened to me last month after our first freeze in Central Texas. One line was spraying about 6" like OP's and the other was just shooting out between the hood liner and the hood. I took it to the dealership since it's still under warranty. They said that it's a common problem caused by the freeze because the line expands and get's loose from the nozzle. Their shop fixes it by adding zip ties after re-connecting the lines. We'll see how well that fix holds up over the years.

 

[inuyasha-rules]

I wonder how well it would work to flush some warm soapy water through the system to clear any partial clogs. I've never had this problem, and use the Walmart brand washer fluid. I always use the blue in the summer and purple in the fall/winter. Worked well down to -45 last month.

 

[jmlopez1969]

I had the same issue and the hose came loose under the hood liner. It’s just pushed in to the split hose. Just push it together.

 

[Justthebutler]

I had a similar issue after I used Rain-X, I used my shop vac to suck out the bad stuff then I filled the bottle with 60/40 Vinegar and fairly warm water.

I let it sit for about an hour and then I gave it some quick short burst sprays and then some good long sprays.

It seemed to work well as it cleared the clog, and I've not had any more issues with it.

The only thing I use now in the winter is the cheapo -40c purple/blue stuff from the hardware store and it works great!

 

[Hardracer]

100% correct on rain x. I worked at a wiper manufacturing facility where we tested all that crap on the market like rain x...and it also ruined the life of the wiper blades as well. stay away from that stuff!!

What about rain-x blades?they get ruined?
I bought those on this set..2nd set of blades since I've owned it in 7 years.so far these are about 2 years old.rubber wipes perfect.metal bracket dull black now though.
I'm in the forever using rain-x crowd on all the vehicles ive owned,never a problem.