searched.. cant find anything, windshield washer problems

[James]

Hey guys,
Its been cold here in upstate NY recently and I just got this A4 a short time ago.. this is the first time I am driving it in sub-freezing temps and snow. Problem is, cant seem to get any fluid out of the windshield washers as if they are frozen. The headlight washers work (if I pull back on the stick for longer than a second or two, they both blast the headlights and I can see the mist) but even with the lights off so the headlight washers dont come on... I still get no fluid to the windshield. I thought the nozzles were heated?? Was this an option that apparently my car doesn't have?? I do not have the heated seats option just as an fyi but come on now.. I have never had a problem with the nozzles freezing up where nothing comes out like this. Any suggestions? It does have fluid in the reservoir, filled that up last night thinking I was out but still nothing. Drove home tonight barely able to see out of the windshield for the 20 minute trip so this has got to be resolved asap. Let me know as I could not find anything doing a search. Thanks all!

James

[AWDTURBO]

dealership?

[dubfreak75]

I could be wrong but I am pretty sure that heated nozzles and seats come with the cold weather package. If you don't have the heated seats then you probably don't have the heated nozzles. Try pouring a little bit of warm water on the nozzles and see if that helps. If not then dealership it is.

[Tugboatguy]

Hose to nozzles hooked up?pump run?pretty sure headlights are separate pump. If the pump runs try disconnecting from the nozzles and press the switch to see if nozzles are plugged

[James]

i can hear the pump working so I know its not that.. just checked the fluid level again tonight and I put in more, maybe about 1/3 of a bottle since when I was trying to get the washers to work, the headlight washers came on a few times but now I'm wondering if there may be a leak somewhere and its losing pressure.. to go from full last night to having to put a 1/3 of a gallon in tonight with only the headlight washers blasting out maybe 3 or 4 times, seems pretty odd. I took a look the best I could and there doesn't appear to be any ice build up on them so this really sucks, basically. They were working just fine before it got cold and of course, I need them now. If anyone has any tips as I'm trying to AVOID going to the stealership and giving them several hundred dollars to look at it.

tugboatguy and dubfreak, you seem to have the only viable suggestions... when I look for the nozzles, I don't even know if I'm looking in the right spot. This might be dumb but are they the black boxes mounted on the underside of the hood or are they someplace else near the cowl? I never thought I'd have to ask where windshield washer nozzles are on a car but this german engineering is ridiculous.

james

[ABanT]

I believe that the heated washer nozzles come with the cold weather package. But I'm in Canada so it might be different. Or is it standard in Canada? lol I know my girlfriend's Rabbit has them. I mean, come on, Rabbit has it!

[James]

i just looked on cars.com at all the standard and optional features and it says that heated nozzles are standard plus I have the rain sensing wipers which is an option but apparently is supposed to include them too. It says the cold weather package simply is heated seats and a ski sack (whatever that is).

Variable intermittent wipers with heating jets Standard
Variable intermittent rain detecting wipers wipers with heating jets Optional

Which the rain sensor comes with the lighting package that my car has

Lighting Package

* Adaptive Front Lighting

* Auto Dimming & Electrically Folding Ext Mirrors

* Includes heated and memory.

* Auto Dimming Int Mirror w/Compass & Light Sensor

* Light Sensor

* Includes coming home function.

* Memory Driver's Seat & Exterior Mirrors

* Rain Sensor

* Bi-Xenon Headlights

So basically, I think my nozzle heaters are not working or not hooked up correctly.. ugh.. I will need to get out there today and check it out but what to look for??

James

[James]

**update** ok so I went outside and checked out what I could.. popped off what I thought were the nozzles and I was right. They are heated as they have the wires going to them both. So, next step was seeing if they were clogged. I found a safety pin and poked each one of them but they seemed to be fine, no blockage. Put the hood back down, started the car up and tried them again.. still nothing coming out for the first several minutes of trying then I see washer fluid starting to dribble out and just barely make it to the windshield, like a weak water fountain. So I kept on trying, pullin the stick back in bursts.. then the driver side starts to shoot out with pretty good pressure.. passenger side started a few seconds after.. then the pressure went away again and now its back. basically shot out 1/2 the reservoir just to see if there was any junk in there I didn't see anything. The filter/strainer is still in the washer reservoir so I can't understand how anything would have gotten in but they seem to be working now. It's about 28 today so below freezing, but I don't know if it was the sun that may be melted them or if the heaters decided to work. Any way to test those washer heaters?? Does my experience sound familiar to anyone? This is just weird. I did have to re-aim one of the nozzles on the driver side too b/c it was not really hitting the windshield but now all 4 sprayers seem to be good.. weird!

[Tugboatguy]

There is also summer and winter washer fluids check your bottle that could be your problem. you might be getting freezing further down the line towards the bottle? Ya it makes sense that heated nozzles are standard, I had them on my 95 Jetta

[fajimr]

hey james... what's the latest? did your washers make it through the recent deep freeze?

I was wondering as mine just froze up too... and it wasn't all that cold. As soon as it warmed up a bit they worked fine. Is anyone else having issues with their washers?

jim

[jackk]

There is also summer and winter washer fluids check your bottle that could be your problem. you might be getting freezing further down the line towards the bottle? Ya it makes sense that heated nozzles are standard, I had them on my 95 Jetta

Ya that's what I was going to bring up, there could be some summer windshield washer fluid still in there and the new one with the anti-freeze solution hasn't mixed in properly.

I use this

[James]

hey james... what's the latest? did your washers make it through the recent deep freeze?

I was wondering as mine just froze up too... and it wasn't all that cold. As soon as it warmed up a bit they worked fine. Is anyone else having issues with their washers?

jim

The recent deep freeze that came thru really didn't affect mine.. i was fairly surprised. since at 31* they would freeze up, yet at 13* they worked fine. I did put thru a lot of washer fluid, just blasting it to try to clean out whatever was in there but I don't even know if that is what did it or not. I will post if anything changes.

jackk.. I might have to try some of that but why make it yellow? lol.. does it look like someone pissed on your car? lol

[dubfreak75]

Hey James, using an ice inhibiting washer fluid is actually a great idea. I always keep it in all of my vehicles and have never had a problem with the washers unless they are covered in snow. This morning it was -1 degrees on my way to work and they worked as advertised. Friday it is supposed to be -23 so we will see how that goes. I hate this place!

[fajimr]

hmmm mine were still frozen this morning.. its been in the low 20s and teens (but the skiing is great!). I probably have the summer mix in mine as I bought it from a guy in FL. I'll try to drain and then add some winter mix. Just need to wait until it gets warm enough for me to empty the reservoir.

Wonder what would happen if I just added winter mix to the summer mix????

thanks
jim

[A4_Joe]

headlight washer only comes on when the headlights on.. i have heard it's not good to rain-x.

[slingblade]

There is also summer and winter washer fluids check your bottle that could be your problem. you might be getting freezing further down the line towards the bottle? Ya it makes sense that heated nozzles are standard, I had them on my 95 Jetta

+1

I did that once but realized it. I didn't want to syphon out what I put in so I went to A-zone and they had a washer additive so I just bought that and dumped it in