S6: Rear washer not spraying anymore

[charlatan]

This just happened randomly. As you know, you need to have fluid cuz that rear window in the avant attracts dirt like a magnet. Front washers work great, but when i push the stalk to get the rear going the wiper moves as usual, but no fluid. Any ideas? Is there a rear washer pump or just the one in the front tank? When i push it forward (to actuate rear pump) i don't hear a pump anymore. I had just replaced my steering wheel and clock spring, not sure if i could have messed something up during that.

[Reece_]

I believe, but am not 100% sure, that there is only one pump


Sent from my iPhone using Audizine

[A4_n00b]

Is there any wetness or staining on the headliner or around the rear hatch? Those tubes run along the roof line and become brittle with age and crack and leak. It’s a pretty simple fix if that’s the cause and it’s cracked near the wiper/wiper motor , but if you need to drop the headliner it’s more time consuming and involved. I think there’s a pretty helpful DIY on here with a lot of pics thought so that would be helpful.

That doesn’t account for you not hearing anything back there engage, but if the wiper moves as normal I’d start looking for a leak before anything else.


-----------------------------------------------
Current: 16 VW Tiguan R-Line 4MO, 15 VW GTI PP, 14 Audi S4

Retired: 12 VW GTI, 10 Audi S4, 08 VWJetta Wolfsburg, 04 Audi allroad 4.2, 04 VW Jetta, 03 Audi A4 3.0

[charlatan]

Is there any wetness or staining on the headliner or around the rear hatch? Those tubes run along the roof line and become brittle with age and crack and leak. It’s a pretty simple fix if that’s the cause and it’s cracked near the wiper/wiper motor , but if you need to drop the headliner it’s more time consuming and involved. I think there’s a pretty helpful DIY on here with a lot of pics thought so that would be helpful.

That doesn’t account for you not hearing anything back there engage, but if the wiper moves as normal I’d start looking for a leak before anything else.


-----------------------------------------------
Current: 16 VW Tiguan R-Line 4MO, 15 VW GTI PP, 14 Audi S4

Retired: 12 VW GTI, 10 Audi S4, 08 VWJetta Wolfsburg, 04 Audi allroad 4.2, 04 VW Jetta, 03 Audi A4 3.0

I haven't seen any wetness, but i haven't looked really hard either.

[JMURiz]

Mine was leaking on the bottom near the front seat mount. So it was 'working' just pumping fluid under the driver's seat :D

[charlatan]

I used to hear the pump though, now i do not (when trying to use the rear)...I do hear it when i run the front washers.

[Alex JB]

I used to hear the pump though, now i do not (when trying to use the rear)...I do hear it when i run the front washers.

That could still be a sign of the hose come off a tee or join, they are only push on.
When the pump encounters no resistance, I.e. it’s just pumping washer fluid onto the floor rather than down 10ft of 1/8” hose, then they are pretty quiet!

Excuse my super crude sketch, but it should help explain how some manufacturers use 1 pump to pump to 2 services, all you do is reverse the polarity and it swaps where it pumps to

[quattrosnrabbit]

One pump. The tubing runs along the driver side sills. There usually is a connection in the tubing behind the driver dead pedal, and again under/around the left tail light. From there it runs up and over the roof, entering the hatch in the passenger hinge.
Common break is in the hinge area, and often leaks into roof, soaking headliner. But if there is a blockage (plugged rear jet) it can just as easily blow apart one of the connections (mine separated and sprayed in the dead pedal area).
I suggest replacing with rubber washer line hose from the left tail light all the way to the rear wiper if you encounter a cracked line near the hinge.

[chris86vw]

Mine some how magically sprays the front when you spray the front and the front when you try to spray the back. Not sure what previous owner (s) did to make that happen.

[quattrosnrabbit]

Sounds like they replaced a dead pump and installed the two hoses on the wrong nipples by mistake.

[chris86vw]

Sounds like they replaced a dead pump and installed the two hoses on the wrong nipples by mistake.

Me? No then when I tried to spray the front it would spray the back. My weird issue is both front and rear spray positions only spray the front.

[Alex JB]

Me? No then when I tried to spray the front it would spray the back. My weird issue is both front and rear spray positions only spray the front.

Check my dodgy sketch above, one of the check valves will be stuck open

[chris86vw]

Check my dodgy sketch above, one of the check valves will be stuck open

Those should be to prevent suction from the opposite line and/or drain back though not stop flow to one when trying to spray the other. For example a check valve on the front spray line would not prevent flow from the pump to the spray nozzle, if it did it would never spray. If that was stuck open and the pump activated then the check valve would operate in the same manner as if it was working correctly. The rear valve stuck closed forcing some sort of back pressure to go to the front would seem to make more sense, or an internal leak in the pump itself.