Gord

I started last night to replace my old washer bottle than had a rude awakening. There is no way just removing the three retaining screws allows for this bottle to be removed. Has anyone done this procedure before? Does the fender have to come off? I've already check the archive and nada. The washer bottle also has a headlight pump, how does that come off, just pull?

Any help would be appreciated.

Gord '88 944S

Lew

The pump just pulls off. I've got an 84, which may be a little different, but you can slide the reservoir out the bottom of the car after you open the headlights all the way. It is a tight fit, but a little wiggling will do it.

Gord

Lew,
Would it be easier to remove the pump first? Does the hoses have to be disconnected? Any special tools needed to pull pump? Not much room to work around in there.

Mark Hubley

I have an '86 model, and I have replaced the washer bottle. On mine the procedure is as follows:

1. Pull off the cap; the hoses should come with the cap.

2. Take off the pump. Mine just sort of clips in place.

3. Remove the screws.

4. Pull the thing out from the bottom. So, I guess step 1 should be jack up the car. This part is a bitch and does require lots of wiggling.

5. Installation is the reverse.

Mark

Gord

Mark,
On the particular washer bottle there are no hoses leading into the cap. It has two pumps (windshield and headlights) located way down at the bottom of the reservoir and the other on the side adjacent to the water pump. I can only access it from the bottom. From what I'm hearing I better stock up on bandages before I start. My knuckles will never look the same.

Gord

I had a heck of a time this weekend trying to remove the washer bottle from the bottom of the vehicle. No matter what I tried there was no way forcibly wiggling the bottle out without damage. Two hours later, I eventually removed it from above but ended up denting and cracking the plastic housing. Now the task was to re-install the new washer bottle without damage. After 10 minutes I finally gave up and decide to remove components from the vehicle to ease the installation.

Below is an easier procedure for removing and installing the washer bottle tank. The total time 30 minutes and all done from above.

1. Jack vehicle up – makes it easier to disconnect the washer pumps from below

2. Raise the headlights and remove the headlight motor – 4 screws

3. Remove the canister attached to the shock tower with wires leading to the distributor – 1 screw

4. Remove the 3 screw holding the washer bottle

5. Disconnect wires and washer pump

6. Remove tank

7. Installation is the reverse

Tom

The "cannister" on the shock tower is the ignition coil. Where are the screws holding the bottle. On my car (87 'S' without headlight washer) I can only see one hholding the bottle tothe fender (and the fendre to the car!) Your procedure makes the job look a lot easier than when I first considered it. May be worth trying to replace the leaky bottle.

bs

i contemplated both of these procedures when i took mine out, but i opted for the more difficult "remove it out the bottom" technique since i was taking the power steering cooler out, too. the reason i was afraid to take it out from the top is that it looked like it might be hard to re-align the headlight retracting motor if it was removed.

was this easy? is there some techniqe to getting it lined up right?

Gord

I experienced removing the bottle from the top much easier. Trying the “bottom out” method is grueling and time consuming. There it way too many component hindering it from coming out effortlessly. (ie. headlight assembly arm, ignition coil, headlight motor, and power steering coils) I truly cannot for see a Porsche engineer to design a washer bottle to be removed by wiggling it out without dismantling or causing damage to the bottle and surround.

Two retaining screws and one nut and bolt fasten the washer bottle. The two most obvious is the one fastened to the fender and the other to the shock tower. The nut and bottle is located at the bottom close to the water pump. The bolt cannot be removed since the “towing bracket?” is behind the head.

The headlight retracting motor is held in place by three fixed bolts and one nut for alignment. I started with the headlights in the opened/up position and re-aligning it afterward was not an issue. How much upright can it possible go?