Barry Chan

My windshield washer all of a sudden stop working, wiper works fine when pull towards you but no fluid, tank full and spray holes not plugged, headlight washer works with fluid, where to look? is there a fuse or relay just for the pump? Thanks

SQLGuy

Are you sure the pump is not running? Most of the problems I've seen have been broken hose connections before or just after where the hoses run through the round plug into the hood.

Barry Chan

thanks for yr quick reply, i checked the hose are all good, there,s no fluid anywhere near where the hose are, i don't have a helper to help me with the switch so i can hear the pump work or not so..

SQLGuy

Well, if you have some jumper wires and a test lamp, you can run a low wattage test lamp from the pump connector to somewhere you can see it. Then you can see whether it lights when you pull the stalk. If it does, it's a pump motor problem. If it doesn't you can dig further into fuses, switches, etc.

Simon928

When I bought mine I had the same problem, and the issue ended up being a problem with the check valves. Someone else will be able to explain this better than me, but there are two washer fluid tanks--a normal one and one "intensive washer fluid" tank. The check valves help to route the correct fluid from each tank to the spray nozzle, but if something goes wrong with the valves then you can get no fluid going through the valves, and hence no spray. If that is the problem, then you can either isolate which check valve is not working and replace it or do what I did and just get rid of the complicated setup and re-route the hoses so that they only go to your normal windshield washer tank and bypass the intensive washer tank altogether. That way you don't need any check valves and there would be one less problem to worry about. I never used the IW tank and the switch cost me $0, so it was win-win for me. That might not be your problem anyway, but it might be worth checking out.

Barry Chan

thanks, i will check the pump first and then look into the check valve you mentioned, i disconnect the Iw long ago.

Podguy

Get a new pump from Rock Auto. It is tough to get at the pump. You really need to pull the coolant reservoir to get at the pump. I have spent more time messing with the Porsche pump than almost any other system on the car.

dfrhodes

I'm not sure about MY 84, but on S4 the pump is wired direct to the switch, which is slightly easier to get to than the pump (pull the steering wheel, loosen the pod). The contacts get dirty inside and they are not accessible, aside from drilling out rivets. A new switch assembly is $$$ last i checked.

So you might be better off pulling the reservoir first and getting lucky that the pump or some other cheap part that's bad (hose, clog)

Barry Chan

i will be doing front rotors and brake pads soon (ordered from roger) so i will ask my machenic about the pump situation, how much is the pump anyway?

Podguy

Rock auto has them for about $15 - stock and third party

Landseer

Don't bother replacing the pump unless you remove 84's washer tank first to rehab the inlet.

Well documented here that the carbon steel sleeves at both ends of the fill pipe will rust and jam the pump.

5 out of 5 of mine, including 3 '84 cars, were completely inop due to that issue.

Worst choice of materials of construction on the entire vehicle. Almost like a GM body engineer from the early '60s designed it for 3 year rust-thru.

Podguy

I made new inserts from a turned down stainless steel pipe. I think a copper pipe fitting might slip right in there too. Copper should be a second choice.

Landseer

Yes, there is a nibco fitting, I think a 3/4 coupling, that fits.

But I'm running without. None was necessary.

Barry Chan

got a helper today to pull the switch, windshield washer fluid was coming down from under the car
so it was a cracked hose, trace all the way to the engine bay and replaced it.

Landseer

Did you inspect the inlets?