jorn_umpo

The hose running from my windshield washer fluid tank/reservoir to the jets that clean the windshield broke the other day, snapping right near where the trunk lid lifts up and causing water to shoot out the left side of the car rather than through the sparyers mounted on the underside of the trunk lid.. It looked simple to fix, so I decided to give it a go and make a DIY guide as I couldn’t find one elsewhere online. Only took me about 30 minutes to do, including taking photos. Follow this advice at your own risk – I admit I have no expertise in this area.

Tools needed: none. You may want a taped up screw driver to assist with the routing of the new hose, but it’s not necessary.

Parts needed: new hose (part number 99162866705, ~$20)
1. Start by removing the plastic cover in the trunk area. This is really easy as you just pull gently on the handles. Note that on my car, the alarm horn was held on by a plastic peg attached to the cover, so when I removed the cover the alarm horn detached and I had to put it back at the end of this process.
2. Next, dislodge the plastic jets that actually squirt the washer fluid. These are located on the underside of the trunk lid and can be pulled out easily. Be gentle. Once you have them dislodged, unhook the existing broken fluid lines by unclipping the black plastic u-shaped clip on the connector. This process is the same for both the left and right jet.
3. Now you’ll need to remove the broken hoses from the car. With the jets disconnected, dislodge the rubber grommet near the left side of the trunk lid. This piece pulls out pretty easily – once the grommet is out, you can pull the hoses you just disconnected from the jets out relatively easily.
4. Pull the remainder of the broken hose out of the routing channel on the left side of the hood.
5. Now you are ready to run the replacement hose to the water jets. Feed the new part through the hole on the underside of the hood – because the hoses are so rigid, it was easy to push them through so that the white connectors ended up next to the jets. Snap the new hose on to the jets (note that you do not have to have the U-clip open to do this, you can just pop them into place) and then gently push the jets back into their original position – you should hear them click into place. A side note – the new hose may have a small white piece in each connector that falls out when you open the clip; this is fine, that piece is just there to protect the new hose during shipping and is not necessary.
6. Insert the rubber grommet portion of the tube into the hole near the top corner of the trunk, making sure the seal is snug all around. Run the hose from the grommet to the channel on the left side of the trunk lid and begin feeding it through so that it exits just before the windshield.
7. Now you’ll need to disconnect the old house from the fluid tank, which is near the left side of the car and uses the same type of connector as the windshield jets. You’ll then route the hose from the rubber grommet to the fluid tank. This was the most frustrating part of the install, as there’s not a lot of room to work with. I was patient though and eventually got it.
8. You may want to remove the weather stripping on the left side of the trunk compartment to give yourself a bit more room – this piece has plastic clips on the back and is easily removed.
9. Route the hose from the underside of the trunk lid down towards the fluid tank. Be gentle while doing this so that you don’t break the new hose.
10. Once you have the end of the new hose next to the tank, simply snap it into the connector (again, the u-shaped clip does not have to be up).
11. Check that the hose is not interfering with opening/closing the trunk and not getting crushed by any parts. If you removed the weather stripping on the left side of the car in step 8, replace that and ensure the seal is good.
12. Get in the car and test the wiper cleaning lever. I had to hit it twice before fluid got all the way to the right side jet. After you confirm that it works, open the trunk lid and ensure there’s no leaking from the jets. If it’s not working, you’ll want to check all 3 connection points and make sure the hoses are snapped in properly.
13. Replace the plastic cover – I had to line up the alarm horn to ensure it went back in place with the black peg on the underside of the cover. It really seems like there should be a bolt for this, but whatever.
14. Congratulate yourself for not paying the dealer an obscene amount of money for doing this simple task.

DanQ

I used a ~1.5" length of vaccume hose or fuel line I had lying around plus some silicone adhesive and sleeved over the broken plastic line. The ID of the rubber hose is slightly smaller than the OD of the broken corrugated hose. I bet the rubber hose flexes better than hard plastic line.

This accordioned plastic hose by Porsche and volkswagen is a poor design. It isn't flexible enough at the hinge and breakes after a few years. I had the exact same failure on my 2013 touareg a couple of years ago.

sailorlite

I found 1/4 in. ID bulk water hose at my local hardware store. It's clear and somewhat soft and fits perfectly over the corrugated Porsche hose. Should be good for a temporary splice at least or maybe permanently.

RosscoB

Thanks for this. I didn't notice the alarm horn fall, so I struggled to figure out why it was sitting in the bottom or the compartment and where to put it.