The 1999 996 Cab I just bought is so clean that little things like the headlight washers not working are on the to-do list. No, it isn't the biggest deal in the world to me, but it is something that isn't correct, so let's fix it. A buddy did some searching and read that replacing the battery (1500 miles ago) causes the DME to forget that the washers are there; meaning that a dealer needs to re-flash the system.

This sounds a little bizarre, but for a first post on this forum, it's all I have so far. Anybody have a better plan than dealer re-flashing?

 

Check for +12V at the pump and go from there.

 

Fyi your headlights have to be on for the headlight washers to activate. Took me a while to figure this out on mine.

 

Right

Question. Does the pump on the driver's side fender sounds when you activate them? What it happened to mine, was that they were unused for so long, that the water make a kind of paste inside the pipes and it was needed to clean all the ducts and replace the washers.

 

Good points. The lights were ON, and no sound at all coming from the pump. I know that we didn't check for current after he read that post about re-flashing, so it will be done today. With both lights out (again) I can apply a little bit of air pressure to the hoses and see if a bit of soap placed on the pissers creates a bubble.

Checking for 12V will be done as well.

 

If there is no +12V at the pump then put some to it and see if it comes to life.
Also, see if there is a fuse for it.

 

The windshield wiper washers work, so the question is whether there are two washer pumps, or are both windshield and headlight washers operated off the same pump? If so, a blockage?

 

Yes there r 2 seperate pumps. It may just be that the headlight one is bad, u need to pull the fender liner and check for 12v. It seems to happen on these cars.

 

There are always 2 pumps in every car out there. Time to get your hands dirty.

 

Not so, maybe two pumps with every car that has headlight washers (maybe), but the vast majority of cars don't have the rally washers...or need them. After removing and inspecting without removing the reservoir, the decision is made to save this project for another day (maybe). I've learned enough to know that either the pump or the relay are bad, and not worth replacing, IMO.