Heated windscreen wash jets

[zcacogp]

Chaps,

Quickie.

Am I right in thinking that S2's have heated wash jets? I can see there are wires going to the back of the jets, and assume they are heated.

Am I also right in assuming that these heaters come on when the rear window demister is turned on?

The reason I ask is that the wash jets froze up on Monday (driving from E London to Birmingham and back, via Guildford), despite me having the rear window demister on for a reasonable chunk of time and having nearly-neat screenwash in the bottle. To say this was a nuisance was an understatement (it's rare that I try and drive in the spray of dirty water kicked up by HGV's, but it enabled me to clean my windscreen.)

All the symptoms were of frozen wash jets, but I tried pouring hot coffee on them to thaw them out and this made no difference at all. Therefore it is possible that the heaters in the jets were working, but the fluid had frozen further back in the pipes (about which there isn't much you can do, I guess.)

So, how do you test to see whether the heaters in the wash jets are operational, and are they known to fail?


Oli.

ETA: An ancillary question; do they have heated wing mirrors as well? Do they come on at the same time - with the rear window demist switch?

 

[Fat Albert]

My Turbo has heated Mirrors that come on with the demister switch, and actually work more often than the demister!
I haven't looked at the washer jets but mine were frozen for my trip down to heathrow yesterday and I too drove behind people in order to get enough spray to clean the window!

 

[robwright]

I actually did some work on this last winter. As long as the ignition is on there is supply to the washer jets. If you think about it that makes sense to have them heated all the time. I am also aware though that the heated jets can only do so much and freezing is still a possibility. They work no better or worse than the ones I have had on my old beemers.

 

[zcacogp]

OK, that's two contradictory answers, chaps. Fatty says they are on with the demister switch, Rob says they are on all the time. (Why does this make sense, out of curiosity?)

I have never had any evidence of them working or not working; I can understand that you can test to see whether there is any voltage across the supply wires, but how do you tell whether they are getting warm or not? Can you feel them getting warm to the touch? Should you be able to?


Oli.

 

[TheFiend]

Looking at the wiring diagram I have, it looks as though the feed to the nozzle heaters comes off a contact on the wiper motor.

 

[robwright]

Haven't checked the diagram but I did measure the voltage at them with demister both on and off and it is a permanent 12V feed. The reason I say it makes sense is that your demister is generally only on for a short period until the rear hatch clears. If they were wired to the demister they would simply freeze up again once you turned it off. The heated mirrors are however wired to the demister switch.

 

[david924s]

Yep my S2 has heated washer jets as did my 924S both worked although only to get the water to the nozzle then it would freeze as it left the jet, woeked well on mildly cold days but it was minus 13 last night so no chance, the 50/50 de-icer/water I normally put in the cars actually froze solid in the garage so what chance has the washer bottle in the car outside.

 

[Fat Albert]

ORIGINAL: zcacogp

OK, that's two contradictory answers, chaps. Fatty says they are on with the demister switch, Rob says they are on all the time. (Why does this make sense, out of curiosity?)

Oli.

Sorry Oli, I was referring to the mirrors being on the same switch as the Demister, I have no idea on the washer jets, will take a look next time I am topping up the oil

 

[DavidL]

My experiences agree with Rob. Mirrors only with rear screen but washers permanently - it may be temperature dependent too, no point having them heated in summer but that might be a bit too advanced for an 80/90 design.
Must admit mine hasn't seen the road for over a week since the snow - old rangies are however the dogs danglies!

 

[Diver944]

Page 27 of the S2 owners manual states 'with the ignition on, the windscreen washer jets are heated'

Page 17 says 'when the rear window heating is switched on, the door mirrors are also electrically heated'

 

[zcacogp]

Paul,

Quoting page numbers of the owners manual just isn't enough. I want paragraph and line numbers too ...

[&:]


Oli.

 

[Alexw]

Not sure what powers the heated jets but I do know that standard neat screen wash is only good for about -6. It was -15c a few days ago around here and my screen wash was never usable, only this morning was I able to use it

 

[Lowtimer]

Oli,
If it is any consolation I am on 100% neat screen wash and have heated jets on my BMW and that still froze up for a while yesterday in North Yorkshire. It's a nuisance: I have taken to carrying some screenwash in a squirty bottle inside the car so that if I get into a fix on the road I can just pull over quickly and get the salt off the screen quickly.

 

[tobybanks]

Ok , So if the heated mirrors only come on with the rear demister , how do they work on the cabs?Mine has got heated mirrors ( I know, I wired them in when I swopped to cup mirrors) and as far as I remeber they are on when the ignition is on.Unless anyone knows differently......................
Toby