Thx Stuart, I had dropped the fuse panel thinking I could check voltages with the relay in place, but the bundle of wires made it too difficult to do that. So I just pulled the relay and checked to see that it was seeing 12V. While the panel was dropped, I looked at the ground 'star' but didn't check for a voltage drop across it...I should have but it looked clean, dry and corrosion free. I may have disturbed the ground connections on it just enough when I tried pulling the wire bundle out far enough to get at the connectors on it.
Pat
From: "Stuart MacMillan" <stuartmacm@gmail.com> To: "'Pat Spragge/RFAN'" <Pat.Spragge@RFAN.COM>, <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM> Date: 09/28/2015 10:52 AM Subject: RE: Low windshield washer pressure
Intermittent pump is often a bad ground at the ground star under the dash behind the fuse panel. I've seen corrosion cause this as well as complete disintegration of the spade connector. Stuart -----Original Message----- From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of Pat Spragge/RFAN Sent: Monday, September 28, 2015 9:15 AM To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM Subject: Low windshield washer pressure For all of you who think that the washer fluid pressure is low... I was adjusting the spray pattern yesterday trying to compensate for the lackluster spray pressure when the washer just quit on me..no noise from the pump but the wipers continued to work. Pulled off the fuse cover and checked all of the fuses associated with the wipers..everything looked good. Pulled out the Bentley schematic and located the relay terminals for the pump and pulled the relay to check for voltage when the wiper stalk was pulled..12V + or -...OK Crawled under the van and dropped the washer tank and disconnected the wire...hooked up the DVOM to the connector and checked for voltage there...12V OK...pulled the pump motor off and took it to the bench and tested it with a 12V battery from my drill...worked perfectly????? Went to reinstall and while this shouldn't affect the pump, I noticed that the tubing was crimped...spent a few minutes massaging it back into a 'tubular' shape and finished the reinstall.. pump worked AND more than enough fluid flow and the fluid takes much less time to initiate. Still not sure why the pump went dead for a bit. Pat '89 Westfalia |
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