Had issues with screen wash fluid dripping from behind the nearside front wheel arch liner when operating the rear wash system.

 

Removed the wheel and liner but there was no fault with the bottle, pump or hoses located inside the front nearside bumper.

 

Traced the fault to the next stage of the rear washer pipework, which had been interwoven into the electrical cabling running in a plastic duct; this ran along the top of the nearside longeron heading to the front passenger compartment bulkhead.

 

To gain access first remove the airbox;

 

remove the air inlet pipe as it enters the box by unscrewing the T20 Torx retaining screw and pulling the pipe out of the box.

 

remove the outlet pipe by widening the retaining ring and moving down the pipe out of the way; used pump pliers. Then pull the pipe off the box.

 

remove the 10mm bolt to the nearside and the grasp the box and pull up to release from two retaining rubber vib mounts (front and rear).

 

Next remove battery; terminals 10mm bolts, also need to release to plastic clips front and rear associated with the positive terminal 'wiring tray'.

 

Remove battery tray; two nuts at the rear and bolt front in a 'drain well'. All are 13mm, as is the clamp for the battery.

 

 

This reveals the plastic duct; remove clip on covers as required.

 

In my case to identify the leak it was necessary to restore power to operate the wash system. Found there was room to sit the battery loose on a rolled up old towel close to its original position but still being able to observe the duct. Once temporally reconnected you will need a another to operate the system.

 

Found the leak under the section directly below the battery tray; pipe was wrapped with the wiring in elec tape which had to be removed.

 

 

Purchased a hose straight connector from the local motor factors and cut the pipe fully in two, ensured both ends had a clean edge without damage or distortion.

 

With the hose being corrugated getting it to fit over the connector proved quite difficult; best advice is to push the pipe onto the connector as far as you can, then heat them both with a hair dryer to get the pipe fully home.

 

 

Retest system before putting it all back together in reverse order to the above.

 

 

TP

I've just had half my front end off to change the washer bottle, only to find that it's fine and it's leaking from elsewhere, and it's not the rear washer connector near the bulkhead, it seems to be leaking from under the battery, so it seems that this will be the next thing to look at, cheers!

Just a quick question though; assuming that this is the problem, what size hose connector did you use? I've got a mk1 fabia though so I'm not sure it'll be exactly the same...

Different hoses,mate!

Any idea on the size I might need? Would be useful to have the part there rather than having to take it to bits twice so i can go pick something up!

I couldn't find one so just slipped a section of rubber pipe over the two ends and used jubilee clips!

Ahh that's a good idea, cheers!