I have these on our Vitara and they are coming on the Elegance.

 

Unfortunately I have never thought much of them on any vehicle.

 

All they do is squirt water at the lens when we all know to get dirt and grim off you have to rub hard with a sponge.

Headlight washers are part and parcel of the Xenon headlight package. As far as I know it is Law to have them with Xenon headlights.

Tony

I have these on our Vitara and they are coming on the Elegance.

 

Unfortunately I have never thought much of them on any vehicle.

 

All they do is squirt water at the lens when we all know to get dirt and grim off you have to rub hard with a sponge.

I don't know about the ones on your Vitara, but the ones on the Yeti spray at quite a high pressure and certainly do remove a lot of the crud from the headlight lens.

Not just on xenon-equipped cars - the halogen-lit SE got them too. I would say that they extend the period between when you have to mechanically clean them yourself, so they have some effect, but limited. Of course on halogens the heat of the lights tends to 'bake' deposits on to the lens, whereas HIDs tend to run cooler at the lens, giving more chance for wet crud to be washed off before it dries.

I must admit I'm not a huge fan... all they seem to very effectively do is drain the washer fluid reservoir.

Headlight washers are part and parcel of the Xenon headlight package. As far as I know it is Law to have them with Xenon headlights.

Tony

 

Yes, it's a legal requirement of HID fitment to try and minimise light scattering - something to do with the wavelength of the light emitted and particle size of the "dirt" coating on the lens.

 

My schoolboy physics can just about remember things like this

By Law ? Not in every country...for sure

Definitely law in the UK.

Definitely law in the UK.

 

It is an EU Directive that augments the UK Road Vehicle Lighting Regulations 1989 and subsequent Amendments

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1989/1796/contents/made

It is often quoted as law, but I'm not sure it is cut and dried. My friend had an officially-imported Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 8 MR FQ320; this had factory-fitted HIDs and no washers.

Well it IS UK MOT law,

 

http://www.motester.co.uk/mot-information-for-motorists/mot-test-checks-list

 

Under lights,

 

LED and HiD headlamps: automatic levelling or cleaning device inoperative or obviously defective

 

All they do is squirt water at the lens when we all know to get dirt and grim off you have to rub hard with a sponge.

 

No, that's what you do when you want to scratch your car.

The law on this matter is complicated and has been gone into at length on various sections of this forum.

The requirement NOW is that any vehicle constructed after (I think) 2009 that is fitted with HID lights as a standard fitment MUST have working washers and automatic leveling. That is covered under the UK Construction & Use Regulations, and various EU Regulations. It is part of the Type Approval that all vehicles now go though.

Any vehicle constructed before that date does not require washers or auto-levelling..

Any vehicle fitted with HID lights after construction MAY not need them, but as yet it has not been tested in Court, although as has been pointed out the MOT Regulations do not state they are necessary. However if either are fitted then they MUST work.

 

Donj,

Your understanding of that highlighted section above is wrong, I'm afraid.

That shows that if those items are fitted but inoperative or defective then it results in a FAIL.

See Section 1:7 et seq of the MOT Testers Guide:

http://www.motinfo.gov.uk/htdocs/m4i00000001.htm
 

As you say the law is complicated as are MOT inspectors dumb arses.

 

One, a young learner, failed me on one item a smelley hanging from the internal mirror, another, more mature, recently had some common sense to remove it and place it in my glove box.

I'm sure they have a high opinion of you as well!

 

The young one was sticking to the Rules, and if you follow the link I gave you will note that they aren't officially allowed to remove anything from the screen. Fine, the older one did it for you, but if he had been seen doing so by a VOSA Official he would have been reprimanded for doing it. The simple answer is to take it off yourself.

Whatever

Not just on xenon-equipped cars - the halogen-lit SE got them too. I would say that they extend the period between when you have to mechanically clean them yourself, so they have some effect, but limited. Of course on halogens the heat of the lights tends to 'bake' deposits on to the lens, whereas HIDs tend to run cooler at the lens, giving more chance for wet crud to be washed off before it dries.

I must admit I'm not a huge fan... all they seem to very effectively do is drain the washer fluid reservoir.

They can help clear ice/snow from headlamps when motoring in snowy weather - provided the nozzles don't freeze up / antifreeze concentration is appropriate. Snow-covered headlamps being of course as useful as chocolate teapots when winter driving at night...

One, a young learner, failed me on one item a smelley hanging from the internal mirror, another, more mature, recently had some common sense to remove it and place it in my glove box.

 

If he really had some sense he would have thrown it in the bin.

The correct answer.

In my experience headlight washers are effective in some but not all conditions.

 

There are times when the spay being projected up onto the headlights from other traffic dries the instant it hits the headlights / windscreen. Here only a combination of washer jets and wipers removes it.

 

Then there is the slighter wetter spray    which stays wet after it has landed, this stuff is far more easily removed using jets of high pressure water.

There are times when the spay being projected up onto the headlights from other traffic dries the instant it hits the headlights / windscreen. Here only a combination of washer jets and wipers removes it.

 

Then there is the slighter wetter spray    which stays wet after it has landed, this stuff is far more easily removed using jets of high pressure water.

That's why headlight washers are marginally less ineffective on Xenon-equipped cars, as the lenses don't get warm like they do with halogen bulbs - so the cruddy spray doesn't bake on so quickly.

Aren't there only two alternatives to these headlamp washers?  First one - those little wipey blades that they had on Volvos a few years ago (that's how I remember them, anyway).  They were a target for the local light-fingered lads out for some fun.  The second alternative is to get out and wash/wipe them by hand. 

 

Any other system in common use?

Whatever

 

"Whatever" in this context can be taken to mean: "I realise that I am losing this argument so I'm pretending not to care."  In order for this to work properly, the user should refrain from commenting further.

 

The headlamp washer jets on my BMW are very effective. OK, they don't remove absolutely 100% of the baked on grime. Have to use a wipe for that. But they do make a very noticeable improvement when used in typical conditions of dirty spray, damp, salty road, following another vehicle. 

Any other system in common use?

In the early 70's when I still had my Mini Cooper, getting out and peeing on the grime covered headlights was quite effective!  Warm water being more effective, particularly in sub-zero weather.    Less risk of the "nozzle" freezing up too.    That was in the days when taking a leak in a lay-by was less socially unacceptable than it is now.  Not to be advised when you had your mother as a passenger mind!

Aren't there only two alternatives to these headlamp washers?  First one - those little wipey blades that they had on Volvos a few years ago (that's how I remember them, anyway).  They were a target for the local light-fingered lads out for some fun.  The second alternative is to get out and wash/wipe them by hand. 

 

Any other system in common use?

 

You can't use wipers on modern polycarbonate headlights as they will scratch them, all you get these days is a high pressure washer jet.