Hi, was hoping for some advice with my Vrs estate. My front, rear and headlight washers are not working. (The reservoir is full) I put it down to the arctic conditions at first, but since I've been on a long drive and had the car running for a long period of time, I'm not convinced it's frozen. Also I've got heated washers.

Is there anything obvious I can check? 

 

Many thanks in advance,

 

Rich

Can you provide a bit more info?

 

- How long have they not been working, and is it consistent with the cold weather we've experienced?

- What screen wash do you use?

- What was the indicated outdoor temperature when you were attempting to use them?

- Do you hear the noise of the motor attempting to work?

 

From my limited experience, it's likely that the lines from the reservoir are still frozen somewhere along the length of their track, including if they're away from the engine bay. My rear washers didn't work yesterday, but that was due to it being frozen @ -6'C - both bug/tar spray and drinking water were frozen in the boot all day!

Fuse - check the manual - can you hear the pump trying to run?

 

Also did you have sufficient washer additive in for the low temperatures that we are experiencing could still be frozen hoses.

If you cannot hear the pump it's a fuse. 

 

If you can hear the pump it's a frozen pipe/blocked washer. 

I would imagine it's something they've sorted by now, but on our mark 1 Fabia if you tried washing the screen while the pipes were frozen it made them disconnect from the bottle - it might be worth checking

Where about is the pump washer fuse as I can't find one? 

See pages 228-229 in the owners manual. The washer fuse is shared with the rear doors central locking - so if that is also not working, its the fuse. The fuse (42?) is in the fuse panel situated behind the glove locker. Not easy to access compared to the Mk2 Octavia.

Just been following this thread and I'd be interested to know at what point the heated washer jets turn on.

the washer jets are probably ignition live. 

 

And if it froze it ain't defrosting any time soon unless you're putting the car in a warm garage. If you've not used washer fluid good to -20C, it'll be frozen. 8 hours in a warm (>10C) garage was what it took when our 307s bottle froze... I'd assume that's the problem in the absence of any better info.

 

 - Bret

 

2 hours ago, silverden said:

Just been following this thread and I'd be interested to know at what point the heated washer jets turn on.

 

It's not clear in the manual.

 

On Ford's I had with heated front screen the heated washer jets came on with the heated screen.

 

Lee

Yes, the last two Fords that I've had did the same.  So still not sure when they come on with the Octavia.  Can't be ignition fed or they'd be on all the time, summer or winter.

There will be a Thermostat control, maybe based on Ambient temperature.

Heated nozzles only stop the water from freezing as it is sprayed onto the screen. With these persistent low temps the whole system will be frozen from reservoir to pump to nozzle. Normal dilutions of screenwash will be insufficient to prevent the lot freezing up.

 

4 hours ago, vegit8 said:

Heated nozzles only stop the water from freezing as it is sprayed onto the screen. With these persistent low temps the whole system will be frozen from reservoir to pump to nozzle. Normal dilutions of screenwash will be insufficient to prevent the lot freezing up.

 

 

The heated nozzles just prevent water freezing at that point. They do not heat the water as they pass through. 

In my manual 42 is listed as not used and no mention of the washer fuse.

Someone else has said 42 wasn't blown when they  checked when they were searching.

anyone got any clarification on this. Confused now

A different ,downloaded, manual has info on p 282, but it still shows fuse 42 for the washers.

Hi, my first post... I know this is an old thread, but I have the same problem on Octavia III 1.5 TSI estate 2018 - washers suddenly not pumping water - after working fine since bought 3 years ago. 

Problem is on both front and rear, not even trying to squirt at all, and totally no sound of pump either. Weather is warm May, and water level is recently topped up and visible in the filler neck. Rear door central locking works ok - but I checked fuse 42 anyway, and it's fine. 

Before I let the dealer loose on it... would be grateful for ideas... Thanks.

 

Can anyone confirm which fuse to check as most people said fuse 42 is not the one. My car developed the same issue yesterday.

From memory it isn’t fused, I can double check at work tomorrow 

Daheee, I should have updated my outcome in May for info. My problem turned out to be a faulty pump. Replacing the pump fixed it. Good luck.

So one pump controls the front and rear washers? any idea of the location?

Daheee, on my 2018 model (probably same as your 2013?) it's in front of the left front wheel, just behind the arch liner. If you ease the edge of the front part of the liner off by releasing a few screws, you can see it inside.  It looks easy to change by releasing more of the liner, though mine was done for me under warranty... Attached is a pic I took at the time. Hope helps.

So this is definitely the solution. I thought it would have been a fuse with both front and rear not working, or making a sound?

Can somebody confirm the rating of fuse 42. Mines only had a 15amp fuse in when it blew so swapped like for like, but it seems a bit small?

 

Thanks.

On 16/04/2023 at 17:16, Daheee said:

Can anyone confirm which fuse to check as most people said fuse 42 is not the one. My car developed the same issue yesterday.

The fuse is red 40A