Well, I am having a Skoda junket this February. After the central locking installation (with help from FabiaTDI and others), fixing the dashboard creak (with help from FabiaTDI) I have now been hit with the knackered rear washer on our Fabia Classic Hatch. :?

I have read the various threads on this in briskoda.net- and having called the dealer this morning they said it would be worth a quick look under the bonnet to see if the rear pipe has become disconnected. But to be honest I couldn't find the pipe - it was a bit dark, but can anyone help?

Summary of symptoms:

1. Front washers fine

2. Rear washer pumps but no water comes out of the nozzle

3. Yes - it was very cold that evening, but I did have winter mix in the screenwash tank ... honestly.

I would dearly love to fix this one myself too - the dealer "might not be able to fit me in until 18th March" anyway (!!!) As well as this infamous engine compartment pipe, are their any other suspect places e.g. C pillar (note - I am pretty sure there's nothing coming out the tailgate plastic trim - no dampness at all)?

As always, advice is very welcome.

Hello again!

[img:984efa03b2]http://hpbimg.fabiatdi.com/Enginebay.jpg[/img:984efa03b2]

Have a look in the general area marked on this picture.

Look for black washer tubing behind (but below) the air cleaner box.

Alternatively get an assistant to operate the rear washer jet while you look under the bonnet. You'll see the fluid being dumped all over the ground!

The tubing is meant to come apart, if the washer fluid freezes, to prevent damage. Apparently.

The tubes should just click back together.

Thanks FabiaTDi (once again!)

Actually, I investigated further and it wasn't a problem under the bonnet. The garage helpfully suggested a similar joint in the C column accessible behind the carpet in the boot - and indeed this was the problem ... blue screenwash squirting everywhere, and simply needing to be pushed back together.

Pretty good service actually - they booked it in for next week but offered helpful DIY advice at the same time. This saves me having to be at the garage at 07:45 on Wednesday! Good stuff.

Take care all,

Dunder with the clean back window.

Ah!

I shall have to investigate the connector in the C column!

I bet screen wash and carpets dont go well together..

I have had the same problem with my Fabia, but it's only in the engine bay and is easily sorted!

Has anybody else had a problem with wash/wipe fuse - Mine went one wintry morning when I tried to put the front washers on (they had frozen, even though the garage was supposed to have added screenwash) and the rear wiper went instead! Then the front windscreen wipers wouldn't go! Luckily my father-in-law had the same problem and it turned out to be the fuse (no. 15 I think, 10amp) which governs the windscreen wipers and washers! A bit of a design-fault there I think, at least if you have wipers you could smear some of the muck off the window - anyway keeping the bottle topped up with anti-freeze screen wash just in case.

I'm surprised it blew the fuse. The system must have been really frozen up!

Problems with the screenwash system seem very common. I wonder how much of Skoda dealer time is wasted by this :roll:

I always make sure i use a high concentration of screen wash now.

This is a VW problem too which affects the Golf, and could even be a VAG-wide problem (like coil packs).

I think it was really frozen. The trouble is the washer bottle is in such a place that it doesn't get any heat from the engine in winter - which is a real pity.

I must admit I did try to wash the screen about 3 times in 10 miles - so maybe it just had enough! :?

I've had both these problems, plus another which has now crept up! My fuse has blown once, the rear washer pipe come off numerous times. Now I have a problem with the front washers. A pipe comes off at the bottom of the bottle which then causes the bottle to empty itself! :(

This has now happened twice. To get to it, u need to remove the torx bolts holding the front of the inner wheelarch liner in place on the passenger side. Then once u have managed to pull the liner out slightly, u can just get to the pipe to refit it.

Need to find a way of stopping it coming off as it's not the easiest of jobs at the roadside! None of this has stopped me enjoyin the pleasures of Fabia ownership though. :p

The pipe came off the rear window washer on my RS, I have it about 18 months now and its the first time it has happened.

Could it be to do with the frost blocking the nozzle and hence when trying to use the washer it has nowhere to go so the pressure pops the hose off. Alternatively if it happening that often could it be the stuff you add to the water in the washer bottle. Is there a filter, maybe particles are getting through and blocking the nozzle.

One thing you could do is put a tie wrap on it but it could pop off somewhere else, so I wouldn't.

My cousin had a Polo and when the rear washer wasn't working we kept trying the washer to find what we thought was a blockage, we then noticed the floor was soaking, yes the connection had blown off somewhere around the back seat. It is a fault with VW as I've also heard of it happening to Golfs

Had my fabia since nov '01 - managed to blow the wiper fuse twice in a month during that first winter. First time I just popped back to the garage and they did it there and then, after that I started carrying a spare set of fuses ;-) As has already been said, tends to happen when it's *really* cold outside...

Never had any probs at all with anything else, apart from a rattling dash - which they're fixing for me on thursday :-D

Just to go a little off topic....

If you want serious trouble with your screen washers, try visiting the drive through monkey enclosure at your local Safari Park. The little wotsits at the West Midland Safari Park used to swarm over your car and bite all the spray heads off. The ground was littered with them. After the my last trip, I went to my local dealer to order the new parts (which cost more than the entrance fee to the park) and they knew exactly where I had been, so frequently were people asking for them. The Park had a big sign at the entrance to the enclosure saying they were not responible for any damage inflicted. You have been warned......

AndyC

I know how this feels. The hose to my rear washer came off during a sever cold snap, and when the rear washer was activated, the pump was working, but the water was pi**ing out somewhere under the bonnet. Luckily the dealer was relatively quiet, and I just took the car in and they re-attached it. I think its a common fault, and I suspect that when the dealer did re-attach it, they used something damn stronger than whatever they used in the factory...