Beams washer - disconnect !!!!

[bosnjo]

Hi to all, it hapened many times already:

Middle of the night, dark road, windshield dirty. I start washer jets and they start washing my main beams as well (Xenon). I stay in complete dark because of washers covering beams and if speed is higher it becomes dangerous.

Beams washer are useless for me and now I find them very dangerous. I know, before washing I can turn fog lights on or just do quick short push on washers button, but I almost never remember that and stay in the dark for enough time to cause accident.

Solution?

Beam washers are not electrical AFAIC but work by watter pressure. So, solution would be to disconnect the tubes that go to beam washers and stick something in not to have watter leak.

Has anyone done it yet? Where to disconnect? What did you use to close the pipes?

Any help would be much apreciated.

Thanks

[Mr Grumpy]

The best advice, without sounding patronising, is to check your washer bottle level before driving at night.

hth.

[johnjohnhealy]

I think you've got the wrong end of the stick there Mr G.

I think the only way to do this properly would be to disconnect the pump that supplies water to the headlight washers, assuming it's not the same pump that does the windscreen of course!

[Mr Grumpy]

But surely, the headlamp washers are there for a reason?

Iirc, xenon lights get very hot, and mucky spots on the lenses cause hot spots, which, because the lenses on Xenon lights are plastic, have more chance of melting, so..........work it out.

if the man is daft enough to drive at night in the dark, well.......

[vimto2000]

But non xenons have headlamp washers. I would have thought it was just there to make sure the effect of the xenons were crisp. No point have brilliant headlamps if they covered in mud!

Also I was under the impression (correct me if I am wrong) xenon's ran less hotter than normal bulbs, just gave off more light.

[bahnstormer vrs]

Surely the headlamp wash mechanism is electrically operated, with motors to extend and rotate the wash arm before the squirt of fluid.

Wouldn't you 'disable headlamp wash' through, say, VAG-COM?

I have xenons/lamp wash on my car and IMHO the headlamp wash, nice idea as it is, is a pain. I keep my headlamps cleaned with a sponge/leather anyway but every time the lamp wash is used you get washer fuild spray all over over the bonnet.

Xenons are not 'hot' they are 'cool' in use. The reason for the lens to be kept clean is that any dirt etc will refract the light output and disrupt the beam pattern.

[bosnjo]

But, does anyone know where the beam washer pump is located?

[Tech1e]

In the bottom of the washer bottle in the right wheel arch.

[bosnjo]

In the bottom of the washer bottle in the right wheel arch.

Thanks, I'll check to see if I can disconnect it.

[sms]

the washers are on the xenons not for heat reasons but for beam angle. Due to the way xenon shine the light lens needs to be kept clean so the light can shine equally over the road and not into the sky byt eh reflection/refraction.

[johnjohnhealy]

But surely, the headlamp washers are there for a reason?

Iirc, xenon lights get very hot, and mucky spots on the lenses cause hot spots, which, because the lenses on Xenon lights are plastic, have more chance of melting, so..........work it out.

if the man is daft enough to drive at night in the dark, well.......

No, HID or Xenon lights run cooler than halogens.

The problem he's having is that when he washes his windscreen, the headlight washers activate too, which means that the headlights are temporarily blocked by the washer jets, and he cant see where he's going, you dont always need to clean the headlights when you clean the screen.

This is actually a problem car manufacturers are working on, the latest high end mercs, bmw's etc wash each headlight in turn, so that you only ever lose 50% of the light output.

To be honest, I've never actually had a situation where the headlight washers have been of any use, they wont shift general road grime, and they dont fit wipers with them like they used too, so unless someone lobs some wet mud on your lights, they are pointless anyway?

[Mr Grumpy]

I stand corrected.

I think that in the UK washers are mandatory on Xenons though. ( I don't know if this is true elswhere. )

[Tom_vRS]

I have to agree with you John, I had them on my Fabia but all they ever did was spray water all over my lovely clean bonnet. :thumbdwn:

The VW Phaeton has alternating washers.

Simple answer is to only give a brief tap of the washer stalk.

I think they do lift under water pressure, with no electrics involved other than the pump.

[s3akr]

They do lift with the water pressure. They are a mandatory requirement on UK cars with xenons. I thought they only worked if the lights were switched on though - thats how it was on the S3 I had 3 years ago.

With the bonnet getting sprayed..... surely if you have just sprayed your screen and got the dregs of the water on the A-pillar, the roof and the side windows etc the bonnet isn't really that much of a problem in addition! :P

[sms]

yeap i asked this a while back when getting the car about fitting xenons to the car at a later date. told this couldnt be done as the bumpers needed to be fitted with the water washer which could only be done in the factory, asked if i could have the xenons without washers and was told i couldnt as it would be illegal on the road as the washers keep the beams aligned as the dirt on the lens will make the light defract and refract etc and not shine its true course.

[johnjohnhealy]

yeap i asked this a while back when getting the car about fitting xenons to the car at a later date. told this couldnt be done as the bumpers needed to be fitted with the water washer which could only be done in the factory, asked if i could have the xenons without washers and was told i couldnt as it would be illegal on the road as the washers keep the beams aligned as the dirt on the lens will make the light defract and refract etc and not shine its true course.

Headlight washers and self leveling are only a requirement on factory fitted xenons, retro fit xenons do not have to have them, I've no idea why the law stands that way, it just does?

[yashicamat]

There must be an electronic switch somewhere because they only operate every 5th time you pull the washer stalk, and this counter is reset when you turn off the ignition.

It does irritate me that you get half a gallon of washer fluid dumped over the car the first time you wash the windscreen with the lights on. Not to mention the blocking out of light! It's not just the washer stalk, but also the foam generated by the high pressure, which takes a moment to dissapear.

As for their usefulness, they appear to shift road salt off the lenses in winter but other than that they seem pretty useless . . . . although are good for drenching tailgaters.

[WW_VRS]

You can probably change the frequency at which the washer operates, but there are two pumps, so you could just disconnect it

[dstev2000]

Mine operate on the sidelights as well which is about as irritating as is humanly possible.

[bub]

Just remove the fuse. I don't think they stay on long enough to cause complete darkness but I guess it depends in which roads you drive on.

[PumpeDuse]

Just remove the fuse. I don't think they stay on long enough to cause complete darkness but I guess it depends in which roads you drive on.

I was going to say that myself about the fuse.

[yashicamat]

It's not so much total darkness, more the difference between going from intense light output to hardly anything - the eyes just don't adjust quick enough.

I agree about the sidelights operation - what a daft idea!

[johnjohnhealy]

Is there a separate fuse just for the headlight wahers?

[bub]

There must be a separate fuse for headlamp washers as mine were out of order for a long while until I got the garage to look at it. they said it was a fuse.

[johnjohnhealy]

That makes the job considerably easier and quicker then!