home Fix label Vehicles label_important Cars category Ford

Ford Focus, Windscreen washer?

Windcscreen washer ran dry. After topping it up will not pump water.

Ron Pinder, December 2004

home Fix label Vehicles label_important Cars category Forddone

My 63 reg focus stopped squirting. Pump ran fine but obvious blockage. Added 3 caps full of sink unblocker to the reservoir. Left for 10 mins then fed a 2-3 foot length of flexible pipe, (in this case a piece of old electric lighting flex), and worked it up and down for a couple of minutes. It did the trick! I then emptied the reservoir via continuous squirting and refilled a few times and repeated.
I then made certain that I washed all residue off the car.

Rapidegg, August 2017

hi,

I have an issue where when I use my front washer, the back comes on as well, any ideas?

chris, January 2016

I got an old piece of hose pipe stuck it down into the reservoir and then blew down the pipe. Then added a little drop of fairy liquid and blew down the pipe again. Bingo my washer jets now work front and back!

Claire Wheatley, November 2015

ford focus 06 ,water comes through the jets when the bonnet is open ,soon as its closed the water stops ,not sure wheather the pipe is going the right way into the bottle ?any chance of a diagram comming from the bonnet to the bottle .cheers

mojoe, March 2015

my screen washer stopped working, pump was running i think the filter was blocked,all i done was feed a plastic pipe in to the bottle then blow into the pipe which stirred the muck up at the bottom of the bottle then syphon the water out, do this 2-3 times and it will clear filter, this worked for me and saved me taking the bottle out,you will need about 2-3 ft of flexible plastic pipe, good luck if you try this

Bob F, January 2015

I had this problem after I had not put any screen-wash in and I was not liking the thought of removing the pump to clean it so I bought some screen wash from Halfords which needed diluting I put what I could get in neat and after 4/5 days the problem resolved its self

Glyn, December 2014

I did the same as most of the above, nothing ,so I back pressured the filler tank ,buy mouth/[no comments please] a good hard blow,that fixed it.

Pete., July 2013

unscrew the rear brake light sometimes the pipe has just come off. alot easier than taking the wheel off

sam, June 2013

55 Reg Focus Saloon. Winscreen washers suddenly packed up. Pump was still making a noise, small dribble of water coming out of the jets. After removing the offside wheel, the inner wheel arch cover etc.....

I found there was a coupling which was in line with the pipe between the resevoir and the pump. I pulled the pipe(s) away from each end of the coupling to remove the coupling. Water poured from the resevoir side pipe which proved there was no blockage on that side. I tried to blow down the coupling but could not. This suggested to me this was the source of the blockage. I joined the pipes using a similar sized pipe joint coupling I had from a greenhouse watering system kit and hey presto the windscreen washers worked again.

I was able to dismantle the coupling I had removed and found it had a tiny rubber diaphram and a spring. I am guessing this is some sort of pressure regulator on the input side to the windscreen washer pump. The rubber diaphram had gone soft, so I guess this was the cause of the blockage.

I am not 100% sure of the purpose of this coupling with diaphram and spring. Would appreciate any comments. The coupling is marked "Made in Sweden" and has an arrow in the direction of the water flow.

Windscreen washers work perfectly now so I'm tempted not to get a replacement coupling from Ford. Has anyone else had a similar experience with this coupling?

FocusOwner, April 2013

The washers work, but leave a pool of fluid on the hood. Had Ford replace both the nozzles and the motor and it is still doing it... Does anyone else have this problem? I have a 2008 Ford Focus SES.

Lea, November 2012

I had the same problem, pump making the noise and nothing coming out. It was like it for for over 2 weeks. I tried most of what was suggested above and was preparing myself for removing the wheel etc...
Luckily my sink blocked at roughly the same time and gave me an idea to use some of the Mr Muscle drain cleaner.
I had the washers working within 2 minutes :)
I emptied the entire contents using the washers and then topped up with water and emptied again.
I was concerned that there may be something corrosive that might affect the paint work etc so I washed the the car.
Works great now and no problems.

Chris, June 2012

After reading all the forums on this topic I was dreading the task of removing the tank and cleaning/replacing the filter. I had eliminated any blockage in the pipes so was confident the problem lay with the filter,but thought I would try this first.
You will need: A wet and dry vacuum cleaner ie. Earlex.
A watering can.
A piece of rag.
Fill the tank to overflow, put the extension pipe of vacuum in
the filler expansion chamber and fill any gaps with the rag, switch on the vacuum. I repeated this again before testing the washers,wow good as new!,took me about 10 mins.

Bob, March 2012

it's a pain to fix but you need to take the water tank out at the back of the tank there is a pump remove that and there is a rubber washer conected to the tank this will be full of muck simply clean this out remember to empty the water tank 1st or you will get as wet as i did when putting the wheel arch cover back on

g stirzy, February 2012

Ford Focus windscreen jets not working is due to bad design. 99% of stoppages is due to filter which is gunged up. Not a simple job to remove washer bottle but must be done. Looking for a screen wash that will not cause this problem, any one any ideas????

dekerh, October 2011

Why do they make it so difficult for the diy person, having to remove the wheel and wheel arch and not being able to do it from under the bonet, for such a simple mech job. Is it because they want to discourage you so you'll take it to a garage where they'll sell you new parts so the Ford company will make money on your head?

r.baxter, March 2010

Easy. Take the pipe that leads to the jets, just underneath the bonnet. check for a blockage, as crap from lack of use may have solidified over time. pin prick the jets. if the water is coming out of the pipes, your good to go.

Focus Fixer, November 2009

Have just cleaned the filter on a 55 reg Focus but the resevoir and pump are under the off-side wheel-arch not the near-side and you cant remove the pump until you've removed the resevoir.

Peter, May 2009

If you can hear the pump working when you operate it then there is possibly a blockage in the pipe.
If the rear wiper works but not the front, you could swap the pipes over at the pump to prove where the probelm is.
If the pump works but water isnt getting to either front or rear (or very feebly) then there could be a blockage in the filter at the bottom of the pump and you should clean it out.
The pump is under the nearside wheelarch and you have to remove the wheel and the splash guard (or whatever its called) to get at it.
If you cant hear the pump working at all then replace it - about £5 from ebay, rather than about £50 if you let Ford do it. Its very easy but have a bucket handy!
If the pipes are clear and the pump only works on the rear then you may have a poor electrical contact on the stalk.

Adrian, March 2008