Where does this washer hose go?

alan-bc · Post by **alan-bc** » 05 Dec 2019, 09:08

My wife complained that her windshield washers didn't work on her 2005 V70. Upon filling the reservoir with fluid, most (all) just ran away.

I crawled under the car and saw three hoses running down the backside of the reservoir, neatly held in place by "clips" on the reservoir. Two went to a little pump. One went .. nowhere!

The nowhere hose came down from the top SOMEWHERE to a coupling. The bottom of the coupling had about 2" of rubber tubing on it and that's it!

I temporarily plugged it with a bolt and hose clamp, only to discover that the pump had failed as well.

So the wheel and plastic inner fender cover came off and I had a closer look.

The tubing is pretty darn square at the end, as if it were cut by a knife, not YANKED off or pinched off by .. I don't know what could pinch it in there.

A new pump is on its way, but I have no idea where this hose goes. There is nothing else dangling that I can see .. no spare end looking for a coupling.

Any thoughts appreciated.

Alan

Post by **- Pete -** » 06 Dec 2019, 01:10

The single pump feeds both the front windscreen/headlights as well as the rear windscreen. Just get a used FoMoCo Spain pump off ebay. Don't get a chinky cheapy. The pump spins in "reverse" when you apply your rear squirters. There is a check valve down near the pump to prevent fluid from being forced down one avenue. I don't recall which artery the check valve is on, but it's there. I think it's on the line feeding the rear windscreen. Should be pretty easy to figure out. Taking the front bumper skin off is the easiest to work on this. Takes all of 5 minutes (removal).

alan-bc · Post by **alan-bc** » 18 Dec 2019, 08:41

Thanks for the time to reply! And for the pics!

Sadly, your pics do not match mine .. exactly .. but they're close enough to be confusing.

First, there is no T connector going to the right side of the pump, just a single hose. This supplies water to the windshield washers. The car does have headlight squirters, but I have no idea where the water would comes from .. perhaps from a T hidden inside somewhere that I can't see.

There is another single hose going to the left side of the pump, which sends water to the rear windscreen (it's a wagon). This is confirmed by compressed air.

There is a third hose that looks EXACTLY like the hose (in your pic) going to the left side of the pump, but on my car, that third hose is just dangling there! Unplug that hose from your pump, let it flop about and you have my car.

And the plastic fitting is not a check valve (on my car anyway), as I would have expected, it's a coupling. But why would Volvo have put a coupling in to extend a hose 2 inches to go .. nowhere?

Weirder still, if I put compressed air to this dangling hose, air comes out the reservoir! It acts like an overflow for the reservoir.

And indeed, it I COMPLETELY fill the tank, right to top of the filler, the water drains away out this third hose, down to the top of the actual tank.

Anyway, I've rammed a long bolt in and added a tiny hose clamp and I can now fill the tank to the top.

The pump was replaced with a Napa part that was about 1/10th the price of the Volvo part and seems to work fine. For the small number of days a year the car is used and the likelihood of sending the car to the scrap heap in the near future, a cheap pump seemed appropriate.

(It's a weird world. The car is a 2005 T5 wagon with a stick, 250k on it, and every stinking option available at the time. It runs great, it's been well maintained by Volvo, and absolutely everything works.

But it's now a 15 year old car, and so maybe it's time to think about a new car, likely an electric one. Given my age, it may well be the last car I own.

That means getting rid of the Volvo. No dealer wants it as a trade in, so that usually means selling it privately. But our government has a program named "Scrap-It" designed to get old cars off the road. Basically, they will pay you to scrap a car.

Here's the thing. I can get as much for the car by scrapping this otherwise wonderful car as I could by selling it .. and it's a whole lot less hassle. So a fine car is likely to be turned into a little cube of crushed metal.)

Thanks again for the time.

Post by **volvolugnut** » 18 Dec 2019, 09:06

Wait! You have a well maintained 2005 T5 (with manual transmission) and you are considering sending to scrapper because the windshield washer does not work? MVS let's help fix it or rescue for others. I am to far away to rescue myself but are there others who can help?
volvolugnut

alan-bc · Post by **alan-bc** » 18 Dec 2019, 11:54

No no no.

The windshield washer is now fine. But I'm starting to make little repairs all the time, and it's becoming annoying laying on my cold and wet concrete driveway to fix things.

When that starts to happen too frequently, I get rid of the car. I got rid of a 245 when this started to happen at 500,000 miles .. good life out of that one. The 760 I replaced it with got annoying at 350,000 miles, also pretty good life. The first V70 went bye-bye at 225,000 miles .. a wee bit disappointing.

This V70 is becoming annoying at 150,000 miles, which is a distressing trend.

In this last year and a bit, I've installed fancy shocks worth almost as much as the car, replaced the muffler, the gas hatch struts, the washer pump, alarm, CV joints, a door speaker, and headlights (xenon) . I've repaired the seat switches and numerous body creaks. The rear wiper motor was replaced twice in a year and is now dead again (and might stay that way).

I'm just waiting for (and dreading) the smell of anti-freeze in the cabin.

It's a great car .. a recent run through the mountains at speed, roaring up the high hills past all the (normally aspirated) Camaros and Mustangs in a station wagon was very very satisfying.

But I'm too old and too grouchy to live with all the little annoyances, so time to get rid of it.

Now, if I sold it locally, I would probably get $5,000 (Canadian) if I waited long enough. I MIGHT find a guy willing to pay $6,000 because it's a stick, but it's just as likely I'd only get $4,000.

The government would pay me between $5k and $6k just to scrap it! They would show up with a tow truck, hand me a cheque and haul it away.

Why would a guy bother trying to sell it?

Post by **volvolugnut** » 18 Dec 2019, 18:32

Sorry, I misunderstood.
Hypothetical, could I haul near dead cars from the US to Vancouver and get government check for $5 - 6K? That would be a good jig to get started. It would even pay for me to get a new truck to haul them.
With a deal like that I can understand not fooling with selling privately.
volvolugnut

Post by **abscate** » 18 Dec 2019, 18:57

I think you will run into import problems trying this

I think the program is also a 6k credit towards an EV, not 6k cash

alan-bc · Post by **alan-bc** » 19 Dec 2019, 17:42

Yeah, I over-simplified, it is up to $6K towards an EV. But with gas for the turbo at close to two bucks a liter, our next purchase will certainly be an EV. So it's kinda the same thing.

Note that for the folks outside of B.C., there are other requirements that limit the money to us locals. (Sorry lugnut.)

But it's still a pretty tempting deal, because I do hate selling my old cars. Even if the "cash back" was less than I'd get for selling the car myself, I'd still probably go the easy route.

Post by **- Pete -** » 19 Dec 2019, 22:36

I've never checked to see if it is a "check valve", that's just what made sense to me as the pump obviously spins on opposing directions depending on which windscreen is needing washing. Glad you got it sorted.

Best of luck with your decision.

Please post back with how much you end up getting from Johnny Canuck for the not-so-old Volvo.

150k is just a baby with these. I'd be willing to bet the various annoyances on your manual trans V70 (T5 was it?) could be solved for $500 in parts or under.

The community for these aging cars is growing in strength. I'd be willing to bet there are a few on here proximal to you that would be willing to help/teach you how to keep your vehicle going "for life". I'm in N. Minnesota, willing & able to help, but not quite close enough.

alan-bc · Post by **alan-bc** » 20 Dec 2019, 12:04

Thanks for the thought!

I'm well able to keep the car going, being a decent shade-tree mechanic for 50 years or so. I just don't want to be bothered! I'm too old for this.

If I had a garage with a hoist, maybe a different story. If I had a garage at all, maybe. But since I only have a driveway ...

And while I don't have a lot of money, I do have more money than time .. like I say, I'm kinda old. I don't want to spend what's left working on my car.

Funny, as I'm typing this, my wife has just come in the door and reminded me .. again .. of a stumble that sure smells like a bad fuel pump. So I'll be out in the cold and RAIN RAIN RAIN (it's wet in Vancouver) replacing parts one week after replacing other parts.