Wiper/washer question

My wipers work fine but the washers never worked. I spent some time yesterday playing with it and after a bit of cleaning I got them working again. Then I noticed a problem.

The washer will pump anytime the wipers are on. If I open the housing there's a plastic wheel with a notch that turns with the wipers. If I pull the metal tab up out of the notch the washer stops pumping, but it disables the pump completely. To get it pumping again I need to put everything back into place. It looks like there's a magnet system that charges and raises/lowers the tab into the wheel, which I'm assuming coincides with the washer switch, but I have no way of knowing how to test it to make sure that the magnet is the culprit.

If anyone knows what I'm talking about and could take a look at it for me I'd appreciate it. I know what I'm talking about and my description confuses me

After reading the details of a replacement pump it makes me think I have an issue with "cam alignment" in the pump. Now what? A replacement pump is $25 which I could spend on better things then the washer pump for a busted windshield. Anyone know how to realign these things correctly?

bammax wrote:

After reading the details of a replacement pump it makes me think I have an issue with "cam alignment" in the pump. Now what? A replacement pump is $25 which I could spend on better things then the washer pump for a busted windshield. Anyone know how to realign these things correctly?

Honestly, if its set up like the one that was in my Jetta, the pump is a sealed system and its just easier to replace the thing. Mine was the same price, I just got fed up and replaced it.

Nope. Not even close to a sealed system. They even have rebuild kits for it if I was so inclined. I almost wish it were just a basic one that popped into the reservoir like the Cappy had.

Here's mine

bammax wrote:

Nope. Not even close to a sealed system. They even have rebuild kits for it if I was so inclined. I almost wish it were just a basic one that popped into the reservoir like the Cappy had.

Here's mine

Hmmm, well thats a plus then. How much is the rebuild kit compared to the replacement? If it were me, if the difference were close i'd still go with replacing it. However, it doesnt seem like it would be a difficult thing to rebuild...

After careful research I may have found a problem. My car doesn't have intermintent wipers and niether does the pump as it only has 2 prongs on the front which are associated with the magnet. The connector in the cars wiring harness is for a 3 prong intermittent setup though. Maybe if I swap the pump for one with the 3 prong magnet it'll fix the issue.

The prongs I'm talking about are seen in the front cover of the pic I posted. The 2 side by side are the same regardless of the pump, but the intermitent pump also has the vertical prong which makes for an L shaped connector. My car has the L connector but only has the side by side prongs on the pump

I have been thinking, since our "on the wiper arm" sprayers are such a PITA, (clogging, breaking, odd size tubing that it seems you can only get with a new wiper arm). Has anyone ever tried drilling 2 small holes in the hood and picking up 2 hood sprayers from a parts store?

That's how my car is setup from the factory. 2 nozzles on the cowl that shoot fluid up the windshield and over the roof