[grandmama]

Check the picture
Somehow the piece inside the nozzle was gone and the water didn't have enough pressure to reach the windshield.

This is the second time I have seen on my van.
The 1st time happened on the passanger side. Now, is the driver side. $14.00 for the part last time. Will see how much it cost this time

compare the 2 pic to see the missing part

 

[robo5]

WOW must of been a bad batch(?) I have seen some bad "spray" patterns but nothing that came apart like that?

mmm I wounder if it is type of washer fluid that is the cause (just a wild thought)hehe

 

[tbalon]

What year is your van? Is it exposed to freezing temps? Are you using the right washer fluid? i.e. -20F or better?

 

[topspy]

Wow....I'm sure it happens, but I've never seen or heard of that before. I know sometimes the hoses get disconnected/pop-off under the hood, or develop a hole/leak somewhere along the routing, but I've never seen where the nozzle simply "disappears". ??? ??? ???

Are the hoses still connected?
Can you determine.....Did the nozzle pop OUT from the holder, or cave IN to the hole?

Mysteries of the universe.... :-\ ???

 

[grandmama]

What year is your van? Is it exposed to freezing temps? Are you using the right washer fluid? i.e. -20F or better?

this is from my 04 LE AWD
We are in Seattle so it isn't that cold in the winter.
I just use the "regular" washer fluid (the blue one) which I picked up from the store.

 

[grandmama]

Wow....I'm sure it happens, but I've never seen or heard of that before. I know sometimes the hoses get disconnected/pop-off under the hood, or develop a hole/leak somewhere along the routing, but I've never seen where the nozzle simply "disappears". ??? ??? ???

Are the hoses still connected?
Can you determine.....Did the nozzle pop OUT from the holder, or cave IN to the hole?

Mysteries of the universe.... :-\ ???

Never have issue with the hose connection under the hood because I can still get the water out from that nozzle
Just the front part is gone.

I am not sure why. Too hot? Too cold?

Oh, no, my van is a Lemon!!! ;D

 

[topspy]

I haven't had the hoses come undone on the Sienna, but have experienced it in several prior cars. I also experienced a leak in my '91 Acura Legend...which was of course in an "elbow attachment" that cracked and was hidden in the most inconvenient and difficult spot to reach INSIDE BETWEEN the metal fender well and the metal frame of the body....but that's another story/topic. : 8)

The "blue" stuff comes in different temperature ratings. In my general area...usually for "down to 32F", or "down to 20F" (I think...??). The latter ones are very rare and harder to find in SoCal at mass-merchants. You usually wouldn't find them unless you were near a mountain/snow community during the winter and they don't stay stocked on the store shelves for very long.

 

[grandmama]

took my car for oil change yesterday and asked for the cost of the nozzle, $21.99 + TAX !!
that's expensive!

 

[spender]

I've replaced two of these already, I think it's when water gets trapped in them from running off the car, then freezes, which loosens the whole sprayer enclosure, resulting in the centre "popping" out. Basically, you just need to turn it back and forth (using a wrench helps too) until it pops out - at this point, you just remove it from the sprayer tube (make sure this doesn't disappear back into the hood enclosure) and snap it back in. Takes 3 minutes, a simple repair - but you do need the new part from the dealer.

 

[samilcar]

Spender, where in the country are you located? I'm beginning to think this is a freezing fluid issue rather than a sprayer part issue. We see some -10 to -20 temps in the winter around here, but have never had an issue with the sprayer nozzles. I use Preston yellow -34 rated stuff in our Sienna, but even the regular blue (-20 rated) stuff works in other vehicles with no problems.

 

[grandmama]

Just have the driver side replaced part + labor = $38.00 What the X.

This is the second time on my van. Last time on the right side, this time on the left. Hope don't need to deal with this anymore. The part is about $23 if I remembered correctly. Just don't have the time to replace it myself.

 

[topspy]

Hmmmmm.....maybe as a pre-emptive/preventative measure, we should all try and "super glue" (or something) the spray nozzles to their housings....of course, be careful to not plug the spray holes. ;D 8)

 

[jme3jm]

This happened to me, and I bought the generic repair part at a local auto parts store for 18$ (too lazy to go to the dealer). Unfortunately, I didn't realize that the original part is basically a 90 degree elbow. The part I got pointed straight down from the under surface of the hood, but it doesn't fit well because the support framing of the hood is right there in the way. It was a very painful install, hard to thread the support bolt onto the fixture, I drilled a small hole in that support framing to allow the tube to be perpendicular to the underside of the hood. Anyways, my point is that I should have just bought the Toyota part, I'm sure it's easier to install then what I went through.

 

[grandmama]

i thought about doing it myself as well but I decided not to because of the same reason. Not sure part is right, how to install...

I have both replaced, just hope it will last

 

[brian_bp]

The "blue" stuff comes in different temperature ratings. In my general area...usually for "down to 32F"...

Isn't that just water?

I assume that a 32 F / 0 C fluid is not intended for use in freezing conditions, and has only detergent added.

I wouldn't buy any washer fluid not rated for at least -30 C (-22 F).

 

[brian_bp]

Hmmmmm.....maybe as a pre-emptive/preventative measure, we should all try and "super glue" (or something) the spray nozzles to their housings....of course, be careful to not plug the spray holes. ;D 8)

... or just keep a spare one in the toolbox, since the original is unlikely to ever fail and the gluing effort is probably just as high as replacing the thing.

I'm not going to worry about it; mine are on their seventh winter and are fine.

 

[brian_bp]

I had never heard of this type of problem before, in any brand of vehicle, driven anywhere.

I've replaced two of these already, I think it's when water gets trapped in them from running off the car, then freezes, which loosens the whole sprayer enclosure, resulting in the centre "popping" out.

This seems plausible to me, and would explain why it would affect a vehicle in conditions which frequently hover around freezing and include a lot of rain. Here, once winter settles in there would be few times that runoff water would be a concern until spring.

I suppose the key might be to jog the sprayer when parking to ensure that the nozzle is filled with the non-freezing washer fluid rather than water.

 

[topspy]

The "blue" stuff comes in different temperature ratings. In my general area...usually for "down to 32F"...

Isn't that just water?

I assume that a 32 F / 0 C fluid is not intended for use in freezing conditions, and has only detergent added.

I wouldn't buy any washer fluid not rated for at least -30 C (-22 F).

Unfortunately, the lower-temp stuff usually isn't available locally in many places.....unless below freezing temps are common during the winter.

 

[brian_bp]

Unfortunately, the lower-temp stuff usually isn't available locally in many places.....unless below freezing temps are common during the winter.

That's understandable. We can get -45 C (-49 F) stuff here

Since washer fluid is sprayed on the outside of the car, it must be compatible with all autobody materials and environmentally acceptable. As a result, it doesn't have really effective anti-freeze components (such as the glycol used in engine coolant), and depends instead on alcohol. They are basicially just water, alcohol, and touch of detergent; you can make your own (or make the available stuff into a more winter-suitable version) by adding alcohol.

The alcohol is generally methanol - which is toxic but acceptable when appropriately diluted - but I just learned today that at least one ethanol-based fluid is available, and some use a very small amount of isopropanol (IPA). For home-brewing, just adding methyl hydrate (which is methanol) from the auto supply store or even ethanol or a touch of isopropanol from the drugstore should work.

Learn more than you ever wanted to know about this stuff on the Recochem Windshield Washer Fluids web page. Recochem is refreshingly forthright about chemical composition information; mixing chemicals to make products for sale under their own name or for others is their business.

 

[topspy]

Nice link. ;D
Looks like they make different formulations for different regions. I sometimes use some of the Rain-X type, but it doesn't look like [Recochem] is the supplier/maker here in the USA...and the temperature ratings are very different.