Headlight washer leak - Resolved
 

Loving it - had a very small leak when I got it. Figured I'd get to it soon enough. Looks like that time has come. Weekend project of pulling the bumper. Better be just a clamp or piece of hose I already have :)

http://i652.photobucket.com/albums/u...ly/Image-4.jpg

Like the winter rim scuffs? Driveway spots are from previous vehicle. Cleaning them is also on the list…….

Have fun! Acetone is pretty good for cleaning up, chlorox works great but leaves a much nastier smell.

Kitty litter works just fine for driveway stain. You need to grind the litter into the concrete with your feet.

Its just washer fluid? Don't worry it won't stain, alcohol and methanol and a bit of blue dye. Give it a few rains and it will be fine.

Now I thought that was an oil leak on concrete, good luck lifting that up easily.

Ah yeah if its washer fluid, i though it was oil or something.

If I were you I wouldn't bother fixing it, the system is poorly designed and will leak again as the tubes and hoses age or the pump will stop working. Kinda like the power folding mirrors, it' not reliable, I would just leave it alone unless you feel you have to have it out of necessity.

I don't like the puddle, so I'll give it a go at repairing it. The other stains are oil from the previous Pontiac engineering marvel. I'll get to those as well, but I'm not expecting miracles.

it's most likely leaking from one of the pumps... it's common for one of the 3 pumps to crack and leak.

good thing is, once you buy one from the parts counter at BM$... you can just keep returning it as defective ;)

been there and done it twice now!

Penske Parts - Technical Diagrams - E53 X5 4.4i (N62) SAV

Take a look at #3 (Seal)and #4 (Pump) for winshield and rear wiper if so equipt.

The headlamp pump is the larger on on the side of the bucket facing the engine. The harder to reach ones are on the back side facing the firewall. Undo the plastic nut holding the washer bucket down and roll it forward. This will make your work easier. the ones with the blue water tracks are the leakers so replace the pump and the seals at the same time. If not you will be in there again shortly. The seals are cheap. The pumps are available aftermarket so look there first, www.ECS.com, etc.

The washer hoses crack at the 90degree plastic fittings so make sure they are not the source of the leaks.

The headlamp squirters have a check ball that can break and allow all the fliud to run out. Most people when faced with that issue, just unplug the pump and cap the line. This however is a less common issue.

This was my first repair as that 7.8L bucket makes a large pool in the garage overnight. The dealer made three attemps to repair the window F&R pumps before I got it. They replaced the pumps only to have the seals leak at a slower rate but enough to still drain the washer fluid over a two day period.


Good luck

Thanks! I'll start at the top and work my way down. Ideally I find the leak up high and don't have to pull the bumper. My luck, that won't happen. I'll take some pics along the way with the findings.