Rear wash/wiper repair

Posted: Sun Apr 24, 2011 7:13 am

One for the archives. This repair kit relates to a lot of models of the same era;

A3 1997-2003

A4 Avant 1998-2001

A6 Avant 1998-2006

Since buying the RS, the rear washer hasn't worked.
After a bit of searching, I checked the common problem of the plastic hose coming apart in the passenger footwell. Yup, it was apart but after reconnecting I still had no fluid the the rear wiper. Off came the tailgate inner trim panel and I pulled off the hose connection and operated the pump. Lots of water. Cool, so I must be the actual jet or associated parts.
On closer inspection, some numpty in the past has been poking needles/pins in the jet and I had a nice piece snapped off in there Rolling Eyes

There's a repair kit available from the dealers, seems lots of models around that era used the same motor/jet etc. The part number relates to an A3 if memory serves.

Here's a bit of a piccie run-through.

Tools used to remove the inner tailgate trim;

The repair kit;

And I bought a new aerowiper arm and blade;

Old arm removed showing jet. It's not even pointing in the right direction;

Trim removed showing the motor;

Someone has bodged some broken trim clips in the past;

Washer hose and electrical connector unplugged;

Old jet removed;

Motor cover plate removed, it's held on by seven T10 torx screws;

Inside the motor, eewwww;

Then I noticed that the brass tube that runs through the centre spindle had snapped in the past. New next to it for comparison;

New spindle inserted and a pic of it's other end showing the new gearing part;

Cleaned the inside of the motor cover and greased it up;

New brass pipe fixed in place;

New paper gasket on;

I then got my stress head on with my girlfriend, WHY do they have to bug the fook out of you when you are busy? grrrr. So no piccies with the motor cover reattached.

New washer jet fitted and pointing in the correct direction (25° up from the wipers horizontal, or there abouts)

I took some pics a while back when I checked that hose in the footwell. So here's those while I'm on. Trim comes off with two screws.

Behind the trim;

The offending detached hose;

Reconnected (used a couple of pairs of long nosed pliers);

And the finished job with new aerowiper arm and blade;

There you go, not a hard job by any means. Hope it helps someone else in future thumbright

Jase..

Newbie Joined: Feb 06, 2011 Posts: 13

Fair fecks to you Jase for going to all that trouble, I for one will surely benefit at some stage........

It's the bloody trim that scares me!!

Justin.

Posted: Sun Apr 24, 2011 10:00 pm

Nice. Did the same repair earlier this year - but without the repair kit. I glued the pipe joints together with epoxy. Very Happy

Posted: Mon Apr 25, 2011 6:21 pm

Nice work Jas Wink

I didn't think you went out when the roads were wet enough to need a rear wash Shock

Posted: Fri Apr 29, 2011 9:45 pm

Just be careful and try and lever each clip off directly, instead of tugging a distance away. If you catch me.

Posted: Thu May 05, 2011 10:16 am

To The Durham Man-
Jas. Could be added as a STICKY. We only have three at present !

Regards John Rolling Eyes

Posted: Sun May 15, 2011 5:45 pm

Nice one Jase!
Long time, no see... Embarassed

I recently had a similar problem with the rear wiper on my A4, except that the washers were still working fine but the motor was struggling to work. I'd previously stripped and lubed the motor spindle, but it gets all the spray and shite on it where it passes through the rear window glass, so no surprises that it had siezed again.
I stripped the motor and found a worse gunky mess than yours! A Google search showed me that the motor part number was the same as a a late-model VW Polo and, as VW parts are often cheaper, I sourced a secondhand one locally for just 20 quid.
It took 5 minutes to fit. One minor difference is that the 'park' position is to the right as opposed to the left for the original unit, but I just removed the wiper arm again and repositioned it. Voila!

347000 miles showing on the Green Machine today Very Happy

Alan

Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2011 7:29 pm

does this apply to the a4 avant aswell, i have a 06 plate and its leaking from inside the boot when i put it on,i was wondering if this is the problem,if so ill give it a go, the pics and descriptions are spot on, easy to follow, thanks

Posted: Fri May 11, 2012 5:59 pm

How did I miss this? Saved me some aggro- wife's rear washer on her A3 hasn't worked for ages- will take a look this weekend Cool

Newbie Joined: Feb 20, 2013 Posts: 4

Hi all
Just wondered how difficult a job it is to sort leaking pipe near footwell on A4 avant 2001 where electrics are (as per picture earlier)! Had a quick look today but couldn't see how far up the pipe is so will check again later in week but wondered is it fairly easy to access, cheers.

Posted: Thu Feb 21, 2013 11:11 am

Hi

I had a leak on my 2000 W Avant. The pipe has joins where the pipe runs in the channel under the door.

The linkage can break if you have used the rear washer without sufficient liquid to stop the pipe freezing. If you use the pump when it is frozen the pipe join will break open and no water goes to the rear washer.

To get at it you have to remove the n.s. plastic trim inside, work the carpet back and then find the way to look into the scuttle channel. Quite simply push the pipes back together. Then try and put the trim back without any damage.

The Audi garage man did have a struggle and did split the plastic a bit. He took about 1 hour and did not charge !

Good luck with that.

It may not be that if the rear wash wipe is working. It may be H2O entering the air intake and filter perhaps blocked. Have a look at that first.

Hope this helps.

Newbie Joined: Feb 20, 2013 Posts: 4

Thanks for the reply, I think though the leak is coming from above (glovebox height) as when the rear wash switch is actioned the water comes from above the electrics behind the plastic trim! cheers

Posted: Fri Feb 22, 2013 9:49 am

It's located behind the heavy black harness I've pointed at.
Push the flap of carpet to one side and push the harness out of the way;

Flap of carpet moved and harness pushed to one side.
Very easy job.

Newbie Joined: Feb 20, 2013 Posts: 4

Many thanks, great help!

Audi Nut Joined: Sep 17, 2010 Posts: 63 Location: scotland

Thanks for this. have had my 2001 avant a year now and never used rear washer but tried it and no water came out, the pipe had separated as in the picture here, reconnected it and works fine. I try to keep the strong washer antifreeze in the system as supplied in Lidls, proof against frost down to minus 60 degrees

Posted: Fri Oct 04, 2013 7:08 am

Thanks for the 'How to' and pics.

To add my take on this I would suggest also taping the 2 pipes together where they join at the passenger footwell. The push fit connection is easily detached if there is a blockage. Also, if the water has been leaking into the footwell for some time it is vital to dry out the underneath because the foam insulation under the carpet acts as a sponge and will not dry on its own. This will involve either removing the complete carpet and hanging it up with a dehumidifyer or at the very least removing the side trims along the doors and trying to wedge the carpet up as much as poss and then use a dehumidifyer. Reasoning for all this is that there are a lot of wiring and connections under the carpet and if after time they get corroded a lot more expense and inconvenience.
Hope this helps. Rossgorooster.

Newbie Joined: Jan 27, 2014 Posts: 2

Hi, great post I've used it to do the above repair to my 2003 rs6... Leaks fixed (front passenger footwell & boot) service kit fitted to the motor and water coming out the injector...

The only problem is the cap that covers the retaining nut on the rear wiper is blocking the injector so it just pours down the boot lid... The cap has a hole in it that looks like it directs the water along the wiper blade so in theory the injector would move with the wiper blade!

So my question's , have I fitted the wrong service kit? (Although the components in the service kit were identical to the old motor parts) were there different rear wiper types for this model? And where did the chap who created this post get the aero wiper conversion from? As the only stockist I can find is in America and the shipping is more than the part Confused

(As I think this conversion will fix my issue)

Newbie Joined: Jan 27, 2014 Posts: 2

Anyone's help or advice would be greatly appreciated Smile

Posted: Fri Aug 01, 2014 5:17 pm

Jas mate could you post up that part no for the kit when you get a mo buddy Cool

. Im needing something very similar for mine!

cheers

Paul

Posted: Fri Aug 01, 2014 6:12 pm

Actually belay that request! sussed it Cool