I very recently bought an ex British gas VW caddy 2.0sdi. I live in North East Scotland, but travelled to Lancashire to view and buy the van. When i picked it up it was raining, and when i left Lancashire the following day to head home, it was still raining, heavily.

It was only when i got quite a bit up the road that it became apparent that the windscreen washers were only working on one side, and even then, only wetting a small area at the bottom right of the windscreen. I managed to get home fine, but the next day decided to investigate further. I opened the bonnet and immediately saw that the hose from the washer bottle had become detatched at the right hand side on the underside of the bonnet. I reattatched the hose, switched on the ignition and pulled the stalk, but nothing happened, no water, no wipers, no noise from the pump. Thinking it was because then engine was off, i started it up, but still nothing, and to make matters worse, when i tried the wipers seperately, they were not working either!. I decided to head down to the VW dealer in town, but on the way, while turning a corner, my sleeve caught on the wiper stalk and the wipers came on. So i then tried the washers, and they worked too!. This is baffling to me, the only explanation of what happened i can come up with is that for whatever reason, they dont work if the bonnet is up. But this makes little sense as surely any problems with the wipers or washers will have to be investigated and fixed with the bonnet open?.

Can anyone explain what is happening here?

Thanks