I had this problem on my Mark 2 Mondeo.

I manged to remove the pump and filter from the reservoir but the water still wouldn't run out. It turned out that there was some sort of bacterial growth in the reservoir which was like a lot of jelly! It was clear, like water, but being jelly-like it just blocked everything up. Fortunately I managed to flush it all out with the aid of a hose and a long stick. I think that I cleaned the filter and put everything back. Fortunately the washers then worked.

I don't really know why this growth happened and it wasn't a particularly old car, only about 15 months. I strongly suspect it happened because the original owner hadn't used any screenwash additive in the reservoir, just plain water. I myself always use some and the problem never reappeared.

Edited by Galaxy on 23/12/2019 at 10:01

The blockage is often casued by mixing different types of screenwash. Best to stick to the manufacturers recommended screenwash and avoid the cheap alternatives.

Joe

That is a possibility but for many years our washer bottle has always been topped up with a variety of evil smelling brew at the agents of several different brands who will all use different products and that product will without doubt be different to the brew I buy.

Despite that it has only ever happened once thus I fail to be convinced.

However, as I said above ours blocked the day after a service and I will always believe the garage put a product in that was designed to block the filter and get them extra work.