Living in a hardish water area I have always preferred non-smearing rainwater from our butt for rinsing cars and filling the screenwash bottle. But being mean with additives can result in microscopic plant life multiplying to form gunge which blocks the pump uptake filter resulting in a weak flow (a common MoT failure in old cars - beware, they'll sell you an overpriced new pump if they can) and ultimately, as has just happened to my rarely driven Audi A8, no flow at all. No amount of flushing and poking would clear it, not even an attempt at reverse flushing with a large syringe via the jets' pipework. I even tried nearly boiling water, then overnight Jeyes fluid which reputedly dissolves it. It didn't. So, in stark contrast to SLO's easy to work on 'take me back' cars (my TR7 access is merely by opening the bonnet), the wheel has to be removed and the arch liner folded back to reveal the reservoir and its pumps. So what should have been a simple task took most of an (enjoyable) afternoon. On prising out the bottom pump and then its filter, it was no surprise to see it resembled a small lollipop of congealed gloop with no filter mesh visible at all! The head lamp washer pump, placed higher in the tank, was relatively OK with only about 30% of its mesh occluded. It was interesting to note the date stamp on the reservoir as Sep 04, in a car registered Dec 05. I doubt if it had been seen since its installation. Anyway, all OK now, but I'll perhaps use standard British chlorinated tap water in future. And if your washers are starting to show symptoms of prostate trouble, take preventive action now!

Edited by John F on 23/06/2021 at 12:02