My friend's elderly father asked me to look at his '07 Mazda5's non-functioning front windshield washer.
The wipers worked, and the rear washer worked.
Fortunately there is a Mazda5 in the family, so I had the FSM.
It sounded to me like the washer motor was not making any sound, ruling out a blocked or disconnected hose.
Unfortunately, the FSM says to remove the washer fluid reservoir, which involves pulling the front bumper off.
Fortunately enough, at some point the blanking plate for the optional fog light on that side had been pushed in, giving pretty good access to the front washer motor. I drained the reservoir and pulled the motor. It's a press-fit into the a rubber grommet near the bottom of the reservoir.
The motor ohmed out OK, but just clicked when I applied 12 V to it (with jumpers directly from the battery). I opened it up, and the photo says it all:
We bought one at NAPA, installed it, and it worked well.
To cap it all off, we were able to pull the blanking plate into position to cover the gaping hole. It's quite possible that the big cavity admitted lots of salty water, leading to the failure of the motor.
My jobs are seldom go this well.
The wipers worked, and the rear washer worked.
Fortunately there is a Mazda5 in the family, so I had the FSM.
It sounded to me like the washer motor was not making any sound, ruling out a blocked or disconnected hose.
Unfortunately, the FSM says to remove the washer fluid reservoir, which involves pulling the front bumper off.
Fortunately enough, at some point the blanking plate for the optional fog light on that side had been pushed in, giving pretty good access to the front washer motor. I drained the reservoir and pulled the motor. It's a press-fit into the a rubber grommet near the bottom of the reservoir.
The motor ohmed out OK, but just clicked when I applied 12 V to it (with jumpers directly from the battery). I opened it up, and the photo says it all:
We bought one at NAPA, installed it, and it worked well.
To cap it all off, we were able to pull the blanking plate into position to cover the gaping hole. It's quite possible that the big cavity admitted lots of salty water, leading to the failure of the motor.
My jobs are seldom go this well.
