Left foot operated pedal for windshield washer

[tomlct]

I saw a post in the lighting forum about the high beam foot pedal that was in American cars a long time ago, before the function moved to a column stalk.
So it reminded me - in the 70's & 80's I had 3 Opels - Kadett B then Manta A then Ascona (1900) A. There was a small foot pedal to the left of the clutch, that you would step on, to force washer fluid through the jets onto the windshield.
Does anyone else remember this?
Did any other marques use this method? A friend had a Fiat 128 at the time, and MAYBE that car also did?
I liked it - simpler, no small pump motor that could fail.
I think 1 of the craziest ways to feed washer fluid to the windshield was the Beetle approach - draw air from the spare tire. Remember that?

 

[simple_gifts]

We had a 71 opel; i remember that the moment I read the thread title.

GREAT car.

 

[iahawk]

yep, had a Renault Le Car (very briefly, in the 80's) and it had a rubber bulb like thing on the floor to the left of the clutch...pushing on that forced washer fluid onto the windshield...very low tech but it worked fine...unlike the rest of the car!

 

[Chris142]

my dads 68 valiant had that.

 

[Rhymingmechanic]

I had a Plymouth Duster with the rubber bulb. The rest of the system was missing, so I couldn't say how well it worked.

It also had the floor-mounted dimmer switch.

 

[Leo99]

Late 60, like 1968, Cougar had this.

 

[blupupher]

Seems like my friend in high school had a '68? mustang with it?

 

[AandPDan]

I remember it.

1971 Dodge Dart had both.

My 1966 Mustang had an electric pump so I doubt a '68 Mustang had one. It did have the foot pedal for the high beams though.

 

[Errtt]

A floor button on an ol Dodge to crank the starter

 

[CR94]

Originally Posted By: AandPDan
... My 1966 Mustang had an electric pump ...
So did our 1966 F-100 pickup. The fluid reservoir was a flexible plastic envelope sort of thing, not a rigid tank. Some cars back in the day, including relatives' otherwise stripper '53 Plymouth, had a vacuum-powered washer pump (as well as vacuum-powered wipers).

 

[aquariuscsm]

I remember the floor high beam switches very well!

 

[blupupher]

Originally Posted By: AandPDan
I remember it.

1971 Dodge Dart had both.

My 1966 Mustang had an electric pump so I doubt a '68 Mustang had one. It did have the foot pedal for the high beams though.

Well, it was 32 years ago, but could have sworn it did.

 

[mlatour]

My 1976 GMC Jimmy (K5 Blazer) still had a floor high beam switch.

The only vehicle I've seen a foot operated windshield washer pump
was in a Ford L8000 type tractor trailer rig, think it was an 1982.

 

[BHopkins]

I recall driving a Ford truck that had a foot operated wiper fluid button. It was in the same area as the dimmer switch. IIRC, one was mounted high and the other low. This was in the mid '70s that I would have driven it for a summer job, so the truck was probably a '65 or '66. The county always bought used trucks.

Being 17 years old, and wiper fluid being a somewhat new thing to most of these old beater trucks that we drove, we had fun with this system. Since the washer fluid system was independent of the wiper blade operation, we aimed the nozzle off to the side, and would squirt kids with water as we drove by.

 

[vitez]

1968 Rambler Rebel, hinged small pedal up and to left of the brake pedal, squirt, squirt, squirt. I remember it well. Car has vacuum operated wipers too. I could always tell when I was getting the best milage on the highway in the rain: the wipers would be wiping the fastest.

 

[AutoArcheologist]

My 1973 Alfa Romeo Berlina still has it, but I converted mine to run an electric pump since the bulb died.

 

[double vanos]

My '67 Mustang had it....

 

[Charlie1935]

Originally Posted By: blupupher
Originally Posted By: AandPDan
I remember it.

1971 Dodge Dart had both.

My 1966 Mustang had an electric pump so I doubt a '68 Mustang had one. It did have the foot pedal for the high beams though.

Well, it was 32 years ago, but could have sworn it did.
I believe there was after market kits that used the bulb on the floor also.

 

[Jarlaxle]

Drove a couple of Ford medium-duty trucks that used it.

 

[Silverado12]

I had a couple of 1970s cars with the floor dimmer switch, but nothing other than a switch on the wiper switch for the washers. I had to replace a couple of those floor switches because I would track road salt into the car and the switch would stick.