Heated washers?

Pond

Pond

Zorg Guru (III)
British Zeds
Joined
Dec 26, 2016
Points
144
Location
Spaldingski, Lincs
Model of Z
3 litre Z3 pretending to be Italian exotica. Two previous E89 Z4s.
I think my car has (or had) heated washer jets, as the little disc temperature sensor thingy is present and wired in.
But......I have removed the washer jets and pipework back to the nearest joint (near the brake master cylinder) and there was definitely no wiring to either the jets or the feeder tube.
Should just the jets themselves be heated, or is the water heated, or what?
I would like to keep the heating if possible if it actually had it in the first place!
Ta very muchly! :thumbsup:
 
Just the jets are heated. They freeze over right at the aperture where the liquid comes out. Still a good idea to have a decent strength of screen wash. I've found that ready mixed stuff does freeze.

Tony.
 
t-tony said:
Just the jets are heated. They freeze over right at the aperture where the liquid comes out. Still a good idea to have a decent strength of screen wash. I've found that ready mixed stuff does freeze.

Tony.
Click to expand...
Ok, thanks, then how? There must be an electrical connection on (or right next to) the outlet jets. I don't have that!
One of two scenarios in my case:
Either the heaters weren't specified and the sensor was in there from the factory regardless or
someone at sometime has replaced the jets with unheated ones. This is unlikely as there was no sign of tampering with any of the stuff.
 
I have just checked the jets again (as they are in a cupboard in my garage); they don't have any wiring so must be unheated.
Our Z4 has heated jets so I should really check those. My F31 doesn't (or they don't work) so I should check that aswell.

It's not a deal breaker, as my Z3 will probably never see freezing weather, just wondered really.
 
I'll check my 11 plate in the morning.

Tony.
 
2 of my zeds one face-lift one pre face-lift have heated washer jets and both have wiring to jets runs with hose.
Just went out in the rapidly getting heavier snow to get a quick picture
20240208_144424.webp

You can see the wiring running with the hose.
Stephen.
 
Heated outside mirrors and windscreen washer nozzles were a "special equipment" option on early cars. Mine has this option and I think the earth strap under bonnet NS is part of the heated nozzle system (can't think of any other reason for it). :thumbsup:
 
Stevo7682 said:
2 of my zeds one face-lift one pre face-lift have heated washer jets and both have wiring to jets runs with hose.
Just went out in the rapidly getting heavier snow to get a quick picture
View attachment 290261
You can see the wiring running with the hose.
Stephen.
Click to expand...
Wow what a trooper, thank you. Definitely no wiring on mine!
So I am now presuming that the little temperature sensing disc is fitted to all cars, whether they have heated jets or not?
Mine has (had) headlight washers aswell which also weren't heated.

Oh well, never mind. At least it's something else I don't have to worry about!
 
The temp disc may be for the headlight wash may stop it operating if too cold 🥶.
Stephen.
 
Stevo7682 said:
The temp disc may be for the headlight wash may stop it operating if too cold 🥶.
Stephen.
Click to expand...
Could be, yes. Could also be a sensor to kill the a/c feed if temps drop too low, although I don't know if the Z3 has that. I know the E89 Z4 does.
I did check the part number and only came up with 'heated washer system temperature sensor'.
I now have one for sale, along with the outside temp sensor (the long pointy one) if anyone is interested! ;)
 
Ianmc said:
Heated outside mirrors and windscreen washer nozzles were a "special equipment" option on early cars. Mine has this option and I think the earth strap under bonnet NS is part of the heated nozzle system (can't think of any other reason for it). :thumbsup:
Click to expand...
The earth strap is not related to the nozzles, as they are encased in plastic and do not touch metal. There are two wires into the nozzle, so I assume 1 is live and the other is the earth 🤷🏼‍♂️
 
You could always just fit a small heat exchanger into the washer line like old Saab’s, both a 900 and 9000 had that. Washer water came out slightly warm, nothing like hot enough to crack the screen. Never encountered frozen nozzles, even at -10, and the warm water in the summer cleared the flies more easily.
 
Ianmc said:
Out of mild interest, any idea of the earth straps purpose then? :thumbsup:
Click to expand...
You are thinking about it all wrong. It is a 'tether' to keep the bonnet on if the catches fail! 🤣
 
During my recent re-routing of the windscreen washer pipework I have been looking for any clue there was once heating to my jets. There is no wiring anywhere in the vicinity of the washer system, so I just have a random temperature sensor which never did anything (unless it is used for other purposes). o_O
 
I have done a bit of digging into this seems that the main reason a number of manufacturers fit the earthing strap on the bonnet is to stop voltage variations ( static) that can be caused by the air flow over the bonnet.
Stephen.
 
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