Windscreen washer problem

anguswolfendale: I'm confused... In your first message you wrote that the regular washers pump didn't work and now you are talking about an empty front reservoir and the trunk pump not filling it?

When you said the regular washers didn't work, did you mean the regular washer pump remained dead (no noise at all) or that it didn't pump any water because the front reservoir was empty (but buzzed nonetheless)?

When you speak of "the relay" can you please elaborate which one (K5, K42, N6,...).

Zitat

AS soon as I pushed the relay into the socket in the fues box (ignition off) the two relays closed (activated). The remain so when the ignition is turned on.

What relay did you put back (N6?) and how did you determine the two relays (K5 regular wash and K42 intensive wash?) closed? Are you still referring to measuring with a multimeter on the disconnected washer pump plugs? In that case, and as already explained by huldra66 and myself, you can't measure the relay output this way because the GM monitoring circuits interfere.

We need more detailed information...

Hi Revtor:
The relays I refer to are the two large blue ones Part No: 61.35.13.83.417. I don't have the ETM and do not have a diagram of the relay layouts and numbering.

I determined they were closing by taking off the outer plastic case and plugging the naked relay into the socket (procedure as described elsewhere in this thread). Both relays immediately close on plugging the relay board into the fuse box socket - on nearest the engine - ignition off, nothing else touched. The windscreen washer pump is not whirring when I activate the windscreen wiper stalk.

Additional problem is that the front tank is not being replenished by the rear tank, yet the front level-switch appears to be operating fine (tested resistance when moving the float). The rear tank pump whirs when 12V connected directly to it.

Thank you for your patience in helping me.

Additional observation. When I swapped the identical 61.35.13.83.417 relays with the sae removed, the same thing happened on plugging into the socket - both relays immediately closed. So I do not think it is a relay fault.

All available ETM's are on my website, left-hand buttons:

http://www.meeknet.co.uk/e31/

Zitat von anguswolfendale;100441

The relays I refer to are the two large blue ones Part No: 61.35.13.83.417.

The one closest to the engine is the K12 wiper pressure control module (ADV) and the other is the N6 headlight cleaning module (SRA). Both are actually the same as you already found out, but relay colors and part numbers change between the years, so it's always best to refer to electrical components in the car by their name in the electrical troubleshooting manual (ETM). Anyway, ignore K12. It has nothing to do with the washer system (but you can use it to exchange with N6 if you think something is wrong with that).

Zitat

I don't have the ETM and do not have a diagram of the relay layouts and numbering.

It's pointless to work on the E31 electronics without the ETM. In addition to the link provided by Timm, there are links to the ETM in the sticky of this sub forum. You know, that post on top of all others that no one ever reads...

Zitat

I determined they were closing by taking off the outer plastic case and plugging the naked relay into the socket (procedure as described elsewhere in this thread).

That's good way to check, but... those are not the windshield washer relays. The K5 regular wash relay and K42 intensive wash relay are two small black relays next to the row of fuses. Refer to the ETM page 0670.0-00 for their exact location.

Zitat

The windscreen washer pump is not whirring when I activate the windscreen wiper stalk.

Swap K5 and K42. Is now the intensive wash broken? If yes, K5 is bad (now in the location of K42). If the problem remains the same, you could carefully pry open K5, reseat it in its original location and see what happens to it if you activate the stalk, but since you wrote earlier

Zitat

I have checked the resistance on the washer pump (front tank) and it is zero (open circuit). I have applied 12V directly and nothing happens so I suspect the pump

it is most likely the pump... If you want a temporary fix, just replace it with the intensive wash pump. They are the same.

Zitat

however in RealOEM is states these are discontinued.

Strange... online-teile.com says it has been replaced with part 61 66 8 360 614 although this part cannot be found on their website nor the online ETK... The part does seem to exist however because I found several pictures of it, for example on this Spanish website - bmwrecambios.es.

Zitat

Additional problem is that the front tank is not being replenished by the rear tank, yet the front level-switch appears to be operating fine (tested resistance when moving the float). The rear tank pump whirs when 12V connected directly to it.

In an earlier post you wrote:

Zitat

I have checked the pump in the trunk and it whirrs when 12v applied directly - however, the front tank is empty and the rear pump is not replenishing it.

Stupid question probably, but there is fluid in the trunk reservoir, right? How long did you activate the trunk pump? It may take a few seconds before the water reaches the front reservoir, but once it does it fills relatively fast actually. If the pump whirrs but no water goes to the front, the problem is unlikely electrical...