How To Check Windshield Washer Fluid Levels

Right, we're now going to show you how to check your windscreen washer system, to top it up and check the jets are working properly and in the right position. We start by locating the washer bottle. This is located here on this car and marked with a yellow cap which means that that's something for you to check and top up, okay.

We start by removing the washer jet pipe which gives us indication as well of how much fluid is actually in there. It's not a measured amount but it shows you there's fluid in there. So, we would start by looking in there.

There's no obstruction in there and it does appear to be a great deal of fluid in there. So, the first thing we do is top the fluid up and this gets topped up until such time there's no foam overflowing the top that tells it's now full. So, we place the cap.

Now with the bonnet shut, we'll look at the washer jets. These are windscreen washer jets for the vehicle. The other one on this side and one on that side of the vehicle.

There's also one on the rear of the vehicle but we'll just test if they work properly. We can see by that, that they're actually aiming a bit too high and spraying over the roof of the vehicle. So, what we'll now do is we'll show you how to adjust the washer jets so it's actually working correctly.

First thing we do is we check the washer jet itself and we could check to see if they're blocked quite simply by using a pin or a needle. In the center of them, there's a very small hole and you basically insert the pin or needle into that hole and work it backwards and forwards which relieves any debris in there. Now we've cleaned that washer jet, we now need to aim for the washer jet to bring it down the screen a little bit better.

So now, with the same tool, with the same pin, we just move the jet. Insert the pin into the jet and push it down very slightly. It's basically a ball and socket.

We've moved that down very slightly. Now, we move to the other jet and unblock and make sure the other jet's unblocked. The same procedure again, checking there's no obstruction in there, like so.

Now, we check the operation of those now. Now, we can see the other side is actually too low. It's spraying on the scalpel so we need to bring that up slightly.

You can see now, they're spraying in the perfect position on the windscreen and the wipes are clearing it away nicely. One of the most common causes of blocked washer jets or blocked washer bottles is when you use washing up liquid rinses in the bottles. It congeals in the bottom of the bottle or in the pipes of the washer jet heads, especially over the summertime when you're not using them so much and it actually blocks the lines.

It's always advisable to use proper recommended washer fluid you can obtain from many motor factors, even supermarkets nowadays sell it, and read the instructions and top it up when necessary. .