Wiper fluid system question

[Jonathan]

Anyone know:

1.) The capacity of the wiper fluid reservoir, in gallons or litres?

2.) The flow rate of the wiper fluid pump, in gallons per hour or gallons per minute?

I ask for the simple reason that I have owned my car for almost nine years and have never filled-up the wiper fluid. Ever. Not once.

Yet just like some Energizer bunny/perpetual motion machine, it just keeps going and going.

I wanted to refill it with fluid I knew the quality of, and likely stuff that's rated for freezing while it's in storage. Not to mention I am curious how you tilt the bottle while filling it without spilling it all over the trunk. I had the car idling for at least 10 minutes today and had the spray going for most of that time. Not the whole time, just enough to give it a break in case it felt like overheating the pump or wiper motors. And the wet spot on the driveway proves to me it isn't going back inside the reservoir after hitting the windshield.

Pretty bizarre really. Not that these cars were ever considered normal or anything.

[David T]

If you want the system to be working and it has been a while the best thing to do is to take the reservoir out and wash it out with hot water and then refill with fresh W/W fluid. It holds about 1 gallon. You only use a few ounces at a time so it seems like it lasts forever, especially if you don't drive in conditions where you need to use it a lot. Most owners never use it.

[DMCVegas]

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31FkCltI7qL.jpg

Use one of those.

To keep the washer pump safe, pull the bucket that supports the tank out, and take a twist a knife blade in the drain holes to bore them out to make them bigger. This insures proper drainage and avoids a rusted pump.

Like rain or wash water, anything you spray out is going to drain down to the ground. For winter months, just get winter-rated de-icer washer fluid and you're all good.

I've no idea what in the world the GPM, OPM rating of the pump is. Not sure on the capacity either, but it should be in your owner's manual, and is at least a gallon of I'm not mistaken.

[DavidProehl]

I've wondered the same thing lately. Great suggestion about pulling the tank for a cleaning.

I've owned my car for 8 years and have never filled my tank, yet it still readily sprays fluid. I just assumed the car had magic windshield washer fluid making capabilities. :hihi2:

Funny how I feel like I could almost pull my center console or do a brake job blindfolded at this point, but that when reading this thread I actually had to pause to think about where the fill was for the washer fluid. I think it is safe to say the opposite is true for my daily drivers.