How do you troubleshoot why your front washer motor is not working?

Answer 1

There is usually a little 12 volt motor in the unit to drive the pump. Check the fues first. Be sure about the fuse being good. Don't be faked out. Use a meter or test light. After that, the quickest and (arguably) the easiest way to start is to get your little 12 volt trouble light and see if you've got power to the motor when the washer is activated. The trouble light is like a little ice pick with a clear handle and a light inside it. It also has a wire coming out of the end of the handle and there is an alligator clip on the end of that. By clipping the 'gator to a good ground and sticking the ice pick (the probe) end in a wire that is energized, you'll see the light in the handle go on. That tells you there is 12 volts on the tip of the probe. Try it on something (like the battery) and see if everything is working and that you have a good ground. The have someone activate the washer and see if you've got the 12 volts. If you have, replace the washer motor/pump assembly. The 12 volt system is fed from the battery through the fuse panel to the switches and such that turn stuff on. If you don't have the 12 volts, you'll have to backtrack to the source. Wire usually doesn't "go bad" so you may have a problem in the wiper/washer switch. There really aren't any "moving parts" between the washer motor and the actuation switch, so you're probably going to have to pick your way into the steering column. If you don't have a wiring diagram, try to find one so you can jump into the circuit along it's path to isolate the fault with a minimum of "tear down" to get at stuff. Good luck.