UK-POLOS.NET - THE VW Polo Forum

Hi All,

First post, so please be gentle! I don't own a Polo, but my son does. It's an early 2005 1.2L Twist model and I am getting it spruced up for it's MOT while he is away at University. (So far, I have replaced one of the front grille sections and put a new drivers side wing mirror on).

The first issue I need help with is that the windscreen washer doesn't work. If I put water into the washer bottle spout it all dribbles out on the floor under the front wing. So I am assuming the washer bottle is shot - he banged the car up a little at the front, is I wouldn't be surprised if the bottle is cracked or split.

So how do I go about removing it? Does the bumper need to come off - and if so, how do I get that done?

I am pretty mechanically inclined to the point of building motorbike engines and stuff like that, so I shouldn't have an issue, but wanted to ask experienced heads here how to go about this job the easiest way.

On a side note, I know there is also a split in the corrugated tube near the bonnet join, but that was there previously - now the water won't even stay in the bottle long enough to get pumped to that split - so I am probably looking at replacing the bottle and the entire tube assembly.....

Right, you are for it and will be given hard time, well probably not!

Welcome to the forum!

You will need to remove some of the screws from the LHS wheel arch liner to get access to that reservoir, it might be that a pipe has fallen off due to fluid freezing in colder weather, good luck!

Edit:- as the water is running out before you operate the pump, it could be that the pump>reservoir seal has failed, you could buy a new one from VW, it would probably need to be ordered in for you.

Well.....I took the front bumper off after watching a Youtube video. Pretty easy - just a bunch of Torx screws.

So now I can see the bottle, and of course there are two pipes at the bottom of it that are off their spigots as you mentioned above. Whether due to freezing, or just to the car taking a beating in the hands of my son, I don't know.

But I have popped them back on and now the water makes it's way up to the spray nozzles as it should. Bingo! Of course there is still the issue of the leaking corrugated pipe where it goes into the bonnet - but that's a different issue.

However - when I took the bumper off, I found that the RHS inner wheel arch liner is a bit buggered up and is split and cracked in places. So I will need to order one of those and replace it while I have the bonnet off..... but I'll make another specific post to ask for that!

adentonmiller wrote: Mon Apr 29, 2019 4:58 pm Of course there is still the issue of the leaking corrugated pipe where it goes into the bonnet - but that's a different issue.

And happily enough, I have just discovered the Skoda washer pipe repair kit and ordered one of those for a fiver. Seems better than having to replace the corrugated pipe assembly itself as fishing that out of the bonnet looks to be a pain and would probably result in braking the washer nozzles and having to replace those as well....