Windscreen washer and Battery Charge warning fixes

Cheaper Holidays · Post by **Cheaper Holidays** » 15 Dec 2010, 09:31

Hi all

I have just bought a 2003 Xsara Picasso for my wife which is a lovely car but when its very cold and or if you have only driven a few short stop start journeys - the battery charge warning light comes on, and more annoyingly the Front screen washers decided to to stop working and pump water on the rear screen.

So to cure the Battery charge warning light - I took the car to a battery supplier who tested both the battery and the charge going in to the battery from the alternator and found both were OK.

But the actual battery was technically incorrect as the amperage was down by a few amps and this was causing the annoying warning light to come on and then later to go off, if you drove a few extra miles to charge the battery back up.

However you can do 2 things - change the battery to one with the correct amperage or as the tester said "leave it but be aware of it." This normally happens in cold weather in the summer you should find no problems.

Secondly Windscreen washers. If you find your washer fluid is coming out of the rear screen nozzle when you want the front washer to work. Take the following action but do make allowances for freezing weather - although you should have a 50/50 washer fluid mix in your bottle.

Method - If you look just by the top of the windscreen washer bottle, you will find a black clip that holds the black washer pipes from the front jets -

In this clip you will find a hard plastic joint - separate the top tube and blow hard down the hard plastic JOINT as this will cause the pump to release the blockage, normally caused by a slider in the pump that has jammed in place -

Next As a precaution - flush the washer pump by putting hot but not scalding water in the fluid bottle, as the cause of the slider jamming, can be screen washer fluid that gums up the pump, empty the water bottle during this flush by activating the washers.

I hope this helps.

Kev
Ps if you need to access to the pump then the drivers side wheel has to come of and the plastic shielding from the wing..

addo · Post by **addo** » 15 Dec 2010, 10:51

Hi Kev,

I recently had a problem with my car overheating. Upon examination, one of the radiator fans was barely turning, while the other wallered away flat out.

A little closer inspection revealed the "slow" fan was obstructed by a large chunk of SPAM. Removing the SPAM allowed normal fan speed to resume.

Moral of the story? SPAM doesn't really help anyone, or as the Latinos say: "Qui vivit Spam, etiam perit Spam".

Have fun!

Cheers, Adam.

Post by **CitroJim** » 15 Dec 2010, 11:26

I had a squeaky crank pulley the other day. I found it was all down to a lump of Spam trapped between it and the cambelt covers.

Terrible stuff, Spam. They're now spreading it on the roads instead of salt and hence it is causing us so much trouble.

Cunning to post a superficially genuine article interspersed with Spam. We had there a spammer with an IQ that may just be creeping into double figures. Whatever next?

It's been dealt with in the traditional manner.

addo · Post by **addo** » 15 Dec 2010, 12:01

Interesting it didn't quieten the crank pulley. We used to wipe the side of threading taps through an old block of Spam that had been on the workshop's side bench for decades. Worked just like Eze-Cut or Tap-Rite.

I think the odd starving apprentice had been known to cut off a small slice with their pen-knife during a particularly "lean" week.

Post by **CitroJim** » 15 Dec 2010, 13:06

I have subsequently been in touch with Kev and he and the contents of his post are genuine.

He is a travel agent and hence his user name and website address.

I have requested that he desists from quoting his business interests in his signature nor making any reference to it in any subsequent posts. His signature originally contained a reference in text only to his company website.

As a reminder, any form of commercial advertising in whatever form, is strictly prohibited in this forum unless agreement is received from the Admin Team.

Xaccers · Post by **Xaccers** » 15 Dec 2010, 20:05

I'm intreagued though, the battery light comes on if the alternator voltage was lower than the battery's voltage.
If you had the wrong battery and starting drained it considerably, the battery light wouldn't come on.
Think about the last time you bump started a car with a flat battery, the light doesn't come on as the alternator has a higher voltage than the battery.

Post by **CitroJim** » 15 Dec 2010, 21:28

I've been giving this some thought....

Kev? did the light come on brightly or very dimly? Is the Picasso a petrol or a diesel?

What I suspect may be happening here is that after a few short start/stop journeys, the battery terminal voltage is falling to a point where the BSI is detecting a low battery condition (as the car had not run far enough to fully recharge it after the last start) and is flagging this up.

I assume the dealer replaced the battery with a higher capacity one, having a greater Ampere-hour (Ah) rating. This would allow it to give more stats before its terminal voltage fell below what the BSI considered acceptable.

On a traditional setup, the ignition lamp has battery voltage on one side of it and the alternator output on the other. It lights when the alternator is not giving any output by virtue of a potential difference (PD) existing across the lamp. Effectively, with the alternator stopped, the alternator side of the lamp is earthed. As soon as the alternator spins and gives output, 12V is present on both sides of the lamp and as this results in no potential difference and therefore the lamp goes out.

A very, very weak battery can cause the same effect in reverse, giving a dim lamp but this is very rare because generally, the alternator can deliver so much output that the PD across the battery very rapidly rises to that of the alternator output and the lamp extinguishes. So, in conclusion, the only time you'll really see the light on is when the alternator is producing no or little output.

Therefore, this effect you see on the Picasso would very much appear to be a BSI quirk rather than a battery or charging problem par se. Increasing the battery capacity is a workaround to this quirk.

the_weaver · Post by **the_weaver** » 15 Dec 2010, 21:57

I've had the problem with the washer fluid coming out of the rear instead of the front, on my ZX. Interesting fix. I might give it a try next time. I don't know whether the ZX has a slider in the washer pump. Does anybody know?

Paul

Cheaper Holidays · Post by **Cheaper Holidays** » 16 Dec 2010, 08:26

Jim,

The battery warning would come on with a warning tone every so often, btw its a petrol 1.6, the light seemed to be same level of brightness every time.

What you have described is pretty much what the guy in the battery place said, the battery is down on amperage, which is causing a drain after a few stop starts.

We have a new battery coming which should cure it.

Kev

Cheaper Holidays · Post by **Cheaper Holidays** » 16 Dec 2010, 08:27

Xac wrote:I'm intreagued though, the battery light comes on if the alternator voltage was lower than the battery's voltage.
If you had the wrong battery and starting drained it considerably, the battery light wouldn't come on.
Think about the last time you bump started a car with a flat battery, the light doesn't come on as the alternator has a higher voltage than the battery.

Hi Xac its the battery charge warning light

Chris570 · Post by **Chris570** » 16 Dec 2010, 09:17

An interesting quirk i had once on my better halfs 106 was after an engine swap (hate those ally blocked engines) the battery charge light was dimly lit, although the alt was charging.... battery had been fully charged while the engine swap was being done.

quirk here was the power steering pump wouldnt come on. It's electric on those 106's. so after spending ages checking the loom for breaks, getting desperate putting another alt on, adding another charge wire i eventually found the fault. there is a relay that detects voltage from the alt and then assumes the engine is running so turns the pump on. this relay had got stuck and was causing all the issues, a quick tap on the top of it had it working right as rain. It's been working fine ever since, 2 months and counting.

My point is the 106 has sod all ecu controlled stuff and even then the charging system isnt as simple as we'd like it to be. it might be worth finding a charging diagram for your car to see if there is anywhere else that can cause this (although i think unlikely if you have the beeps as well)