Hi guys, I made the following posting in the 'Electrical Modifications' forum but haven't had any replies yet. I wonder, since it's a fault 'under the bonnet', if I wouldn't be better off posting it in this forum - hope you don't mind? and I look forward to maybe getting some useful advice. Kind regards, yt.

My first posting - hoping you can all help me. MY wife's uk mini has a simple fault - the rear windscreen washer does not work (ie, no water). It is not a blocked jet or kinked pipe. On the mini, as you may know, there is one washer bottle located on the drivers side (in the uk, presumably on the passengers side on a North American car). The washer bottle only has one pump attached to it - the pump has two outlets. When the pump is directed to rotate in one direction water is pushed out towards the front windscreen washers. When the pump is directed to rotate in the opposite direction water is pushed out of the other outlet towards the rear windscreen washer. How is this achieved? - simple, there are two relays which are wired such that between them they alter the polarity of the supply to the motor and hence the direction of rotation hence front or back washer operates - neat !

The front washer system works ok, so I'm assuming the pump motor is ok and the fault is most likely in one (or both) of the 'polarity' changing relays - when I operate the rear washer 'system' the pump does not operate at all, it is completely silent/dead. My problem is that I do not know where the two relays are to check them out. I am told that both relays are shown in the electrical diagram in the UK Haynes manual for the car but not where they are physically located. I'm sure the set up would be the same on the UK/USA/Can cars so can anyone help me out on where these two relays are phsically located? Many thanks.

 

The Bentley Manual says that the washer pump relay is in Left footwell, behind trim panel. It says that you have to remove the fuse panel and turn it over to access the relay.

 

Does anyone have a photo of this? I'm looking for this as well...

 

Many thanks Tom, by 'left footwell' I presume you are sitting in your car and so this would be the drivers side on a US car? (makes sense). There should be 2 relays (?) to effect the polarity reversal needed to make the pump run in both directions - does your manual show two relays?

Many thanks again, this is getting me really close to the problem. Look forward to hearing from you when you get time. Regards, yt.

 

Griz,

There is a picture in the Bentley manual. Sorry, I have no way to post it.


YellowTriumph (I used to have a yellow Spitfire 1500),

The picture in the manual shows two relays and says that they are accessed once the fuse and relay panel is moved aside. The manual shows a picture of the fuse and relay panel that is behind the cover in the left footwell. Then there is a second picture showing the panel removed and turned to swing it out of the way. There appears to be two light colored relays secured to the frame behind the panel, my best guess is that those are the relays you are looking for. Hope this helps, it is difficult to paint a "word picture". It is obvious that this is not something that should be undertaken unless the battery has been disconnected.

 

Tom,

Many thanks indeed. The picture you have painted 'with words' is excellent - this sort of backs up what my understanding of the installation is. I will investigate later this week and report back.

Until recently I had a yellow TR6 2.5PI - it was brilliant and I so miss it. Regards, yt.

 

Managed to sort this out with help from others on this thread - thanks. Please see below for full info. Please bear in mind that UK cars are RHD hence remember to swap references to drivers/pasengers side etc - the relay box is on the same side physical side for UK/USA/Can cars etc so no need to swap details. Kind regards, yt.

[
ALL Minis have a common water reservoir and washer pump for the front and rear washers located in the void between the drivers footwell and the outer door skin.

To access it you have to take off the inner plastic wheel arch (3 self tappers and 10 plastic push fits)- can be done in less than 5 mins and no need to take the front wheel(s) off - just arm yourself with a stubby crosshead screwdriver.

This then reveals the complete water reservoir and single pump. The pump is birectional, one direction forces water out to the front windscreen washer jets, the other direction forces water out to the rear washers jet. The change of pump direction (rotation) is simply controlled by changing the polarity of the voltage supplied to the single washer pump motor. In my case the front washers worked ok, but not the rear washers so it was pretty certain that the fault was not in the motor itself but perhaps in the polarity changing circuitry?

The polarity changing is carried out by two relays. These are hidden from view and are not accessible. To access the relays you have to open the passenger door and partially remove the rubber door sealing gasket that runs along the door frame - where it changes direction from the door sill to the vertical part of the door frame. Remove a single plastic push fit holder to the upper right of the fuse box access lid. Use some gentle force to push back the plastic kick plate around the fuse box. Standing outside the passenger door side of the car looking back in, as you push the plastic kick plate back you will see the two 'light grey' relays that perform the polarity changing. The relays are identical and therefore interchangeable. I swapped the relays over and the fault transferred to the front washers and the rear washer system now worked ok.

BMW's internal drawing system did not show the actual part number for the relay - however, the part number is 6136 - 1393415 (last 7 digits are the actual BMW part number) Price - £6.50. Reassembley is the reverse being careful not to pinch the wiring harness.

Cars fitted with the headlamp washer option have an additional separate system. The water reservoir/washer pump etc is located on the opposite side of the car in the gap between the passenger footwell and outside of the car. Access is gained by removing the plastic inner wheel arch lining as per above.

 

Don't you just love it when things come together? Thank you for the helpful write-up. I'm sure it will help many others.

 

I know this is an OLD post but.... my rear washer just quit. I found this to be the ONLY source of information on the rear washer problem I am having. I replaced the pump already so I know that works and I am getting ready to take apart the inside panel for the relay but need to confirm this is the correct part for the job.

6136 - 1393415 is a relay but my Mini dealer can't tell me what the function of this relay is, Minimania sells it but doesn't know the function either and since it is non refundable electronics I don't want to waste my time and money. Has any one else bought this part and fixed the rear washer problem? Any help at all would be appreciated as the snow is flying and I can't see out the back!

 

Apparently this poor quality relay is used on Ducati motorcycles as well. It seems a better relay is GEI ar4-012-c11 and appears to be a direct replacement. I plan on ordering one soon to replace the faulty one for my rear wiper.

 

FWIW, I recently bought an R50 and the rear washer wasn't working. I could hear the pump, so figured it was a kinked or rotten hose.

Took about 4 screws ands some firm tugs to remove the inner plastic tailgate cover, there are easily 8 press on connectors to hold the panel from rattling.

Once that was off, was easy to pop loose the hose and verify I had pressure there, but be wary, the water was pretty scody, so catch it before it gets in your boot.

The hose from the front then connects to a filter attached to the wiper motor, so I popped off the hose the other side to make sure the filter was clear, and blew it out backwards, clearing some muck, but was unable to clear the blockage to the spray tip.

Next steps was to close the back gate and start working back from the spray tip, which is easily removed with needle noses, with a gentle tug, and it was also clogged with nasty gook, but still didn't work after cleaning.

Next I removed the black plastic cover over the base of the wiper arm. It has a press fit over the end of the motor shaft rather like a zerk fitting and a slip connection near the blade, so pull it back and slide it clear.
Took a moment to see the hole in the end of the wiper motor shaft as it was full of rusty hardened grot, and I have found my culprit. I got the right sized drill bit, and by hand turned it into the hole and removed the very solid block. There was about an inch of it, so was glad for the longer bit.
The motor shaft is hollow from the wiper end all the way to the 90 degree plastic bend on the motor end where the hose connects.

There was nothing useful to be done disassembling the motor, so save yourself the trouble and just drill out the blockage from the wiper end, then slip the cover back on letting it snap over the bulb end of the wiper shaft, and pop in the nozzle, using either your need nose or a square blade screwdriver to adjust the spray properly onto the glass.

Hope this is helpful to anyone.

 

This sounds like the problem I'm having. Are you saying that I don't need to take apart the inside of the rear gate to access the motor, and that I only need to work on this problem from outside the car where the arm and nozzle are?

 

Yes, start at the wiper end.
As long as you can hear the rear wiper motor work, there's no need to dismantle much.
Just lift the black plastic cover at the base of the wiper blade to get to the jet & nozzle.
The plastic jet is absolutely minute, so be careful not to lose it.
A piece of thin, flexible wire should clean out the rusty nozzle, or the drill mentioned above.
Stock up on washer fluid & flush the whole system.

 

Great info !!!

VERY useful !!!!

Thank you for sharing !!

 

Ok, so I just uploaded a video to show how I fixed my problem with the rear washer nozzle not spraying fluid on my 2004 R50. It involved me drilling on the Mini...lol.