Washer fluid does not come out - 2022

[Calson]

My windshield washer pump no longer works and I cannot find any information as to whether it is controlled by a fuse and if so, which fuse. I could find nothing in the owner manual and when I phoned Ford customer care the person told me that if it was not in the manual then to go to a dealer.

Does anyone know which fuse controls the windshield washer pump?

I cancelled my trip out of the state and have already had my truck parked for most of the time since I bought it in April 2022 with the wiper motor recall not being done until August of 2023.

Sponsored

 

[UncleFester]

All I see doing a search is the pump is on the same fuse as the wiper motor, so if the wipers work the pump is bad.

 

[Calson]

Thanks - that helps. Unbelievable that a part like this should fail with little use.

I only have 4,026 miles on the truck thanks to the safety issues that Ford moves at a glacial pace to resolve.

 

[HammaMan]

If you wanted to do the repair yourself instead of dealing with ford, the pump is behind the passenger headlight. The grille has to come out. Not sure if you can get to it removing the batt, it'd be quite a stretch if so.

 

[Calson]

The truck is under warranty and so no point in my buying the part and then installing it and hoping it is not a defective pump as well. Defects usually affect an entire production run and so a replacement part often has the same defect.

I do not expect to play mechanic for a truck that cost me $65K in 2022. Definitely the last Ford I buy in this lifetime.

 

[WOScholar]

If you hear the pump trying to work, then the filter on the pump is gunked up. You can remove it and then clean the slime off the filter. When you reinstall it, it ill work fine...if the pump itself is trying to work, that is. My 21 Platinum PB did that. It had some orange colored slime all over it from what I presume to be old or bad windshield washer fluid. I could have had the dealer do it under warranty, but it was too easy to do it myself and way faster.

 

[Calson]

If the filter was blocked there would still be some amount of fluid coming out. The truck was little used for the 15 months I had to wait to have the wiper motor replaced which is why in May of 2024 it has only 4,000 miles on the odometer.

When companies decide to save pennies by using cheaper parts the only offset is the cost for warranty work and so if owners do the work themselves they are encouraging this behavior by the big corporations. Ford is infamous with its Explorer and Pinto and Crown Victoria vehicles in providing dangerous vehicles and figuring that it was cheaper to pay the lawsuit settlements than to make safer cars.

People may whine about the federal government and regulations but it is the reason that commercial aircraft had the safety record they did for so many years prior to deregulation of the industry. But for Ralph Nader we would not have seat belts in cars or ABS brakes or airbags or even safety glass.

 

[HammaMan]

Edit -- reachable from passenger wheel well area and I'd still do it myself. It be less time self-rectifying than dealing with dealers these days.

My truck is under warranty and if the pump failed, given the level of care required to get to it there's a 0% chance I'd entrust it to any dealer. Failure to remove the parts carefully can very easily scratch the headlights as well as break a few of the more delicate parts. Before entrusting a dealer carefully pic your headlights, especially around the edges. Haven't read the service manual for the process, but I have seen ford performance's version of it and it says nothing about loosening the headlight bolts to allow a little bit of movement but I highly suggest it. When they're loosened and the grille is uncliped from them, the unclipping cants them out ever so slightly preventing the grille from chewing into them.

 

[WOScholar]

If the filter was blocked there would still be some amount of fluid coming out. The truck was little used for the 15 months I had to wait to have the wiper motor replaced which is why in May of 2024 it has only 4,000 miles on the odometer.

Not always. Mine didn't have any coming out, but I could hear the motor trying. The filter was totally clogged and covered in that slime.

Just trying to share my experience to be helpful. Hope you get the resolution you are after.

 

[PBXL]

If you hear the pump trying to work, then the filter on the pump is gunked up. You can remove it and then clean the slime off the filter. When you reinstall it, it ill work fine...if the pump itself is trying to work, that is. My 21 Platinum PB did that. It had some orange colored slime all over it from what I presume to be old or bad windshield washer fluid. I could have had the dealer do it under warranty, but it was too easy to do it myself and way faster.

How do I get to the filter on a Powerboost?

 

[Ford Motor Company]

My windshield washer pump no longer works and I cannot find any information as to whether it is controlled by a fuse and if so, which fuse. I could find nothing in the owner manual and when I phoned Ford customer care the person told me that if it was not in the manual then to go to a dealer.

Does anyone know which fuse controls the windshield washer pump?

I cancelled my trip out of the state and have already had my truck parked for most of the time since I bought it in April 2022 with the wiper motor recall not being done until August of 2023.

Hi there. This washer fluid concern doesn’t sound like something we want you to experience with your F-150. Could you please send us a PM with your VIN and the name and location of your Ford dealer? I'd be happy to look into how I can assist you on my end. To send a private message, just click on our username and select "Start Conversation".

 

[WOScholar]

How do I get to the filter on a Powerboost?

In that picture above, it is right behind the passenger side wheelwell. Just undo the bolts for it and bend it out of the way. You will see the bottom of the washer fluid reservoir with the motor sticking out of the bottom. It is pushed into a rubber grommet seal, so it is just a matter of pulling it out with some pressure. Be prepared to plug the hole when it comes out or else the entire reservoir will drain. One of the tools I was using was the perfect size to plug it or else I would have learned that the hard way. You can also do a search for replacing the washer fluid motor on YouTube and several videos will show you how to get to it. On the 2021 F150, I only had to remove the wheelwell cover. I didn't have to do anything with the grille or headlight. I should have mentioned, the filter is attached to the back of the fluid motor when you pull it out.

 

[HammaMan]

In that picture above, it is right behind the passenger side wheelwell. Just undo the bolts for it and bend it out of the way. You will see the bottom of the washer fluid reservoir with the motor sticking out of the bottom. It is pushed into a rubber grommet seal, so it is just a matter of pulling it out with some pressure. Be prepared to plug the hole when it comes out or else the entire reservoir will drain. One of the tools I was using was the perfect size to plug it or else I would have learned that the hard way. You can also do a search for replacing the washer fluid motor on YouTube and several videos will show you how to get to it. On the 2021 F150, I only had to remove the wheelwell cover. I didn't have to do anything with the grille or headlight. I should have mentioned, the filter is attached to the back of the fluid motor when you pull it out.

Right on, you could be able to get to it removing the the wheel well area, didn't think about that. Despite staring at and playing with the wheel well while playing with the headlights it didn't dawn on me that it's an access vector

 

[Calson]

The dealer tech found that the problem was that the factory had incorrectly routed the supply hose and so it had a kink that greatly limited the amount of water that could be pumped.

Another factory defect to add to my list for this truck.

 

[RDM]

In that picture above, it is right behind the passenger side wheelwell. Just undo the bolts for it and bend it out of the way. You will see the bottom of the washer fluid reservoir with the motor sticking out of the bottom. It is pushed into a rubber grommet seal, so it is just a matter of pulling it out with some pressure. Be prepared to plug the hole when it comes out or else the entire reservoir will drain. One of the tools I was using was the perfect size to plug it or else I would have learned that the hard way. You can also do a search for replacing the washer fluid motor on YouTube and several videos will show you how to get to it. On the 2021 F150, I only had to remove the wheelwell cover. I didn't have to do anything with the grille or headlight. I should have mentioned, the filter is attached to the back of the fluid motor when you pull it out.

Your post on the wheelwell saved me a bunch of time. Thanks. My pump was running, no flow. Easy to get pump out from the wheelwell. The filter was stopped up with some sort of green slime. Had to blow compressed air backwards through the pump to blow it out. I have used the green RainX bug remover washer fluid in the past. Will stick to the blue stuff.

Sponsored