Washers & headlamps

Q Recently my Ford 2.0 S-MAX TDCI would not start. It was completely immobilised and had to be recovered to the Ford main dealer, which replaced the ECU, allowing the car to start. Eventually the fault was traced to a bad connection at the wiring to the ECU and the original ECU reinstalled.

After a couple of days of having the car home, I noticed that the front and rear windscreen washers weren’t working, although the wipers still functioned correctly. I thought it might be a simple fuse which had blown, so checked fuses F9 and F10 in the footwell for continuity, but these bleeped so I assumed the fuses were OK.

I stripped the undertray and inspected the washer pump by removing it to a bench and applying 12 volts. It spun, so I assumed that motor was working. I then removed the filter in the bottom of the screenwash bottle and cleaned it. The bottle is buried beneath the front bumper and is difficult to access, even with the front headlight removed. I tried to take off the bumper, but after three hours of trying to remove rusted bolts, I gave up and devised another way to test the pipes and motor.

I rigged up a 12-volt connection to the washer pump while it was fitted to the car, then applied voltage. Hey presto! Both front and rear washers sprayed screenwash onto the windscreen, proving the screenwash bottle and pipes were not blocked and that the pump worked. Therefore, I turned my attention to the windscreen washer stalk – when I press the button on the stalk I can hear a clicking in the footwell, which to me indicates that the relay is energising.

Is there a way to dismantle the stalk and, if so, how? Also, is there a relay I can remove and test, to ensure that even though it is clicking it is allowing current to energise the power side of the relay?

I have now noticed that the headlight main beam has stopped working. Could there be a link between the windscreen washer and the headlight back to the GEM electronic box which the S-MAX reportedly has issues with due to water ingress?

Finally, I would like to get a fault code reader, but am unsure which one would be a good buy. Can you recommend one? Chris Prior A The S-MAX can suffer from wiring problems. This is normally caused by water ingress and the loom should be checked at the connections for signs of water entering under the insulation. Through capillary action, this travels along the loom until it gets to any connecting points, resulting in corrosion.

According to the diagram I have, fuse number 14 in the in-car fusebox should be the one that feeds the washer pump, with fuse number 9 being for the main beam. Some models of S-MAX did have headlamp washers, but these were fed by the same pump and operated by relay number K36 in the underbonnet fuse/ relay box. This may be a connecting point between the two problems.

The washer stalk can't be tested easily, but as you can hear a clicking when operated, it seems to be working correctly. However, I suspect that because the vehicle has had wiring problems, and as this fault was exposed just after it was returned to you, the faults are due to connection issues.

For a scanner to read codes and more on your Ford, the Foxwell NT510 would be a good buy. It currently costs £169 including free delivery from http://bit.ly/2so0cc9