[scubajim]

The windshield washer recently stopped spraying across the windshield and only a tiny amount of fluid would make it out of the jets. I had read about the slime that would build up around the screens. To get to the washer fluid reservoir you have to remove the wheel and pull back part of the wheel housing cover on the passenger side of the car. There are various hex bolts with washers that hold up the cover. The difficult part was removing the side panel air duct and the lateral air duct that block the reservoir. The side panel air duct trim piece snaps into clips with three pins. Using trim tools, I tried to carefully pry it loose but still managed to break two of the pins. The covers only come primed so I would need a paint match, find a good used one or purchase an aftermarket carbon fiber unit. I decided to MacGyver mine. I drilled small holes in the base of the broken pins inserted a small metal pin with crazy glue and then encapsulated it with J-B weld plastic bonder to a similar shape and size as the original pin. I did a little sanding on the new pins to keep the original pin size and length. The lateral air duct is held in with expanding rivets on the lip of the inner fender and 2 blind rivets behind the side panel air duct. You need to push the small pins out of the expanding rivets to remove them and if you can locate the pins, they are reusable. I had extras. The blind rivets are like regular metal rivets and require new ones. I gently pried the cap off the rivet and then pushed the remaining section out and removed the duct. You can then carefully remove some wire holders, the bolt on the top of the upper bracket and tilt the reservoir forward and out of the lower holder. Remove the motors with attached screens and electrical connectors. The screens were covered with slime. I flushed the reservoir and screens with a bleach cleaner and reinstalled everything. I purchased new blind rivets (OEM: 0714737824) and a rivet gun from amazon. The chucks for the metal rivet gun I have were too small for the plastic shaft. The spray on the wind shield is excellent again.