Leaking windshield washer fluid reservoir

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alohart

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 1, 2014
Messages
3,045
Location
Honolulu, HI
Not a big problem in the grand scheme of things, but it surprised me nevertheless.

For the first time in 5.5 years of ownership, I topped up the windshield washer fluid in our 2014 BEV. I filled the reservoir to the top of the filler tube. As I was walking away, I heard a liquid impacting the garage floor. Sure enough, it was windshield washer fluid that was leaking out of the joint where the filler tube attaches to the tank as can be seen in this photo:

s-l1600.jpg


Never having owned a BMW previously, is this normal? Should the windshield washer fluid level remain below this joint and never rise into the filler tube?
 
Oh, that's odd. The owners manual gives a minimum fill quantity, but not a max or "fill to."

But how could it be anything other than filling to the top of the neck.

In that photo you shared, do you think that black line could be an O-ring where the neck connects with the reservoir? I wonder why BMW would do than instead of glued connection.

Edit: Huh, found a neck on eBay. https://www.ebay.com/itm/2014-2019-BMW-i3-i01-WINDSHIELD-WASHER-BOTTLE-NECK-OEM-/202800820799
 
eNate said:
In that photo you shared, do you think that black line could be an O-ring where the neck connects with the reservoir? I wonder why BMW would do than instead of glued connection.

Edit: Huh, found a neck on eBay. https://www.ebay.com/itm/2014-2019-BMW-i3-i01-WINDSHIELD-WASHER-BOTTLE-NECK-OEM-/202800820799
Thanks for the find! Before you referenced a used neck being sold, I didn't think that the neck was a separate part because RealOEM doesn't list it as a separate part. I tried to rotate the neck to learn whether it was loose, but it didn't budge.

The black line could very well be an O-ring that is intended to seal the joint. I'll look more closely to see whether I can see that black shadow of an O-ring. Maybe the O-ring is missing. Now that I have some spare time on my hands (thanks, COVID-19 - NOT!!), I might try to disconnect the neck to take a better look.
 
I see that the SAME account is selling the reservoir body:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/2014-2019-BMW-i3-i01-WINDSHIELD-WASHER-RESERVOIR-BOTTLE-OEM/202800820814

Note the little tab on the side of the neck to which the filler tube attaches. Might be a bayonet attachment so you might need to push in and turn?
 
eNate said:
In that photo you shared, do you think that black line could be an O-ring where the neck connects with the reservoir?

This is a photo of my leaking windshield washer fluid reservoir filler tube. Note that the black line isn't straight like that in the photo of a random reservoir that I posted earlier and is lower down in the filler tube. Maybe this O-ring isn't in its proper place. I'll try to remove the filler tube to investigate.
 
alohart said:
This is a photo of my leaking windshield washer fluid reservoir filler tube. Note that the black line isn't straight like that in the photo of a random reservoir that I posted earlier and is lower down in the filler tube. Maybe this O-ring isn't in its proper place. I'll try to remove the filler tube to investigate.
The filler tube was stuck after having not been removed since it was installed over 5 years ago. However, by applying a bit more force, I was able to remove the tube by slightly twisting it counterclockwise until it could be lifted off the tank.

The black line is indeed an O-ring. The person who attached the filler tube did not notice that the O-ring had slid down the neck of the tank or couldn't be bothered to install it correctly. Without the O-ring in its correct location, the joint between the filler tube and tank can leak windshield washer fluid during filling.

In normal times, I would have bought a new O-ring because the old one had been stretched and clamped in the wrong position for more than 5 years. However, it wasn't broken, and I likely won't add windshield washer fluid for years, so a perfect fix isn't urgent or critical. Instead, I lightly coated the O-ring and the inside of the lower inch of the filler tube with silicone grease so that sliding the tube onto the tank wouldn't drag the O-ring from its correct position. The O-ring is now in the correct position and hopefully doing its intended job.

One more long-ignored task completed thanks to COVID-19 …
 
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