Headlamp washers and rear wash not working

[robinbarker]

Hi all

Just thought I would drop a note and say Hi and pose a quick question re. my head lamp washers rear washer not working.

Just purchased a 2002/02 Dolphin Grey face lifted S3 with Silver leather. I decided to get something more sure footed for the winter after rolling a Honda S2000 after meeting black ice early one morning - very scary

1st impressions of the S3 are very good. I am from a VW / Audi background and I nearly bought one of these 2 years ago, but decided to try the rear wheel drive sports car option thus leaving the VAG brand for a while.

The S3 is such a complete car and making quick progress is effortless - dare I say quite relaxing. Yes the S2000 was immensely fun but it had to be worked hard. The S3 totally different - plenty of low down torque so is quicker in every day driving. As I often get the chance to drive my fathers RS2 I was expecting the S3 to feel a bit down on power but so far I have been pleasantly surprised!

A little help required please:
Car came without a user manual - so therefore this might be a simple one

1) My headlamp washers do not appear to be working. I am guessing that they should work when lights are on and the windscreen stalk is pulled forward - but they don't

2) Rear washer jet doesn't work and maybe blocked - but the panel fit on the tailgate is so tight I can't work out how best to remove it

Before I book it into my Audi dealer has anyone got any ideas?

Thanks

Rob

[bakerdcb]

My rear washer stopped working a couple of times and it was simply the hose which feeds it coming detached. Once at the window itself (water trickling away down the tailgate) and once in the engine bay(water down the side of the engine onto floor) Both were a pig to get at but just required the silicone hose to be pushed back on.

Headlamp washers work approx. every 5th wash of your windscreen, when you pull the stalk back as you say.

[robinbarker]

Thanks for reply

I thought it could be a loose pipe

I want to remove the panel on the tailgate to see if the hose has come off, but typical germanic quality means it is difficult to see how to remove it.

I have removed the 2 screws where the recess handle is and the two plastic inserts where the catches are but it doesn't seem to want to pop off.

Any tips?

[bakerdcb]

Its a real bugger with clips all over the place that really don't want to budge. Chances are you'll break a couple doing it. I would check carefully to see where the water is going first of all to detect where the pipe is loose. I spent hours taking off said panel once only to discover the pipe was loose in the engine bay just after the washer bottle itself!! If it is loose at the back then be brave but careful, it doesn't like to come off