Windshield washer fix

General chat about the car goes in here.
Post Reply
User avatar
spidernut
Posts: 1906
Joined: Wed Jan 25, 2006 12:20 am
Your car is a: 1979 Fiat Spider Automatic
Location: Lincoln, CA

Windshield washer fix

Post by spidernut »

When I pulled my windshield washer bottle on my 80 Spider, I found a massive glob of silicone at the bottom where the seal is located in the bottom for the washer pump. The prior owner put in an inline aftermarket pump on the fenderwell, but the homemade seal leaked (big surprise). After looking online for a replacement, I turned to the local mega hardware store.

One trip to Home Depot and I found a fix. (Unfortunately, I didn't take pictures of it). If you remove the original seal at the bottom of the washer bottle, the hole left behind is exactly the right size to thread a brass compression fitting that adapts from a male thread to the exact diameter compression fitting for the windshield washer hose. It took me about 5-10 minutes of looking through the brass fitting display before finding it and test fitting it to the bottle.

A little sealer, a homemade gasket and it threaded in perfectly. Total cost: $4. Sure beat buying the hard-to-find and every expensive replacement pump!!!
John G.
1979 Spider (Owned since 2000)
1971 124 Sport Spider (Owned since 2017)
1977 Spider (Sold 2017)
1979 Spider (Disposed of in 2017)
1979 Spider (Sold 2015)
1980 Spider (Sold in 2013)
1981 Spider (Sold in 1985)
2017 Spider (Owned since 2019)
katsi

Re: Windshield washer fix

Post by katsi »

I have a washer bag. Are you using the word bottle and meaning bag? Or does your's actually have a bottle? :|
zachmac
Posts: 1278
Joined: Sun Aug 24, 2008 9:20 am
Your car is a: 1978 Spider [1979 2 ltr engine]
Location: Aiken, SC

Re: Windshield washer fix

Post by zachmac »

katsi wrote:I have a washer bag. Are you using the word bottle and meaning bag? Or does your's actually have a bottle? :|
80 and beyond (maybe earlier) have a hard platic bottle.
Jeff Klein, Aiken, SC
1980 FI Spider, Veridian with Tan (sold about a year ago), in the market for another project
1989 Spider, sold
2008 Mercedes SL65
2008 S600 Mercedes V12
User avatar
divace73
Posts: 1380
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2010 5:59 am
Your car is a: 1980 Fiat 124 Spider Silver
Location: Sydney, Australia

Re: Windshield washer fix

Post by divace73 »

I ended up using a pump and grommet out of a ford, I think it was our local Ford falcon, worked a treat.
Cheers David
-=1980 silver Fiat 124 Spider=-
If you want to see pics of my car (and other random stuff) >>click here<< OR
see my >>You tube channel<<
vandor
Posts: 3996
Joined: Sat May 23, 2009 1:23 pm
Your car is a: 1971 124 Spider
Location: Texas, USA

Re: Windshield washer fix

Post by vandor »

>80 and beyond (maybe earlier) have a hard platic bottle.

FI Spiders started using the plastic bottle.

FWIW we carry the pump for not a lot of coin. It's a new item, I'll add it to the web store soon.
However, it comes without the rubber grommet :-(
Csaba
'71 124 Spider, much modified
'17 124 Abarth, silver
http://italiancarclub.com/csaba/
Co-owner of the best dang Fiat parts place in town
User avatar
spidernut
Posts: 1906
Joined: Wed Jan 25, 2006 12:20 am
Your car is a: 1979 Fiat Spider Automatic
Location: Lincoln, CA

Re: Windshield washer fix

Post by spidernut »

Yup......I have the plastic bottle in my 80 EFI. The carb'd cars had the bag. Because there was no grommet for the washer bottle and I couldn't find one, I created the "fix".
John G.
1979 Spider (Owned since 2000)
1971 124 Sport Spider (Owned since 2017)
1977 Spider (Sold 2017)
1979 Spider (Disposed of in 2017)
1979 Spider (Sold 2015)
1980 Spider (Sold in 2013)
1981 Spider (Sold in 1985)
2017 Spider (Owned since 2019)
Post Reply