This post is just to help other Baleno owners troubleshoot and fix a rather frustrating & perplexing malfunction...
The rear screen washer was not squirting any water despite the rear washer's electric pump at the washer bottle running (You know the pump is working as you can hear it running).
Frustratingly, the rear screen wash nozzle on the Baleno is totally inaccessible, as it is tightly tucked away in a very narrow recess under the roof spoiler, so, as far as I could see, it is not possible to unblock the nozzle from the outside with any tools without removing the spoiler. Goodness knows how you do that, as no fasteners to be seen.
However, luckily, the problem was not caused by a blocked nozzle, but by a blocked/jammed non-return valve fitted in-line to the rear washer nozzle's feed hose.
It appears these rear washer non-return valves commonly malfunction & block/jam on many different makes of car.
The Baleno's not return valve is, thankfully, pretty conveniently located and fairly easy to access as it's located behind the central of three identical flexible black oval bungs at the top of the inside of the hatch, which are at eye level when the hatch is fully open.
If you feel upwards inside the void after removing the central bung, you should be able to easily pull the feed hose down with the hose and joiner/valve in plain sight.
The hose joiner/valve is black plastic and half of it is covered in a thin layer of grey foam...probably for insulation or to stop chaffing.
The hose attached to the joiner/valve from the washer bottle/car body end is black rubber, but the hose leaving the joiner/valve is transparent pvc.
It's not difficult to remove the black rubber hose from the joiner/valve, but it is a bit of a struggle to remove the transparent pvc hose from the joiner/valve...I used a heat gun to soften the pvc hose which made it possible to remove the blocked joiner/valve.
After removing the valve/joiner I've permanently fixed and refitted it...it's now just a hose joiner!!!
As they say...complexity is the enemy of reliability!!!
I sincerely hope this post saves others the time, frustration and head-scratching I went through to sort out this silly but irritating problem!!!
Ian.
The rear screen washer was not squirting any water despite the rear washer's electric pump at the washer bottle running (You know the pump is working as you can hear it running).
Frustratingly, the rear screen wash nozzle on the Baleno is totally inaccessible, as it is tightly tucked away in a very narrow recess under the roof spoiler, so, as far as I could see, it is not possible to unblock the nozzle from the outside with any tools without removing the spoiler. Goodness knows how you do that, as no fasteners to be seen.
However, luckily, the problem was not caused by a blocked nozzle, but by a blocked/jammed non-return valve fitted in-line to the rear washer nozzle's feed hose.
It appears these rear washer non-return valves commonly malfunction & block/jam on many different makes of car.
The Baleno's not return valve is, thankfully, pretty conveniently located and fairly easy to access as it's located behind the central of three identical flexible black oval bungs at the top of the inside of the hatch, which are at eye level when the hatch is fully open.
If you feel upwards inside the void after removing the central bung, you should be able to easily pull the feed hose down with the hose and joiner/valve in plain sight.
The hose joiner/valve is black plastic and half of it is covered in a thin layer of grey foam...probably for insulation or to stop chaffing.
The hose attached to the joiner/valve from the washer bottle/car body end is black rubber, but the hose leaving the joiner/valve is transparent pvc.
It's not difficult to remove the black rubber hose from the joiner/valve, but it is a bit of a struggle to remove the transparent pvc hose from the joiner/valve...I used a heat gun to soften the pvc hose which made it possible to remove the blocked joiner/valve.
After removing the valve/joiner I've permanently fixed and refitted it...it's now just a hose joiner!!!
As they say...complexity is the enemy of reliability!!!
I sincerely hope this post saves others the time, frustration and head-scratching I went through to sort out this silly but irritating problem!!!
Ian.
