taken my car to dealership to have oil change, when I got it back the windshield wiper fluid didn’t work- thought they forgot to add some, so my husband added some and it poured right out on the garage floor, when I took it back to the dealership and complained they said probably some rate chewed the tubing in the wheel well and it wouldn’t be covered under warranty… we don’t have rats in our garage.
Almost every dealer includes topping off fluids with an oil change. Many even give you a checklist showing the work was completed. I’d look to see if you paperwork included such a list and if the washer fluid top-off was checked. If so… they didn’t do the work they charged you for.
- ps - I bet it was a rodent.
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You only think you don’t have rats in your garage. They can enter from the smallest of openings.
Just fix the hose.
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There… I fixed it for you.
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Thanks guys I really enjoyed the sarcasm it was so helpful.
What I was trying to find out if there was some inherent problem with the hose or the reservoir since the windshield washer fluid
worked before the drop off but not after I picked up the car. The hose is behind the fender liner and no easy way for me to see what has
happened. I am not a mechanic don’t have a pile of tools laying around either and also don’t have a pile of extra cash laying around to pay
someone to just “look” at it.
Not everyone who uses this site is a car mechanic and could have used some helpful advice in lieu of the sarcastic remarks.
It is really NOT a good idea to post your address, phone numbers, and email address in a public forum.
I strongly suggest that you edit your post to eliminate those details.
@Wanda19 You really should edit all your personal info from your posts . Just in case you don’t know how to use the funny looking slanted pencil icon I will Bat Signal Carolyn @cdaquila
It could be a mouse or any number of critters. It is not a warranty item as far as they guess, Luckily this is not a high expense item and would be an easy DIY fix I think.
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I would recommend that you start using a product such as this in the garage.
Because the next time something decides to chew on something in your car, it can be very expensive to repair.
Tester
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It can certainly happen. The vehicle I drive at work got attacked by squirrels a couple of years ago. Little buggers did exactly that - ate the line coming from the washer fluid pump, and all the fluid drained out. Then they came back a month or so later and ate the wiring, and that one was very expensive, so I definitely second @Tester’s recommendation.
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Their shop might, the grocery store parking lot might, Your hair dressers parking lot might.
Also any squirrels, chipmunks, mice or any other rodents could have done it.
How long before ? on the way to the shop ? 2 days before you went to the shop ?
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Well who knows? I’ve got my garage sealed up tight. Heavy duty door bottoms, side and top weather seals, metal rodent guards on the bottom sides of the doors, and glue traps inside. Plus the electronic thingies. I’ve never caught one of the buggers but did chase one out one night before adding all the extra armament. I’m not gonna say never, but they’re gonna have to try extra hard.
I think at this point though no one has actually looked at the rubber line to see if it just came off, was chewed, or even if the bottle cracked. It does seem a little peculiar that it worked before (did it actually work just before, or sometime in the past where damage could be just coincidental?), but then now won’t hold fluid. I know those things are hidden but still someone needs to crawl under and take a good look at where the break is. Thing is though on the 4 year, 50K, Acura just seems to take care of everything regardless, so at least they should have put it on a hoist and looked. Still for an oil change, they wouldn’t really be anywhere near it.
Critters will eat anything, I have a 6 gallon plastic tank, critters chewed off 2 inches of the pouring spout!
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Thanks Bing for that info! You were most helpful! I did ask if they would look for me but told me it would cost $154 to inspect even though it was still under warranty - I only have a little over 30k miles also. So at this time I had to forego that expense and just deal with it for now.
Thank you Barkydog - I see your point. Much appreciated!
Even if a rat did chew through it at the dealership, you would have no way of proving it. If the car was not left overnight, I can’t see it happening at the dealership.
Troubleshooting on most car sit requires removing part of the innerliner from a wheel well on the side where you pour the fluid in.
If you are not up for this, any mechanic can do it and will probably be a lot cheaper than the dealership.
Well you might want to try another dealer. I switched Acura dealers because of the service issue. The last straw was when it was going to take three days to mount a tire. There is no way they can say it is not a ruptured tank that would be covered under warranty so I’d just go somewhere else with the story the tank is leaking. Then they can come back and say it was chewed line or something if that is actually what it is.
If I owned a multi- million dollar automobile dealership I feel certain that I would find the money to provide a customer service person to check issues like this and repair such simple problems as a courtesy. And if the budget was too tight I would just do it myself. But then few people become millionaires being considerate.
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It doesn’t really matter how the leak happened. It’s got to be a pretty simple fix. Just a ww washer fluid problem is all. The plastic bottle that holds the ww fluid on my Corolla came loose from its moorings one time and started making a weird noise b/c it was rubbing on the alternator belt. By the time I noticed it had already worn a hole in the bottle and the plastic bits then got inside and damaged the ww pump. I fixed the pump by flushing it out with a water-pick, and I repaired the hole in the tank with some epoxy. Not a big deal. You don’t need a dealership for this, any good independent shop can do it and probably for a little less $$$ than a dealership.
The fix is simple, but sometimes getting down to the part that you’re out to simply fix is time consuming, and that costs money.
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