[T3] window washer problem-2

[Jim Adney]

On 3 Jul 2013 at 2:13, fred Simmons wrote:

> yes, it's leaking around the plastic shaft of the tube that inserts into the rubber tubing. 
> the outer rubber tubing is in place.
> i think the rubber ring inside the attachment has dried out. 

You need to determine whether it's leaking between the rubber tube 
and the plastic stem, or between the valve stem and the seal inside 
the screw-on cap. With the rubber tube run all the way up against the 
cap, it will be impossible to tell which direction the leak is coming 
from.

If you can slide the rubber tube back 1/8", you could see which 
direction the leak is coming from with a little soapy water.

A leak at the stem end could be due to a scratch on the stem that the 
rubber can't seal, or cracks in the rubber tube.

> soaking the whole in brake fluid did not restore it 

I would not expect that to have any effect. Brake fluid is chosen 
because it has little effect on rubber.

> I also tried a small o-ring in there with no luck. since a valve cap
> screws easily and tightly  on there, the Schrader valve stem threads
> seem okay.

It's not the threads that do the sealing, it's the annular face at 
the end that must be smooth. Run your fingernail around that. If 
there is a scratch in the end that catches your fingernail, that 
could prevent the rubber ring from sealing all the way around. If you 
find a scratch, you can dress the end down with a fine file or stone, 
or get the whole valve stem replaced.

Since you seem to have had the same leak with at least 2 different 
hose assemblies, I suspect the end of the valve stem.

I have replacement for the main tubing if you need it. I don't have 
replacements for the outer sleeves, so you would need to save and 
reuse those. Once you get this working, you'll want to replace the 
complete length of rubber hose from the bottle to the dash control. 
That hose doesn't last forever and it will eventually fail, emptying 
the bottle contents somewhere undesirable.

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Jim Adney, jadney at vwtype3.org
Madison, Wisconsin, USA
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