Frozen Washer Jets: Adam's Heater Fix & Repair Costs

Hey there! I had a similar issue with my 2017 Vauxhall Corsa. The washer nozzles completely stopped working during winter, and it turned out to be a bad cable connection to the heater element. Took it to my local workshop last winter, and they had to replace some wiring, cost me around 155 Euro to fix. Now it's working perfectly again! What's the current temperature where you are? And have you checked if there's power getting to the nozzle heaters? Could help diagnose if it's the same issue I had.

Thanks for sharing your experience! The temperature here has been hovering around -5°C lately. I haven't checked the power connection to the heaters yet, that's a good suggestion. My car's just had its service at 145904 KM, but this wasn't picked up. I'll grab my multimeter and check the voltage at the connections. Hopefully it's just a wiring issue like yours and not the whole heating element that needs replacing. Any tips on accessing the wiring harness easily?

Hey again! Glad to help further with this. Yeah, accessing the wiring on these Vauxhalls can be a bit tricky. On my Corsa, I had to remove the plastic cover under the hood, right where the wipers connect, it's held by those pesky plastic clips. The wiring harness should be visible once you've got that off. When I was diagnosing mine, I found the best way to check was to test the voltage when the ignition is on. You should get around 12V if everything's working properly. In my case, I was getting intermittent readings which pointed to that loose connection I mentioned earlier. Just be careful with those plastic clips when you're removing the cover, they break easily (learned that the hard way on mine!). Also, might be worth checking the fuse box first, there's usually one specific to the washer system. Mine's in the engine bay fuse box, should be similar on your Adam. Let me know what you find with the voltage readings. If they're inconsistent like mine were, at least you'll know it's likely the same issue. Much cheaper than replacing the whole heating element!

Thanks so much for the detailed guidance! I just checked the fuse box first as you suggested, all fuses look good. I managed to get the plastic cover off (only broke one clip, not bad!) and tested the voltage. You were spot on, I'm getting fluctuating readings between 2V and 12V, which definitely points to a dodgy connection. Really relieved it's likely just a wiring issue like yours and not the whole heating element! I'll book it into my local garage tomorrow and show them what I found. The 155 Euro you mentioned sounds way better than what I was dreading it might cost. Really appreciate you walking me through this, saved me a lot of worry and probably some money too! I'll update the thread once it's fixed in case anyone else runs into the same problem.