washer nozzles

[RickH]

So are these ajustable on the 2013 encore?
Almost had a crash cause of the low spray.
First heavy snow fall in MI. the road spray of salt hit the window and with the low volume of spray (hitting under the wiper) which didn't wash the salt off the widow fast enough, took three cycles before it was clear., by that time a car was stopped in front of me and had to swerve. Close call. This condition seems to be a safty hazard.
How is this being address with warranty and the desgin engineers?
Hope the stated tool will work since the dealer says it's not adjustable and will order new nozzles. That was two months ago and no call back.
Thanks

 

[08Bluesky]

Bought the tool

No idea how to properly use it... tried a few times, does not seem to make any difference yet. not giving up just yet.

 

[jimt]

yes they are, i gave my dealer the tool i bought on ebay and i believe they were going to order their own, the service manager was happy to find out they are adjustable and he said he had other complaints but could not remedy them until i showed him how to . so tell you dealer to readjust them as replacing them is going overboard for sure

 

[KSDeputy]

I have a 2014 Premium Encore. Mine seem to work quite well. The spray is all over the windshield like it should be.

 

[chadder]

yes they are, i gave my dealer the tool i bought on ebay and i believe they were going to order their own, the service manager was happy to find out they are adjustable and he said he had other complaints but could not remedy them until i showed him how to . so tell you dealer to readjust them as replacing them is going overboard for sure

How do they adjust. I see how the tool fits on the nozzle but what do you do then? Twist, pry up, or something else?

 

[08Bluesky]

Good question Chadder - still trying to figure that myself 🙁

 

[08Bluesky]

Breaking News! (sort of) – Was ABLE to adjust the Driver’s Side Nozzle – least I think I did, (too darn cold to test outdoors under speed). But I was able to see some of the spray up over beyond the window

Would have been wise to have safety glasses on if standing outside the door and hitting the sprayer at the same time

I took the Tool (purchased overseas) and placed a ViceGrip on the back end so that I could “Push” it in with more pressure. (Once seated properly into the Nozzle of course)

So…. I lined up the Cross Cut into the Nozzle, then PUSH in a bit – should see/feel the ball(?) go in a tad, then lift (i.e. aim) the “but” end of the tool a BIT higher. Did not take much movement to make a great change – then pull the tool back out.

One thing I noticed, trying this on the Passenger side did not (yet) make any difference… I’ve yet to feel it move inward. But that side was never as bad (i.e. not too low) – May play with it some more later.

I contacted my Dealer and told them to hold the presses, no need for me to stop in (for now)

 

[carstuff]

For those of us still driving these GM's, I found an at least workable solution for my washer nozzles on a 1997 Buick Lesabre Custom. At first I thought it was just a weak / leaky pump as fluid slowly leaked out over several months. I just got this car from my Dad when he passed. Garage kept, like new with 124k miles. Anyway, after replacing the pump, no more leaks but still would not spray high enough to reach the windshield. I was surprised to find no adjustment reading this thread, but I was able to shim the nozzle enough to make them usable. I took the screw out of the top of the nozzle, and hunted for something to shim the front (windshield) side. Using a very small flat blade, I carefully pried the nozzle up from the sides and shimmed with a piece of plastic washer I found in my parts bins. After several tries, it took about a 2mm piece to press under the nozzle and tightened the screw. At least it raised the spray enough to reach the windshield and get fluid high enough to be useful. As an after-thought, I looked at my '92 Bonneville, (170k and crumbling from the FL sun) and it is made pretty much the same, but I never has an issue with this. Anyway, hope this helps someone. Work carefully not to break the plastic. Oh, and if you have the AC vent issue not blowing out the front, this fix worked like a champ and wasn't too difficult to accomplish... But you do do need to get the programmer box out of the dash, that was a bit tricky...http://www.imcool.com/articles/aircondition/fix_vacuum_line.htm

 

[KSDeputy]

Really glad to know there is a tool to correct the angle should mine ever need it. By the way I finally found out how to solve my problem with not being able to see the washer arm, it was simple once I read the manual more thoroughly. I turned on the Rainsense, I leave it on all the time. I never touch the windshield washer controls again, except to use the window washer.

 

[gyeager]

2013 encore washer fluid sucks on drivers side like others have said. Noticing scratches on glass already and we use encore very little only 6600 miles. Lots of salty, sandy spray here in MN. Need fluid to lube wipers when in motion. Not to mention how much wiper spray is wasted on drivers side because goes way to the left and most of it is wiped off windshield and right spray from drivers side barely hits lower part of windshield.Passenger side seems to work ok. Took a look after airport run last nite because it bothered me so much and used so much fluid I had to refill. Was considering bringing to dealer until I found this forum. Thought maybe nozzle assembly was not positioned correctly. Would not spend money on tool and you would probably void warranty if you break.

 

[TheAirman]

Force your dealer to adjust those nozzles up. It's a safety issue, and they'll have to order the adjuster tool. Take it all the way to the top if you have too. It's a poorly designed GM system that they will be required to attend too. Everyone who has seen how poorly the wiper system on this car works will be amazed how much nicer they work when adjusted up.

And how about not being able to lift the blade but an inch off the windshield because they hit the hood?

 

[GoMich]

I just did Nozzle replacement on mine. Got tired of messing with adjustments on 4 water jets! I agree with opinion that Encore has one of the worst windshield washer spray pattern. In order to fix the problem, I decided to go with aftermarket nozzles. Got Dorman Spray Nozzles from auto-parts store. Installing them required removing wipers first, then plastic air intake grille, where nozzles are mounted to. It is held with 5 or 6 plastic "christmas tree" retainers so be prepared to get replacements since they will break during removal process. After that, installing new ones took some time since original ports are deep and not flat on top. The whole job took about 4 hours to get done. So for people who are interested, its doable but will require some skill and fabrication to fit new nozzles. But long term is well worth it in my mind. Now I have familiar wide spray pattern from each nozzle and they are easy to adjust without any special tools.

 

[G-176709]

2012 Buick Lacrosse - spray hits very bottom of window - water does not get on window- the nozzle is part of the plastic grate for air intake and is not adjustable -- poor design on GM's part