come up on my DIC three times in the last year and I have never used the windshield wipers or spray. Each time after the warning, I looked and sure enough the washer fluid level was very low. I have refilled it for the third time. I have checked everywhere for leaks or residue of leaks and can not find any. It does get very hot in the engine compartment. Does the fluid evaporate? Is this normal?

 

Under hard acceleration you will notice it comes out onto the windshield. Couple that with, I can only assume, evaporation and you lose a lot of fluid.

I have the same issue. I barely ever use it, but have filled it twice in 6 months.



Oh well.

 

I had read a few posts a while back that there is a check valve that could be gotten (although not sure exactly where/which) to stop that from happening. I didnt look much further since my Z is my daily driver and living in the Northeast I do and wil be using it alot anyways, so its sort of a mott thing for me for what little sprays out every now and then or evaporates.

 

Haven't you seen that commercial

The cars spray it at each other when humans aren't around.

 

 

It evaporates. Note the small hole in the fill cap

 

I've noticed in a search that some people have the original washer fluid after 1-4 years and with up to 20K miles logged so I thought that it was funny to have it evaporate out three times in a year. I have about 5K miles on my car for the last year.

I only noticed water on my windshield once or twice due to acceleration and that was only small amounts. Anyway, thanks for the replies. I will investigate a little further and live with it if I have to. Small price to pay.

 

Maybe due to the climate / frequency of use of the car?

Mine lives in Texas where it gets over 90 every day in the summer and I drive it everywhere.

 

Sometimes if you are on a high incline this will happen.

 

Here is what someone posted a while back on the fix for the squirting washer dilemma. You can go to any ford dealer and get these, they are about 5.00 or so for a set of two, I didn’t remove the wiper blade, just cut the hose a couple inches prior to it going into each blade and install the check valve on each blade

The squirt on hard acceleration got to be old. There was a post here about using the check valve from Ford to cure it. It works very nicely! Get Windshield Wiper Fluid Check Valves (1 package = 2 valves) from Ford Motor Co.- #F8CZ-17A614-AA - $4.08 - any dealer will have it. Remove wiper arms (13 mm bolts under the snap off caps, then wiggle and pull), cut the washer fluid tube under the blade assembly just before it splits to the 2 output nozzles, and install the valve (1 each side) with the check ball pointing towards the pump - i.e. away from the outlets, and press fit the thing back under the wiper arm prior to re-install. Nasty Ford part is invisible, and hammering the car = dry windshield. No big deal, I was just tired of cleaning up the solvent residue from the stuff.
One note from the service manual that was useful: before removing the wiper assemblies, turn the ignition to "accessory," turn wipers to slow intermittent, and turn off ignition when they are down (at end of cycle but not parked all the way down on the stops where they go to when you turn them off). Then use a piece of masking tape on windshield on both sides to mark their position so that the reinstall is properly aligned