hawkeye headlight washers not retracting fully
 

a problem ive had since day 1 with my hawk sti is the pop out headlight washers dont retract fully, they both pop out ok and both wash ok but i have to push them back in with my hands,they go in easily enough with no force needed.

any ideas?

While it's out put some silicon grease on the shaft...oooerr

ooofff you saucy sod

i will try that, am i right in thinking they work from pneumatic pressure?

They work by water pressure alone.

http://static.opposedforces.com/epc_...1494987701.png

thanks don, so water pressure pushes them out.......what brings them back in?

I would image they are spring loaded in some way.

this issue still isnt fixed and its really bugging me now, i have sprayed each one with some silicone grease and manually pulled them in and out but they still get stuck on the return after the spray and both roughly in the same place about an inch from being back in.

another hawk owner must have suffered from this before..............

Hard water in your area? Any calcium buildup in the mechanism?

No mate deffo not a hard water area

Nothing retracts them exept gravity
if yours don’t retract then as has been pointed out the shaft is dirty it’s not a smooth bore it has splines on it .
ive got one lying around I’ll get a pic up / but my advise would be to give them a good soapy clean once removed
be careful lifting the caps off before you remove the bumper they are prone to cracking or snapping a corner off

As I pull it out , you may just be able to notice the small splines , as the stem retracts into its outer sleeve the splines make a (seal )so the unit does not just flop about and lift up at will /
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.sco...33a27a506.jpeg
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.sco...09a8bbffc.jpeg
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.sco...8d189499c.jpeg

ok thats brill, i dont think i will be taking the bumper off to fix this as i simply cannot be bothered, i will try removing the body coloured caps though to give me more access.

cheers

These are spring loaded, and the springs are quite strong, so if you can pull them out and not feel any decent amount of resistance then it will be the springs that have over stretched or failed.

My drivers side end cap flew off on a dual carriage way and had to order a passenger sider one as a doner as at that time there was literally no stock for the drivers side anywhere. There are also very stiff and sard to pull apart but also easy to damage at the same time