[gmaur]

My 2006 PT Cruiser has a broken windshield wiper nozzle. I thought it would be an easy repair so I bought a new nozzle from the dealer. When I tried to remove the broken half from the tubing, it broke again leaving a portion of the stem in the tubing. It's deep inside, so nothing to grab onto to pull it out. If I could just get the piece out I could insert the new nozzle and the job would be done. Anyone have a suggestion? Thanks much.

 

[ImperialCrown]

Is there enough length of hose to try and snip off the end with the broken piece in it? Sometimes screwing a small screw into the plastic nipple will act like an easy-out and allow you to pull the broken piece out.

 

[gmaur]

Is there enough length of hose to try and snip off the end with the broken piece in it? Sometimes screwing a small screw into the plastic nipple will act like an easy-out and allow you to pull the broken piece out.

A screw! You're a genius!! I never thought of that...duh...but it makes sense. Not sure I can find one small enought but I'll definitely give it a try. Your second suggestion might work too. I'm not sure if there will be enough length left but it's worth a try. Thanks sooo much.

 

[dana44]

If you could heat the rubber hose itself up with a hair dryer, not a heat gun, it may soften up enough that the screw will be able to pull the nozzle end out, they can stick with time like that, and a little warming up will not harm the hose.

 

[peterjon1]

If all else fails, auto parts stores sell washer tubing and hose connectors.

 

[gmaur]

Thanks to everyone for all the ideas. My luck, or Murphy's Law, the simpler the job the more involved it becomes.

 

[gmaur]

UPDATE Problem fixed using 2 different size screws. First, I used the small one but only a portion of the stem came up/out...crumbling into little shards as I brought it out. Next I went in with a bigger screw and working it repeatedly, shard by shard, I got the remainder of the stem out.

Now if anyone has a suggestion for the hood shield/blanket...whatever you call it...it too is crumbling and I really have nothing protecting the new nozzle. Is there a heat resistant tape I can use to piece the blanket back together, something to help provide a heat barrier? I'm sure this is part of the reason why the nozzle dried up and crumbled away, the hood heat blanket is disintegrating and no longer doing its job.

 

[dana44]

Sounds like it would be a good idea to replace the heat blanket, too. That much heat could damage the paint and/or warp the hood in all honesty.

 

[JTE]

FWIW, its not a heat blanket, its a silencer pad, so you can sneak up on deer at sunset. No damage will happen to the car with a piece missing.

 

[george w]

I had the same issue with my 2005 PT GT. The drivers side nozzle got baked and disintegrated. Same deal, the stub broken off in the hose. The pieces are about as brittle as dry spaghetti ! My hood pad is fine, but I'm sure the nozzle disintegrated from the heat, I think I had the same issue on a 2002 non turbo as well. This time I folded up some heavy duty aluminum foil in a 6 inch square and tucked it up between the hood pad and the nozzle. Time will tell if this will prolong the nozzle life. Just to be safe a bought a couple extra nozzles. I guess it's too much to expect Chrysler to re-engineer these or to spec a more durable, heat reisistant plastic.

 

[gmaur]

I stopped in at Advance Auto Parts, but they had no ideas for me other than replacing the heat shield. I'm going to try the aluminum foil trick, sounds like it might help. Will also price a new heat blanket.

A silencer pad? I should have known, but then I haven't been "deer shining" in 20 years so naturally I forgot all about it. :lol:

You guys are the best!

 

[jfrankena]

With a 2005 PT convertible, I've had the nozzles replaced twice in the past few years. During a previous service visit, the friendly service professionals ripped away the silencer pad (really helpful here in Iowa) to get to the nozzles...so they're easy to access but prone to faster heat-induced failure. Anyway, I replaced the nozzles for the third time this morning. Using screws as suggested above, I was able to dig out/crumble the broken-off portion stuck in the washer hose. Using a pair of pliers, I easily crushed the brittle portion of the nozzle left on the underside of the hood and removed the top half, snapping in the replacement part and reconnecting the hose. Done...until next time, when I can use the spare set of nozzles I bought.

 

[Michael Mann]

Same problem with my 06. Made a junkyard run, and nearly every MOPAR hood from the time frame had the nozzles missing. This is an obvious problem, and one I've seen on nothing else. I'll buy new, and probably several if I can get them. Sad to see this on a well-built car. Engineered to be replaced frequently.

Michael

 

[browens1534]

Same problem with my 06. Made a junkyard run, and nearly every MOPAR hood from the time frame had the nozzles missing. This is an obvious problem, and one I've seen on nothing else. I'll buy new, and probably several if I can get them. Sad to see this on a well-built car. Engineered to be replaced frequently.

Michael

It's not just the Mopars. My MMMA made car has broken wiper nozzles... Although the body shop broke them when fitting them on the new hood...

 

[Michael Mann]

I began to realize as I read more that this was very common on cars with nozzles in the hood. I had an 06 Sebring vert, and replaced it with an 05 Sebring vert after being hit head on by a high school girl who was busy texting. Thankfully, the airbags were of better quality than the washer nozzles. My family also has several older Neons. None of these ever had a failed nozzle. Lucky, I guess, except for the texting student.

Rather than replace mine with OEM that will surely fail the same way, I'm going to try a set of Dorman replacement nozzles at about 1/3 the cost.

The 40-50 year old MOPARs I know best have nice metal nozzles that still work.

Michael

 

[Bob Lincoln]

It's not necessarily heat. Some common chemicals, such as ammonia and gasoline, will cause embrittlement.

 

[HemiPower]

I guess it's too much to expect Chrysler to re-engineer these or to spec a more durable, heat reisistant plastic.

In defense of ma (V)oPar these are the "re-engineered" pieces. The ones on all my old Mopes were made of METAL. Imagine THAT. LOL

 

[scarlott]

Since they are made of plastic take into account that if you don't park inside the weather plays a large part in destroying plastic, also where you live I use -20DeG F washer Fluid and it has a high level of Methanol which is hard on plastic, I bought my 2005 used but the ones I replaced last month were stock Mopar also I found the easy way for me to clear the hose ends to fit the new parts was to wrap a piece of rag on tube then crush with pliers then use washer pump to flush lines if both are broken use rag with vice grips to seal one so you get more pressure to flush line, this should be done before installing new nozzles to avoid plugging nozzles.

 

[iriegnome]

The hose and nozzle are under like $3 on ebay. Replaced mine just last summer. Took about 2 minutes. If you need the connectors any auto parts store carries them. The nozzles are just standard sized so you can actually get fancy LED one's or get triple nozzle sprayers, stream sprayers or misters..Kind of a cool replacement thing