2007 Ford Escape Windshield Washer Reservoir with Washer Pumps DIY Solutions WIP00202

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Hi, I'm Mike from 1A Auto. I hope this how-to video helps you out, and next time you need parts for your vehicle, think of 1AAuto.com. Thanks.

In this video, we're going to show you how to replace the windshield and rear window washer bottle. Location: they're located right behind the bumper cover. They can get broken pretty easily. We're going to show you how to do it on this 2002 Escape. The bottle is the same for any 2001 to 2007. The procedure should be about the same as well. Tools you'll need include a short Phillips screwdriver, a flat blade screwdriver, 10mm socket with a ratchet and extension, and a catch pan.

You're going to remove a 10mm bolt here and here to start. Fast-forward here as I use a 10mm socket and ratchet to remove those two bolts. Pretty much this is what I'll do throughout the video. I'll show you the step and then I'll fast-forward through me doing it. Now you can see I have the car raised up off the ground. You don't need to raise the car off the ground, it just certainly makes it a lot easier to film. There's going to be a series of Phillips clips. Here's one of the clips. Use a Phillips screwdriver. Lightly try and turn this. The center should come out. Then, when the center comes out the whole clip will pop out. There are three on this side here. There are three on the other side, as well as a couple right up under here, underneath your grille. Here again we'll fast-forward as I remove the rest of those clips.

Once you get those out, then there are two more. You pull this back. It's probably a little difficult to see, but up in there there is another one of those little Phillips clips. If you feel up in here with your hand you'll feel the head of it. The best strategy for these is to actually just pull firmly down on them and the clips will break free. Now there are a series of 10mm bolts under here: one there, one there, and one up, there's a few up under here on the other side. I'm going to fast-forward through removing these. Because these bolts are up underneath, a lot of times they're rusted from salt and sand and whatnot, so they'll be difficult to get apart. You can see, as I went through in the previous shot, one of them was broken off. You may break one or two off, but do your best to get them out. One of them I actually go back, spray on some penetrate, wait, and see if the penetrating oil will help. If you break one or two of them off it's not the biggest thing. You can put it back together with just one or two of them missing.

You can see, as I get the last bolt broken free, the bumper cover is about to basically come right off. You can see I've got that bumper cover off now. If your vehicle does have fog lights, then at this point, before you pull the bumper cover too far off, you would want to reach inside and just disconnect each fog light. So back here are your pumps. There's a connection. You press in the middle of the connection and pull up. There's a little tab right in the middle. Then your other one is right over here. Press in the middle of the connector and pull up. Disconnect those.

Here's where the fluid starts coming out. You can feel the hoses right on the bottom of the pumps and you just want to try and twist the hose to get it to come out. Twist and pull it off. I'm going to let that drain out. Now, to remove the pump, take a regular screwdriver and pry up underneath. Alternate back and forth prying the bottom and pulling and the pumps come right out. I'll fast-forward here as I pull that second pump out. Right here there's a 10mm bolt. Pull this out, you don't have to hold it. It allows us to come take this apart.

Now, to remove your reservoir, you'll need to remove that bolt right in there. You also, if you look right here, there's a little pin that you'll need to pull back and out of the reservoir and pull the hoses out. You can do that easier when you get it down. Then come in from the front here. There's another bolt, 10mm, right up underneath there. Here I'll fast-forward as I use my 10mm socket with a ratchet and a long extension, and go up from the bottom and get that bolt. Then get the bolt on the top, which is pretty easy to get to actually. As that comes down, pull that clip out. Then you have to push your water bottle backwards and bring it down. Cap's just a little hung up here. There's your water bottle out.

Now I'm putting your reservoir back up in. Put it up in. Make sure your fill tube goes in the right place. Push it back against your fender and get this front guide where it belongs. It's up in. This is up in the upper hole here. I'll speed up here again. What I'm able to do is reach right up there with my hand, get that bolt started, and then tighten it up with the socket, ratchet, and extension. Then put the upper bolt in and tighten it up as well. Then put that bolt back in in the wheel well and tighten that up.

Now you can re-install your washer pumps. Just push them in firmly. Reconnect the hoses and reconnect your harnesses. Now you can refill your reservoir and it's time to test it. Now I pull the, and we're working properly. A couple quick notes on the test: you do have to have your hood closed. There is a switch that prevents the washers from working if the hood's not closed. Also, test both washers since you could possibly connect the wrong connections. In that case, when you pulled your windshield washers, your back window might go off. If you do that just switch the electrical connections and you'll be all set.

I'm going to kind of speed through this a little bit. At this point, the first thing you want to do is make sure that all your clips are out, especially those clips you had to kind of reach up underneath. Make sure those are out of the bumper cover. Then, if you have fog lights, reconnect them. Then have your two bolts ready for the top and put the bumper cover back in place. Just kind of finger tighten those two top bolts to hold it. Now go up underneath and just make sure that the black lower fascia kind of overlaps the gray part of the fascia.

On my vehicle, the center bolt was still there, so I just kind of put that in and preliminarily tightened it up to hold things in place. Next, you're going to put all the clips back in. You want to set them up like this. Have the screw just inserted a little bit so that you can push them in place. Then, obviously, do the ones up underneath first. Push them into the fascia first, then up into the fender and lock them in place. Obviously repeat for the other side as well. Keeping the work pace going, I'm going to put the clips in underneath the grille. Then I'm going to start all the 10mm bolts for the bottom.

Again, if one of these, or one or two of them break, not a big deal. You can put it back together with what you have. It's pretty much inevitable that if you have a car with quite a few miles on it, that one or two of them will break. Then, once you're done starting them it, tighten them up. Here I'm just putting the rest of those Phillips style pins back in that hold the sides of the wheel wells. Then finish off by tightening up the two top bolts on each side of the grille.

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