Intermittent Wiper Fluid Leak

2012 Prius C

Starting a few days ago, I noticed a wet spot underneath the front-right of the car.

Turns out, I'm losing wiper fluid. I fill it up to the top, watch it for several minutes.. it doesn't move. Pull off, come back 5 minutes later and I've lost nearly half the tank... so it's leaking, or at least leaking worse when the car runs by way of something calling for it or the movement of the car.

Anyway, I have to take it to the dealer this week for a airbag notice... I'm pretty mechanically inclined but there are about 200 miles left on the 36K/3yr warranty, so I'm hopeful this is a warranty issue.. and save myself the grief. hose slipped off, cracked, seal, something?

Any thoughts on what this could be?

My first thought was road debris caused a crack, but the splash guard seems to protect the reservoir pretty well... that'd have to be an awfully strange carem for a rock or something to take..

 

Funny. They couldn't reproduce the leak.

 

I didn't realize it held a full gallon, so I may have overstated when I said 1/2 a reservoir... It was probably closer to 1/4.

In any case, I saw it visibly go down in a 5-10 minute drive...

And to boot, the dealership checked it out, pressure tested, etc. Said it was fine. I even had them drive the car into the bay and we watched it together... no leaking.

Doesn't make sense.

 

I will...

Other than a seal or a crack low in the reservoir, I'm stumped. Of course, either means the dealership straight up lied about their testing.

The only other possibility I can see is a loose connection that they fixed by fiddling with everything and failed to mention it to me.

Does anyone know if the reservoir is easy to remove?

 

So here's where I'm at and the timeline....


Day 1 - Notice a decent sized puddle underneath the front-right of the car. It was late and didn't think much of it... figuring it was the A/C condensate.

Day 2 - Car driven about 40 minutes, no wiper usage.

Day 3 - Pickup some wiper fluid (by chance) at the store, come home and refill the reservoir. It took about 95% of the gallon. Noticed some drippage underneath, but I did spill some... though the drippage seemed like more than I spilled. After this, I watched the level for about 10 minutes.. no change. Took the car for a 5-10 minute drive, checked the level and it appeared to lose about 16-24oz. (My 1/2 and 1/4 gallons I stated earlier are probably overstated after viewing a picture of the reservoir online).

Day 4 - Drove car for about 20 minutes, very minimal wiper fluid usage.

Day 5 - Took car to dealership. When the car was in the bay, SOMETHING was leaking underneath.. but I assumed it was the wiper system given the previous facts and couldn't see, nor check color. May have been A/C condensate. Dealership checked for leaks, couldn't find any, but noted level was LOW. Consider this is after I put about 120 oz into it on Day 3. After talking to advisor, brought car back in bay.. observed for 5-10 minutes... no leaking underneath.

Day 6 - Car driven for 2 hours, very minimal wiper fluid usage. Level appears to have hardly changed if any. No spots on driveway.

Day 7 - Same as Day 6. No apparent level change. No spots on driveway.


At this point, I'm clueless. Dealer suggested I may have overfilled tank on Day 3 and a "burp" or air bubble caused the appearance of lost fluid.. but why was it "low" on Day 5. What constitutes low? I have no idea.

 

It's just below the bottom of the filler neck... where the dealership filled it to... supposedly.

You see, I didn't check it just prior to dropping it off at the dealer. So who knows what they did?

 

Day 13.... Fluid level seems OK.


So.. I guess this is DEAD. and remains a mystery.

 

Day 51 (and 2500 miles later) -- I go to fill up the reservoir and it only took about 12 ounces to top it off.

I guess this is solved but I still don't understand.