My 2022 Tahoe Z71 rear windshield sprayer stopped spraying. I took it to the dealership and they told me the pump was out and that it was going to cost $341.00. LOL. I have had a pretty good working relationship with them but all previous work other than oil changes has been minor warranty stuff. After I got the quote from the dealer I decided to make time to try and fix it myself. Keep in mind at this point I’m trusting the dealer and believing them that the pump was out. The front sprayer was working so I thought perhaps my model had 2 pumps one for the front and one for the rear. I started researching the 2022 year model and found nothing that really helped my specific situation. I found some old youtube videos that a couple of much older models did have 2 separate pumps however the current model and last several from what I have found is that it just has one pump. I enlisted the help of my wife to run the back sprayer while I listened from the front, while it was quieter, you could still hear the “whine” of the washer fluid motor running and watching the fluid level not decrease told me 2 things:
1 – The washer pump works.
2 – If the water fluid level wasn’t going down like the front sprayer made it do, then it was clogged somewhere.
At this point I’m pretty angry that the dealer just straight up lied to my face about the pump not working. Their “Certified Corvette mechanic that is supposedly really great” is the one I was told looked at it and determined the pump was out. I thought these were pretty cool people.
Continuing on, I located the hose on the passenger side connecting from the washer to the hose that runs towards the back of the Tahoe for the rear sprayer. (Picture 1) I removed the elbow fitting from both hose connections circled in yellow and red. I checked the rear sprayer and fluid came out of the hose that is circled red in the picture.
I held it pointing it up out of the hood area and had my wife run the rear sprayer, and wouldn’t you know it old faithful started spraying. I then had my wife lightly spray compressed air from the hose that is circled in yellow while I got inside the Tahoe with the doors closed to better hear. I could hear air blowing towards the back so I knew a hose had come apart. Once I heard air I thought my initial assumption about it being clogged was probably wrong, since the fluid level should have still decreased and just started pumping the fluid at the site where the tubes came apart I was confused about this, until someone mentioned that and air bubble could be "clogging the line" I don't know if that was the case.
I don’t have it pictured here but in the yellow circle of picture 2 there is a black plastic cover you have to pry off starting from the bottom and it pops off. It is delicate so it may break but you will have to take it off to get to the T40 bolt underneath.
Just above that you will see another tie down loop in Picture 3.
When you unscrew it, you might unscrew the plastic with the bolt or it may unscrew from the bolt itself. I guess this is designed to make it easy to replace the plastic if it were to break? In either case once this bolt and the T40 below it are out you should have enough wiggle room because you shouldn’t have to remove the entire panel.
Lift up the floor compartment door and unscrew the 2 giant plastic bolts by hand pictured in the green box, it has a really large torx shape but its plastic and it didn’t seem very strong to withstand a power bit, it is easy to turn by hand. Once you have removed both of these nuts the hold drawer/container and be lifted up and out of the Tahoe.
I used a panel pop tool but a flathead screw driver would work too, remove the plastic piece so it doesn’t get snapped in half when you yank up the back rear floor panel. Just start from either the right or the left like where my hand is in Picture 4 and give a nice firm pull and then work your way across until you get the whole thing popped off.
I bought a cheap borescope off amazon and In Picture 5 you’ll see the tip of the camera is pointed at the passenger rear corner, and if you look at the screen view on the borescope “in” Picture 5 you will see a set of hoses with an elbow connector. This is where my problem was these were disconnected.
At the bottom left side of Picture 5 grab the base of the sidewall panel where my hand is and give a firm pull. I had enough room as shown on the right hand side to feel around for the loose hoses and plug them back together. Mind you if your hoses come loose like mine did you may have to run the pump a few times to charge the line before liquid comes out. So don’t be dismayed when nothing comes out after your run the sprayer once. Make sure you at least run it 3 times. If nothing comes out then you likely have a clogged nozzle or it may be disconnected closer to the rear spray nozzle than mine was. I hope this helps someone else.
1 – The washer pump works.
2 – If the water fluid level wasn’t going down like the front sprayer made it do, then it was clogged somewhere.
At this point I’m pretty angry that the dealer just straight up lied to my face about the pump not working. Their “Certified Corvette mechanic that is supposedly really great” is the one I was told looked at it and determined the pump was out. I thought these were pretty cool people.Continuing on, I located the hose on the passenger side connecting from the washer to the hose that runs towards the back of the Tahoe for the rear sprayer. (Picture 1) I removed the elbow fitting from both hose connections circled in yellow and red. I checked the rear sprayer and fluid came out of the hose that is circled red in the picture.
I held it pointing it up out of the hood area and had my wife run the rear sprayer, and wouldn’t you know it old faithful started spraying. I then had my wife lightly spray compressed air from the hose that is circled in yellow while I got inside the Tahoe with the doors closed to better hear. I could hear air blowing towards the back so I knew a hose had come apart. Once I heard air I thought my initial assumption about it being clogged was probably wrong, since the fluid level should have still decreased and just started pumping the fluid at the site where the tubes came apart I was confused about this, until someone mentioned that and air bubble could be "clogging the line" I don't know if that was the case.
I don’t have it pictured here but in the yellow circle of picture 2 there is a black plastic cover you have to pry off starting from the bottom and it pops off. It is delicate so it may break but you will have to take it off to get to the T40 bolt underneath.
Just above that you will see another tie down loop in Picture 3.
When you unscrew it, you might unscrew the plastic with the bolt or it may unscrew from the bolt itself. I guess this is designed to make it easy to replace the plastic if it were to break? In either case once this bolt and the T40 below it are out you should have enough wiggle room because you shouldn’t have to remove the entire panel.
Lift up the floor compartment door and unscrew the 2 giant plastic bolts by hand pictured in the green box, it has a really large torx shape but its plastic and it didn’t seem very strong to withstand a power bit, it is easy to turn by hand. Once you have removed both of these nuts the hold drawer/container and be lifted up and out of the Tahoe.
I used a panel pop tool but a flathead screw driver would work too, remove the plastic piece so it doesn’t get snapped in half when you yank up the back rear floor panel. Just start from either the right or the left like where my hand is in Picture 4 and give a nice firm pull and then work your way across until you get the whole thing popped off.
I bought a cheap borescope off amazon and In Picture 5 you’ll see the tip of the camera is pointed at the passenger rear corner, and if you look at the screen view on the borescope “in” Picture 5 you will see a set of hoses with an elbow connector. This is where my problem was these were disconnected.
At the bottom left side of Picture 5 grab the base of the sidewall panel where my hand is and give a firm pull. I had enough room as shown on the right hand side to feel around for the loose hoses and plug them back together. Mind you if your hoses come loose like mine did you may have to run the pump a few times to charge the line before liquid comes out. So don’t be dismayed when nothing comes out after your run the sprayer once. Make sure you at least run it 3 times. If nothing comes out then you likely have a clogged nozzle or it may be disconnected closer to the rear spray nozzle than mine was. I hope this helps someone else.
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