mwar99

I haven't had any issues. I'm not sure what some people are missing. The headlight washers on the last model Passat we had didn't do much so I wouldn't expect there to be much of a difference on my headlights. Not to mention, with the exception of the Passat, I haven't owned any other car with headlight washers and didn't have any problems with them either.

snagitseven

Of course there's always this although I don't think they worked all that well either. Really nice looking though.

poloa4wayne

Can you tell me what dealer did yours or share your invoice of what work was performed? I want to get my car installed with them but the dealer is unsure of what needs to be done. Thanks

Richard Solomon

I'm awaiting details, but my dealer is saying "close to $1K" in parts - so I'm expecting he's adding a reservoir and a pump to the list previously posted. I've not yet confirmed the details, nor whether the wiring connection for the headlight washer pump is present yet.

Has anyone beat me to this and added washers to a car WITHOUT night vision?

Richard Solomon

Just got the car back today, parts went even higher - I'm sure with foreknowledge one could/should negotiate a better deal (e.g. buy online or get match to online pricing), but my guys were ordering what they thought they needed then ordering more stuff they found they needed, returning stuff they didn't, etc... So I took it in the shorts dollar-wise because I had no leverage to negotiate and got hit with pretty much full-retail.

I also took a hit on labor as my tech was spending time on the rewiring (see below) and trying to figure out how to code up the system and how it should work, etc. Anyone following should be able to get something probably closer to 3-4 hours labor at a guess.

The wiring harness for the headlight/night-vision washer pump is *NOT* present in cars without that, so plan on wiring to the control module or to your own controls somehow. My tech fished the power wire through to the control module, and tied into a ground point in the wheel well. Note that you'll need VCDS to code the control module for the washers as he flat couldn't do it with the Audi factory tool.

Note that in these cars (non-night-vision and non-headlight-washer) the washer reservoir is different too, so you'll need to replace the one that's there.

With all that said, here's the list of parts that went into my car. I've not gone through them all, in particular some of the wiring seems like overkill, but I'm presenting it as-is for posterity:

snagitseven

So, final cost all in was....?

Richard Solomon

Let's just say ZOMG! and leave it at that

13c7a6

My retro fit is simpler because my car already has the pump and wiring and I didn't change the reservoir.

However, if I don't have those, I'll wire the washer pump to a switch independent of the control unit, it is a real pain and waste of washer fluid if I just want to clear the head lights.

Audi only wash the head light once every 10 or 15 wash cycles, so you either have to wash your windshield 10-15 times before the head light washer does its thing, if you change that in VCDS, then you are washing the head light every time you wash your windshield, a total waste on fluid, hence they make you get a bigger reservoir.

Glad that you at last get it working.

Richard Solomon

Yep, night vision folks just need the parts you listed earlier and have life much easier!

FWIW, I have no evidence or reason to believe the new reservoir is any larger, it just has the mounting location and opening for the headlight washer (and/or night vision camera) pump. The "other" reservoir has only a place for the windshield washer pump.

I've not looked at this in a while, and my schedule these days is such that it would likely be months away, but I originally determined I could build an interposer which would make the headlight washers work like the C5. IOW, if you held the washer stalk for more than 3 seconds (adjustable in my plan) then the headlight washer fires for several (adjustable) seconds.

With the very small number of headlight-washer-equipped Audis, it doesn't seem like there's much demand though - is anyone else interested in such a beast if I put together instructions and a parts list and such? (I'm not in the business of making money on this kinda stuff, just enabling DIY.)

13c7a6

I read on some other post that ROW has a bigger reservoir

Actually, I never try that, maybe it is still on the C7, maybe the folks from up north (Canada) can tell us if holding down the stalk will activate the headlight washer.

I drove Volvo for almost 20 years, really missed those mini-wipers with the jets.