I feel kinda daft asking this, but I'm posting here because surely one
of the wise heads on this group will be able to put me straight in no
time.

I bought a 1993 Xantia SX turbo diesel cheaply at auction a month ago
and the window washers don't work. Both front & rear washers are
affected and when I try to top up with water it runs straight out &
puddles on the floor underneath the car.

Any Xantia owners will know that the washer reservoir on this model is
behind the front bumper and looking in the bonnet all I can see is the
filler and determine that a hose disappears down to it. I can't see any
cracks in the reservoir itself when the car is raised on the ramp so
either it's the hose that's damaged, the bottle where they meet, or
maybe the hose has just come off.

So the sensible thing to do is remove the bumper & take a look.

The bumper is secured with three screws under its lower front edge, a
couple behind the fog-lights and one on each side, the latter being
accessed by removing a little cover under the wheel arch. This is the
dumb bit: having removed the cover & spent ages slackening one of the
side bolts, I just can't get it out. It'll unscrew until it's out about
a centimetre and a half but after that no amount of unscrewing will
shift it any further.

My father suggests that the bolt is off the end of its threaded section
and merely wedged in a narrow hole that leads to it, however I'm not
convinced by this argument as there is _no_ movement in the bolt _at
all_. If this were the case I would expect to be able to feel at least
the tiniest amount of play in it (wiggle) but it is rock solid in that
direction - tapping the bolt with a hammer & drift has no apparent
effect on it.

The only movement in this bolt is rotary, yet after initially observing
it with 1.5cm of thread exposed I was still racheting at it maybe as
much as an hour later with no further progress!! It's like the retainer
in the bumper, into which this bolt screws, has broken from its mount.
Is this possible? It seems to me that this would be more likely to
happen when the both was at its tightest, not when it was nearly out so
that doesn't make sense to me, either. Also, that would probably allow
play in other directions and, as I said, the both it solid except that
it'll twist & rotate freely.  

Having given up on the job and driven the car for a couple of days, I
looked at the bolt & found it to be in the same position - vibration
hasn't loosened it at all.

I'm the first to admit I'm an idiot, so if someone would kindly beat me
with a clue I'd be extremely grateful.

Stroller.