I had the same experience the first time I went to use my washers. I could only get them to work when the wipers were actually turned on. It turned out I wasn't pushing in the stalk past the point of 1st resistance to activate the washer system.

"The washer system is activated by pressing inward on the multifunction switch lever whenever the ignition switch is
turned to the ACC or the ON/RUN position. The multifunction switch lever must be pressed past the point of resistance
for at least 0.5 seconds to get the wiper system to cycle."