XPY

Have 1999 4Runner (Canada) so have the washer fluid low indicator light.
Came on, stayed on, washer fluid is fine.

Under right front of truck, take off cover (guard) to washer fluid container.
BE CAREFUL MIGHT WANT TO USE SOME PENETRATING OIL You'll probably still break a bold. I just removed the whole thing, cover & resevoir, but you don't have too. Might have trouble with hoses to pump motors.

ANY IDEAS ON HOW TO TAP BROKEN BOLTS OUT?

ALWAYS PUT VASOLINE INSIDE ANY RUBBER HOSE LINES MAKES IT REALLY EASY TO REMOVE IN FUTURE.

The stem neck, top of truck under hood, to the washer fluid container just pulls out; 2 separate pieces.
Pink sponge floating full indicator inside the neck has nothing to do with the light or sensor.

From under the right front you'll see a harness plug has 6 wires coming from it. 2 go to rear pump motor, 2 go to front pump motor, 2 go to washer fluid sensor. It's the one farther back more to middle of reservoir. You can disconnect the clips from the main plug & 2 motors.

MAKE SURE CONTACTS ARE CLEAN & NO CORROSION. SPRAY WITH WD-40, let dry, & PUT SOME ELECTRICAL GREASE BEFORE RECONNECTING.

Rubber seal around the sensor, it does not screw in its like the stem neck, lift the rubber seal around it and pull the sensor out, try not to pull the rubber seal out with its a pain to put back in.

The sensor has the male flat copper connector, very fine, wires have the female, BE CAREFUL ITS DELICATE. Dumb asses at Toyota designed & put that thing in and left the wires & contacts exposed the whole thing could be avoided if it were just coated after install. Anyways I just pulled mine put some penetrating & anti-rust on it wiggled it around a little and IT WORKS. You might also want to try soaking it in 'CLR' to remove the corrosion.

I think TOYOTA knows it, so they replace the sensor & 6 way wire harness all at once, that would be the easiest if sensor not working. Although it's is possible to pop the 2 wires out of the 6 way quick connect. Hard to see that thing going defective. Odds are it's the very bad set up where the wire plugs in at the bottom of the sensor, it gets really badly corroded.

If the sensor is defective (?) you'll probably break the plug pulling the sensor off so its a fairly simple replacement with a new female, just get a new sensor.

I left mine exposed and just covered it with grease, but if you need a new sensor & replace the female plug coming from the 6 way wire harness, I'D RECOMMEND COVERING THE WHOLE PLUG SECTION WITH SILICONE.


Hope that helps.

And also it seems obvious this issue seems to be specific to Toyota owners that own Canadian vehicles that actually have a washer fluid sensor. Although it wouldn’t surprise me that if like the fog light option the wiring harnesses are there and set up for it both for the lights & the control on the steering column (use a toggle switch) and the relay you just need the parts. So for the folks from the USA I’m guessing your windshield washer reservoir bottle has a plug in it where they install the windshield washer sensor and all the wiring…etc. is there to get it to work.

Once I pulled the sensor out of the reservoir container & detached the 6 way harness & the 2 leads going to the front & rear washer pumps.
I used Gorilla tape, because I like the stuff it’s like duct tape on steroids, to create a lip around the base of the sensor that is exposed to the weather & corrodes. I filled it with Coke to try and clean the corrosion off the contact, but that didn’t work, so I cleaned that off with hot water to remove all the syrup (sugar) then I refilled it with ‘CLR’ & left it overnight. That worked cleaned it up like a charm. It works perfectly now & have had no issues with it since. I also sprayed the exposed copper contact surface on the bottom of the sensor, after I re-installed it with silicone, and then covered the whole thing with butyl to stop it from corroding again. Although once that starts there is no stopping it just slowing the process down. I used butyl because it is durable, it’s easier to remove than caulking, but keep in mind in hot weather butyl is brutal to remove, you’d have to use lots of turpentine or such in warm weather.

Just keep in mind the washer fluid sensor works in reverse of most set ups. What I mean is the sensor contact once made turns the light "OFF" on the dash. So the corrosion on the sensor base exposed to the weather breaks the contact even though the reservoir is full & the washer fluid light on the dash comes "ON".

If you’re handy & the corrosion is bad:
Get an old light switch, remove copper wire screw, drill a hole (tap it) into the copper plate on the bottom of the sensor & if you can figure out which wire does not run all the way into the sensor cut the one that is attached to the copper plate. Then you can use the screw to reconnect the wire to the copper plate that should complete the circuit again.

benwahballs

awesome, thanks buddy.

appreciate the in-depth descriptions, this'll be my first project on the new ride!

Thanks again!