Washer Fluid Light On

[Rodger]

The resevoir was filled with summer mix washer fluid and partially froze over the winter, presumably causing damage to the sender. It's no longer frozen.

Obviously this means the sending unit at the washer fluid resevoir has gone bad. Per the schematic, the signal goes straight from ground, through the sender, to the cluster (presumably to turn on the light directly, i.e. no logic circuit). The light may actually be driven by a logic circuit, as it doesn't come on instantly when the engine is started.

Inspection of the resevoir filler neck shows me the resevoir is remotely-located....the manual shows it to be a whopping 7-liter tank behind the LF wheel. Is there access to the electrical connectors with the tank installed?

Easier than that would be for me to simply disconnect the sender.....I don't need the stupid light anyways. In the schematic it shows the ground contact to be labeled as "GP3, 31, D162". Any idea where this is located?

Other than that, she did just fine this winter.....

[Rodger]

Looking back through the previous owner's service receipts, it seems the tank has been worked on twice and replaced once by a dealer due to leakage....just over two years ago. Too bad it doesn't qualify me for the warranty.

[Loren]

What is the last part number of the tank you have?

There have been 4 or 5 tanks.

[Rodger]

The part number listed on the receipt from 2003 is: 996 248 701 00. Since then, it was in for a repair action in 2005 because of leakage.

[Loren]

The part number listed on the receipt from 2003 is: 996 248 701 00. Since then, it was in for a repair action in 2005 because of leakage.

Sorry, that is not a good part number.

The latest tank for a MY00 Boxster is: 996.106.147.07

[Rodger]

I troubleshot the problem today.

The manual has you remove the LF wheel, then pull the clips that hold the rearward portion of the splashguard in place. Once the splashguard is pulled back, the tank is housed very snugly in the rear portion of the wheel arch.

I disconnected the connector with the yellow/violet and brown wires, as per the manual this is the connector that carries the tank level signal. With it disconnected, the washer light comes on instantly and stays on. Per the manual, this is correct, as the tank unit should short the wires together when it reads "not empty".

So I shorted the two wires together. The light did not come on instantly, but after a short delay (less than 1 minute) it did illuminate.

This meant the fault was either with the wiring itself or the cluster's logic circuit.

I then shot the wires individually for continuity to ground. Brown had almost zero Ohms, the yellow/violet had something around 90 Ohms (I could be off a bit with that number, but it was below 100), which I would consider consistent with some sort of logic circuit. That meant both wires were very likely good. A visual inspection of the harness under the wheel arch revealed no damage.

So the fault is with the gauge cluster. I looked up the cluster removal in the manual. Simply engage the hazards, which allows the switch to pop out. You can then get a thin screwdriver into the slot exposed on the side and pop the switch cover off. Beneath the cover is a tox bolt. Remove it.

The other side of the gauges has a small circular grill. Pop it off with the same thin screwdrvier and remove the torx bolt beneath it. Don't drop it inside the cluster.

It's then simply a matter of pulling straight up on the cluster to disengage the three pop-clips that hold it to the dash. Once free, the wire harnesses have enough slack for you to use that same thin screwdriver to twist the annoying bulb a half-turn out of its socket. It's not exaclty fixed, but at least I don't have to stare at the yellow washer fluid warning anymore.

Edited April 15, 2007 by Rodger