Windshield washer fluid light problem

[eclipse012]

So i've searched on this topic already and cannot find my answer. So this year i just started driving my car recently. Anyways i noticed that the windshield washer light was on. So i went to the store and picked up a funnel to refill the tank. I ended up getting about a 1/8 of th jug in before the washer fluid started comming back out the top fill grommet. I thought it might be plugged since i have owned this car for 6 years and never really thought of were to fill it anyways since i knew the tank not located under the hood. I always thought the fill hole was another drain hole since it never had a plug in it. I did buy a plug for it this year by the way. So i ended up removing my washer fluid tank under my spare tire and it was full. It had some sand, pebbles and a few bits of leaf particles and who knows what else. It also smelt rank. so i flushed it out and cleaned the outside of the tank, sucked out the lines with a vacuum, cleaned the bottom of the trunk while i was at it. Re-installed it and hooked up all lines & electrical again, refilled the tank. Hooked up my battery once more and the light still stayed on. So i tried the front wipers and squirters and all is good. Tried the back wiper and squirter, but only the juice came out. The wiper won't move. I checked the fuse under the dash, in the cabin. It was good. Is there a relay for the motor? How can i test the motor? Would the washer fluid light come on because of the rear wiper not working? Has anyone had a simular thing happen?

 

[jambro]

when you turn the wiper on can you hear the motor working?

 

[MrBoxx]

Sounds like the sensor that tells when the fluid is empty is shorting or malfunctioning. You may have to replace the sensor to get that light to go off. Failing that, there may be a wiring problem between the switch and ECU. If you can hear the motor of the wiper moving, but the wiper stays still, the wiper arm needs to be retightened on the shaft of the motor. When people try to move ice or heavy snow, the wiper arm can strip off of the splines of the motor shaft.

 

[eclipse012]

i can't hear the wiper motor no. But i can mostly only hear the top squirter making noise. so that may be why i can not hear it. I have never used the wipers for snow as i have never winter driven the car. My car has just over 30,000 original miles and looks like a regular two year old car would. I called satin today, and asked if the light could come on from fault of the wiper not working. They said no. I asked were the sensor is they told me it built into the pumps. So i asked which one? He had to look it up, i told him it should probably be the more expensive one if thats the cause since there both denso pumps. He gave me a price of $80. After telling me that I really want to make sure its the sensor before i go a head and buy a pump, and find out that may not be the case. Is there any way to test the motor, or pump with sensor? I unscrewed and popped open half of the trim on the hatch to look at the motor. It was warm to the touch so i think it is getting power. Is there a relay somewhere that i can't seem to find? Have any tips on removing trim? I always find myself being extra carefull, taking my time, always feeling like im going to snap the retainers or parts of the plastic trim itself. Trim can be such a slut

 

[jambro]

yeah the trim pieces are super delicate the actually make tools to remove trim and panels and they are pretty cheap but your right with being careful it doesnt take much to break

 

[luv2rallye]

There is a relay but it's only for the intermittent operation. The main operation is controlled by the rear wiper switch. Sounds like it's either the motor or the wiper switch.

 

[DsmJapSpyder]

did you check the relay???

 

[eclipse012]

No i havent checked the relay yet. I couldn't find where it is. Thats my plans this weekend. Im guessing that i can't check the sensor for the washer fluid since its built into one of the pumps. Any thoughts on where the relay is? Im going to check the fuses again. The repair manual says check no.9 general fuse. Not sure if i checked no.9, but i do know i checked the wiper fuse.

 

[97gst_spyder]

The level sensor is in the tank, mounted on the tank itself. Not in the motors...