Newbie Q - rear washer suddenly not working

[headwerkn]

Hi all,
First, introductions... my name's Ben, I hail from the land Down Under, and a couple of months ago I got myself a 1991 4Runner RV6 (3L petrol, 5 speed manual)...

With no AC, electric windows or mirrors, remote locking of any form, CD player and with manual hubs, it is about as basic as they come. However with one doctor's wife owner and only 165,000km on the clock it was a little hard to pass up. At least it as an LSD in the rear, which makes it fun and easy to drift around our wet and slippery streets during this miserable winter we're currently in ;-)

It is however the crappy weather we're suffering which has made a niggling issue really annoying. Not long after we got it, the rear washer and the wiper's intermittent setting disappeared. The wiper still wipes on its constant setting, but no water.

Reservoir is of course full... I'm presuming there's no separate rear fluid bottle, because I can't find it! There's no noise when the rear washer is switched on, so the motor isn't going (ie. not a blockage in the hose). At one stage, I think when the rear interior light was set to DOOR at the end of the wiper's movement the light would come on, which was weird. Should also note the front washer/wipers are working fine.

I'm thinking it might be a fuse, but to be honest I have no idea where to look, and I'm a bit nervous about pulling stuff apart without knowing what I'm supposed to be doing.

Any ideas what the issue might be?

Thanks and cheers,
Ben.

 

[fourwd1]

Mines an 84 (1st gen) Runner so it may be a bit different, but it does have a separate resevoir for the rear washer, behind the side panel in the cargo area, drivers side.

If the washer and wiper are both controlled by one switch, it's doubtful it's a fuse, since the wiper works on the constant setting.
More likely the switch itself, or there maybe a module somewhere for the intermittent function.

 

[jrs2]

There's just one reservoir bottle in your 91. Both pumps are at the bottom of the bottle. If you don't hear the pump motor when turning on the washer it's either the pump or wiring/fuse/switch.

It's not too hard to pull the bottle out. I had to do it and flush the whole system out recently when of bunch of Argentine ants decided to drown themselves in my washer fluid. Went through that tiny vent hole in the cap.

I'd start by pulling the bottle and see if the pump is getting power.

 

[Redfox]

Hey mate,

Great looking rig there. I'm a fellow T4R owner from Sydney. My rig is a '91 but it's in pretty bad condition and has a few mechanical issues.

I would just check that your wiring is still connected. There is a connector that runs behind the battery on the drivers side under the hood. It's got a yellow and black clip I think. Just ensure that it's still connected. Also check your fuse which is next to your accelerator pedal behind that little square removable panel. I think the whole wiper system is hooked up to one fuse, so if your other wipers work, then that's not the prob. Finally I would recommend your check the actual pump which is attached to the water reservoir. Try to attach a 12v power source directly to it and see if it works. If not, then that's your prob. Good luck!

By the way mate, how much did you rig cost you? I will probably buy another one sometime next year to have as a daily driver and as a bit of a project car. I really want a T4R with a Holden 5L V8 in it. That would be ideal... but I think it will be hard to find and expensive to insure.

 

[headwerkn]

Thanks for the tips... didn't have the time today to take out the battery (assume that needs to be removed to access the wiring) but will look at it soon. The motor is definitely not going... hopefully it's just a loose connection as you said.

I paid $10K for the RV6... that was through a member of the family in the car game who was selling it on behalf of a friend - hence why we know it was a doctor's wife's car owned since new. We're not really sure if it was a great price or not.... I've seen newer, higher mileage SR5s with all the kit for less money, but I'm still yet to see another for sale with only 165K on the clock, and she certainly is unmolested.

Other than the lack of A/C or remote locking the only real thing annoying me is the fuel consumption. We bought it because we have a boat to tow around and do a fair bit of unsealed gravel road driving to get to the family holiday place, but for the most part it is a city car and does probably 15km a day... current consumption is around 15l/100km, even if I drive like a dill.

Holden V8 conversions are expensive unless you can do most of it yourself and you tread down a well-trodden path (ie. do something that's already done and well proven). My father had a late 80s Nissan Patrol converted to a Holden 308 (5.7L?), complete with truck gearbox and transfer case. Not sure who handled the conversion but I think the total bill came close to $10K.

 

[Redfox]

Yeah I suppose $10k is a decent price given that you know it's history, and it's obviously in extremely good nick. Although would have expected you to get an SR5 for that price too. It also has pretty low km's so that's another plus. Most 4runners nowadays are going for around $5-9k depending on their age and condition, but for the majority of them, there is either something wrong, or they are just getting very old in the tooth under the bonnet and will probably need some engine work soon. I bought a '91 SR5 Limited about 2 months ago for $3700, but it has terrible paint work, a very whiny gearbox (on it's last legs), rusted out exhaust 4wd not engaging (should be pretty easy to fix) and the engine is a bit old and has some valvetrain noise (especially on start up). However, the damn thing goes, so that's the main thing. And for that price I really can't complain!

I'm surprised the RV6 has no aircon. Is it just because it isn't gassed up, or was the car never optioned with it from the factory? I thought all second gen 4runners had aircon, but I might be mistaken.

And yeah, the fuel economy is pretty terrible. For an engine that really doesn't have much oomph, it really does chew the gas. I guess that's why a lot of people put them on LPG.

In regards to engine conversion, I will just wait and see what comes along. I saw one not too long ago that was a 5L V8 on LPG and he wanted about $11k for it, which isn't actually too bad considering what it would have cost to do the conversion. Alternatively, there are some runners out there with a 3.8L V6 out of a VS or earlier commodore. Apparently that's a pretty common conversion, and everything fits in the engine bay nicely. I will keep an eye out for those sorts of cars within the next year or so and see what turns up.

 

[headwerkn]

Definitely no air con installed... apparently we can get something fitted for under a grand in time for summer.

Every other 4Runner I've seen of similar vintage has 250,000km+ or more on it. People seem to rack up the kays really quickly with them!

Yeah, the fuel economy makes me wonder sometimes... my old Saab 900 Turbo made more a bit more power and torque from its 2L inline-4 yet did 9L/100km. That said the low end torque from the 3VZ-E is fantastic, and it is smooth too.