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Note: I am trying to create a how-to on this thread, but it's a work in progress because of an unforeseen problem. I will finish this once I figure out a solution.
Some of the 5th and 5.5 Gen Maximas came with the Cold Weather Package, which included (among other things) the Washer Fluid Level Sensor. My car (2000 Maxima GXE) did not. However, I noticed that there is an indicator light for it on the instrument cluster, which is right next to the 'Service Engine Soon' light. A few years back, I decided I wanted to install the sensor. However, I have not got around to it until now. I ordered a new Washer Fluid Reservoir (which was leaking and had a weak pump), along with the OEM Nissan Washer Fluid Level Sensor. Today, I started this project.
To start, you can either 1.) remove the front bumper (labor intensive, but makes this process much easier), or 2.) Access the fluid reservoir from the bottom of the car by removing the bottom plastic cover panel (not recommended).
You do not really need to remove the washer fluid reservoir, unless you want to replace your reservoir and/or your washer fluid pump. In this case, I did both. 1AAuto.com has an excellent video on how to both remove the front bumper AND remove/replace the washer reservoir:
Otherwise, you can drill a hole into the bottom of your existing reservoir. KPazzo6 AKA 'Phil' had an excellent guide on AutoDomain on how to do this. However, it has since been lost to time. Fortunately, I found it on the Way Back Machine, and I will repost his tutorial and lost pictures here for this part. Credit to KPazzo6 for this subsection (in Italics):
First off you need to order part# 28911-1E400...I called Dave B @ 888-254-6060, call him he works @ a Nissan Dealership & will beat by far your local Nissan Dealership Price!(Dave B got fired ) PLEASE KEEP IN MIND THAT PICS SHOW WASHER FLUID RESERVOIR WAS TAKEN OUT. YOU DO NOT NEED TO TAKE IT OUT, BUT I LEARNED THAT AFTER I TOOK IT OUT & SINCE IT WAS MY FIRST TIME DOING IT
1) Open plastic cover from underneath car, like you would to change the passenger side fog light.
2) Now check to see if you see wire circled in above pic. This wire is needed to make sensor work.
3) Now test-fit the sensor tube with wire.
4) Ok now to make sure it works. You need another person to help you with this step. Connect sensor tube. Now find a water bottle and cut top off like above pic, & fill with water. Now turn car on & dip sensor tube in bottle full of water. Now have other person check to see if your washer fluid warning light comes on your dash.
5) Now that you checked that it works. Have a bucket underneath & unplug tube shown in above pick to drain any washer fluid in there.
6) Now look closely at bottom left of reservoir & you should see a sketched circle where sensor tube should be.
7) Now take an 1 inch or 1 1/4 inch wood boring bit(i think that's what its called) & drill a hole were sketched circle is on reservoir. Should look like above right pic. (Image is below, not above).
8) As you can see on above left pic I didn't have a perfect circle. Because I believe the 1inch bit was too small but i just went round & round to make hole bigger. *Don't make it too big & test fit tube if need to. Should be a TIGHT fit for sensor tube.*
9) Once hole is big enough. Put on rubber around hole that came with sensor tube.
10) Now insert sensor tube. Should be a tight fit! (This IS a tight fit. Use of WD-40 as a lubricant is recommended).
11) Now with some silicone put it around the edges of the tube you inserted. This is just for extra protection that it wont leak.
12) Now get wire & plug into sensor tube & your DONE!!!
**To be safe I didn't re-fill my washer fluid reservoir for a couple days. Just to make sure the silicone completely dried.**
KPazzo6 did a very good job with this. However, my project did not go as smoothly. Why? Well, when I went to connect the brown connector to the Washer Fluid Level Sensor, I found that... there is no brown connector! So, evidentially something is wrong. I have no idea why my Maxima does not have the fluid sensor connector. Before anyone tells me that I need to "look harder", I checked to see where the missing connector is supposed to come from. The best view I could find is from the above-mentioned 1AAuto video:
The washer fluid pump/motor connector and the washer fluid sensor connector come from the same cord of wires. On my car, I only have just one connector, which is for the pump. Why? I don't know. All I can speculate is that my Maxima was one of the earliest productions (manufactured in October 1999), so maybe they forgot to install it on the earliest production of the 5th gen Maximas. We can only speculate. Undeterred, I searched AlldataDIY, and found the following wire diagrams:
So, here's where I've hit a brick wall. I cannot figure out where Wire E42 goes to. I am sure it's just a matter of splicing in a new connector, but I need to know where the other end connects to. If anyone has any input on this, it would be much appreciated. Here's where I'm at now:
After searching further on AllData, I found this diagram regarding the circuit from the Washer light on the instrument cluster:
So, it looks like the connection is a power wire that does directly from the instrument cluster to the sensor itself. No solid-state device in between (unlike the door light, for example, which is triggered by the Smart Entrance Control Unit). The other wire is just a path to ground. Fairly simple circuit. Now I need to find out which wire is supposed to go from the dash to the sensor. If it's already there, then maybe the factory cut the wire somewhere along the way, but that's just my guess.
The diagram above not specify what color the wire is, but in the Hayne's Manual (based on the '03 model) says it is Purple/White: (Other diagrams have contracted this. Either they used a different wire on the '03 model compared to the '00 model, or the Hayne's manual was inaccurate).
I checked the back of my instrument cluster, and I *think* I found the purple/white wire it is referring to, although I am not certain:
I don't even know where to begin with this. I've hit a brick wall. Any help or input would be appreciated.
I will preface this by saying that I would have liked to connect this in further down the wire than behind the dashboard, but after countless exhaustive hours for searching for the purple wire in question, I have concluded that it does not exist in the vehicle's engine bay wiring harness. Therefore, I had to splice it in to the purple wire behind the instrument cluster.
First, since the car was missing the connector to plug into the Washer Fluid Level Sensor, I had to buy one. I got this on eBay for about $15. Supposedly it came from a junkyard Infiniti I-30, but it looked brand new. It's a pretty generic Nissan connector.
Next, I spliced in a black ground wire and grounded the connection to a metal bolt holding in the washer fluid reservoir. Then came the tricky part. I ran a power wire parallel to the engine bay harness, all the way through the firewall and into the passenger cabin. I really did not want to do that, but that seems to be the only way. I then spliced it into the connector shown here:
And that's really all there is to it. Once the fluid gets low, the sensor will drop and complete the circuit, causing the light to turn on. I know this seems like a heck of a lot of work to do just for a simple dash light, but I have been determined to do this for a long time. I just wish it could have been easier. Hopefully your car comes with the complete wiring harness and this is not necessary for you. But, if it is, now you know what to do.
Last edited by gavin68; Mar 20, 2021 at 05:49 PM.
Reason: Resolved
Yeah that's easy. Download the FSM and check out the applicable electrical diagram in the EL section. The full routing, color coding, connector transitions, etc. are all detailed in the FSM.
Thank you User1 . It looks like the FSM you linked to provides a service manual for the European version of the 5th gen Maxima. I'll see what I can find out from it.
Alright I found something that might be useful, based on the link User1 provided. Some of the wiring diagrams for the European (EU) version of the 5th Gen were actually a little more detailed than in the US version. Specifically, this wiring diagram for part of the dashboard:
This is different than the wiring diagram above from the USA version, which shows a direct wire from the dashboard to the Sensor. It looks like the sensor wire goes through "*1" (not sure what that is), but I did find that the M15 refers to a connector that plugs into the Super Multiple Junction (SMJ), and E81 refers to the wiring harness that goes from the SMJ into the engine bay.
I guess from here I could either 1.) splice into the purple wire from some point at or beyond the E81 connector, or 2.) try to find the purple wire somewhere along the wiring harness in the engine bay. I'm just posting this to retain my notes for when I feel like going outside and taking another crack at this.
I had to pause this project because of the [relatively] extreme cold snap we had here in Texas recently. But, with the weather getting back to normal, I should be able to finish this project (and this thread) sometime this week.
Where are you seeing EU literature? The link i sent you hosts USDM service manuals.
I clicked on '2000 Nissan Maxima'. It's hard to tell the difference because they are very similar. Most notable differences are the exterior diagrams. They have different front bumpers, headlights, etc. They also have other features, like headlight washers and other electronics. They might also use a different engine (not too sure). But, they're probably about 90% the same on the inside.
It's fine, though. Thanks to that resource, you got me going in the right direction now. I'll post an update once I can find time to get out there and take a closer look at the wiring.
Last edited by gavin68; Mar 20, 2021 at 05:37 PM.
Reason: Pics Way Too Big
I have confirmed that the purple wire (Referenced above) is, in fact, for the washer fluid reservoir. I stuck a probing pin in it, connected a wire to a bare piece of metal (effectively completing the circuit) and voilà! The light came on for the first time in 21 years.
I think I have also located the purple wire in the engine bay harness as well. I'm going to check it out later today to see if its the same one. I'm getting closer to getting this solved. Will post a final update soon once I have it 100% functional.
So, evidentially something is wrong. I have no idea why my Maxima does not have the fluid sensor connector. Before anyone tells me that I need to "look harder", I checked to see where the missing connector is supposed to come from. The best view I could find is from the above-mentioned 1AAuto video:
Here's where I'm at now:
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