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EXPEDITION ONE WASHER RESEVOIR: Inst. w/pics

12K views 0 replies 1 participant last post by  Delta Kilo 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
To read the original full thread and post questions/comments on this topic, please go to http://www.fjcruiserforums.com/foru...n-one-windshield-washer-bottle-installed.html



Ok folks, here's what you've been waiting for. I received my Expedition One windshield washer bottle / reservoir today and wasted no time getting it installed. When I unpacked the carton, I realized that there were no instructions included so I called them up and learned that this is the only one that has shipped so far and that written instructions are forthcoming.

The following brief write-up assumes that you have already removed your factory washer bottle and that you have snaked the hoses back into the engine bay. It also assume that you have removed the OEM washer pumps from the factory bottle along with their wiring harness.

I have an Expedition One "Diamond" bumper on my 2010 Trail Teams, so I did all of the above a few weeks ago when I decided that it was better not to have a washer bottle than to drive around with the factory one exposed. In hindsight, better means "better looking" rather than really better. Not having your windshield washer available is a bit annoying given the propensity our FJ's have for collecting bugs.

But I digress. Here are the pictures and a quickie walk-through. Click the pictures for their super-high resolution versions.


First of all... why would you want to do this?

Starting with the 2010 model year, Toyota began using a different windshield washer fluid reservoir (washer bottle) on the FJ Cruiser. As you will see in the picture below, the washer bottle now hangs below the bumper on the passenger side. This presents a problem when you install most aftermarket bumpers as they do not cover this area, thereby leaving the reservoir exposed. An exposed reservoir is not only ugly it also is vulnerable to damage from impact of road debris, trail debris, rocks, animals, and low rider trucks.





Photos supplied by Bandi -- Thanks!





#1. Kit Contents



This is what comes in the kit. (1) Aluminum washer bottle, powder coated, with screw-on cap. (1) powder coated steel bracket. (2) retaining straps with rubber insulators. (1) parts kit including seven washers, three short bolts and two longer bolts, and two lock nuts.

I was initially struck by how thin the washer bottle's material is, but once you start handling it you realize that it really didn't need to be any thicker and that unless you just beat on it, the bottle is substantial enough to do the job. Additional thickness probably would have only added more weight and not yielded much more rigidity.


2. The Washer Bottle Cap




3. Washer Bottle Retaining Straps




4. Preparing the OEM pump assemblies

The first step is to remove the rubber gaskets from the pump motors so that you can insert the gaskets more easily into the aluminum bottle. Simply grab the pump assembly as show below and gently but firmly pull the gasket loose.






Once you have removed the gasket from the pump motor, use a little bit of dish soap on your finger to lubricate the outer channel around the circumference so that it will slide into the aluminum tank easier.




Then slowly work the gasket into the washer bottle's orifice. (heh)




Once you have done this, put a little more dish soap on your finger and lubricate the inner circumference of the gasket so that it will be easier to work the pump motor into it.




And finally, slowly but firmly push and twist the pump motor into the gasket. If it seems like it's taking too much pressure or is threatening to push the gasket through the opening into the bottle, stop and apply a little more dish soap then try again.




5. Route the wiring harness through the radiator support wall

Assuming that you disconnected the wiring harness from both the pump motors and from the main harness behind the bumper prior to starting this project, you now need to fish the pump-motor harness back through the radiator support wall and reconnect it to the main harness.

The pump-motor harness is essentially a Y-Shaped harness. On one end are two keyed connectors that go to their respective pump motors. On the other end is a larger connector that goes to the main harness behind the bumper on the passenger side.



I have indicated in the photo above which of the keyed connectors go to which pump. This will save you some trial and error later. ;)


There is an access hole in the radiator support wall that you will use to feed the large single connector back through to meet up with the main harness behind the bumper. This hole is beneath the grommet through which the marker light wiring harness passes. This hole is also where the washer hoses pass from the factory bottle, into the engine bay.




6. Mounting the bottle bracket.

The bracket included with the kit has three holes in it. You will line these three holes up with existing threaded holes in the FJ's engine bay as shown in the following photo. You will then use the three shorter bolts and three washers included with the kit to anchor it to these existing mount points.



Before you mount the bracket, however, it is a good idea to assemble the rear half of the bottle mounting straps while the bracket is on your work bench. Once you have the bracket bolted down, there is very little clearance between where these straps mount to the bracket, and the inner fender.

Expedition One recommends that you snug the lock-nut down but not tighten it so much that you cannot rotate the straps.




Once you have the rear half of the straps mounted and semi-tight, go ahead and mount the bracket to the engine bay.




7. Make the connections and install the bottle.

Now it's time to do battle. My recommendation here is to loosely set the bottle in place (more or less) and make up your electrical connections and attach the hoses to their respective pump motors, and THEN maneuver the bottle into the bracket and secure it with the straps.

The end product needs to look like this:




However it's a bit of a fight to get it there. Expedition One sends two longer shoulder bolts that are approximately 2-inches in length. One of these works fine for the rear half of the strap assembly. However I simply could not get enough slack in the straps with the bottle in place to make the second 2-inch bolt work for the front half of the straps.

So, I dug through my parts bins and found a 2.50" bolt of the same size and thread pitch and used that instead. I also added two more washers to each end of the bolt to shim it up and consume any slack that may have been left by me using a longer bolt.





By using the longer bolt up front on the straps, I was able to pinch the straps together by hand enough to get the longer bolt started and then wrench it down tight. I tried to use the shorter 2-inch bolt first but after fighting with it for a few minutes, decided it was either use a longer bolt or throw a wrench through a wall. :lol:

I used the longer bolt. :D




8. Final Product

And again, what it's supposed to look like when you're done. I could have cut and shortened the hoses a bit, but I've tried to keep everything on my FJ in such a way that I could revert it back to stock later if I had to. So in that spirit I just looped the slack hose out of the way where it can't do any harm.






Thanks to Expedition One for building these things so that we 2010+ year model owners can finally use aftermarket bumpers without the ugly washer bottle hanging out in the open, waiting to be bashed against things.

Thanks also to my wife for shooting pics while I was disassembling and reassembling things. It was her first outing with the DSLR camera and she did a great job (I think) despite the fact that I'm a very difficult director.


Enjoy!
 
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