How to Replace Washer Fluid Level Sensor 2005-16 Toyota RAV4

Hi, I'm Geoff from 1A Auto. Today, I'm going to show you how to remove and replace the washer fluid level sensor on this 2010 Toyota RAV4. If you need this or any other parts for your vehicle or other tools that you need to get your job done, just check us out at 1aauto.com.

We're going to get started by taking off this panel right here. We're just going to get in and these ones come out. You just push down the center and then you can pry it up like that. That one is already done. Like that. Push, there you go. There's that one. You can go ahead and do the same with the rest of them. Then, you can go ahead and this just lifts. Slide it back and out.

Now, we're going to go ahead and take off the bumper and we're going to start along the top here. There's a couple of these push clips and then two Phillips screws. To get these push clips off, you just get in under with a screwdriver, pull up the top, and then it pulls right out. You can go ahead and do that for these other ones, and then while we're right here, we'll get this Phillips. These screws ended up being a little rusty and they're kind of stuck, so we're just going to get a little bit of rust penetrant in here. We'll give that a second to soak in.

Now that we've given that a minute for the rust to break free, we can go ahead. We got that one out, and then we can go ahead and get this other one on the other side. Then, right here, this is actually one of those pop clips, too. We just need to pry up the top of it and then it comes out. Right here, we have another clip that attaches this liner to the bumper. All you need to do is turn it a quarter turn and then it will just pry right out, just like that.

Then, after you take this clip out, this just separates away and you can see hiding behind right here we have another 10mm screw that secures the bumper to the fender. You can go ahead and do the same thing on the other side. Now, we're going to take a look underneath. We've got a bunch of things that we need to remove to separate the bottom of the bumper. We've got some more of these clips and then we've got a couple of screws that are either 10mm or Phillips, so we've got here, here, here, which we are missing, here, and then here and here.

Just like the other ones, we're just going to pop out the top. These ones are down on the bottom, so of course, they've filled up with all kinds of sand and road junk over the years, so these are not coming out very easily. There we go. If you wind up breaking any of these plastic pieces, we sell an entire kit of Toyota fasteners on 1aauto.com. Now, let's go ahead and we'll get off these 10mm screws. One there, there would be one there and there and there. We're going to skip to right here, and this one right here.

Now that we've got all of the fasteners off, all we have to do is get a good grip, and rip. Look at that, I got it all in one go. We're going to go ahead and remove the pumps. There's actually two pumps for this reservoir, one here and one behind it. Ideally, you do this while the reservoir is empty. We're going to have to drain out all of this fluid, so I've got a bucket underneath. I'm going to pull this pump out. It just pulls straight back, and then we'll let it drain out. If you need to, you can grab a flat blade screwdriver just to give yourself a little extra prying force. Just be careful of the gasket right here. We don't want to break that because then it might end up leaking later on.

There we go. Then, right here above the pump we've got a level sensor that we also need to get out, so we're just going to get in here with our flat blade screwdriver. There's a little tab on the bottom of it. Just pry, and it comes right out, and then we can just go ahead. Give it a little pinch, it comes right out of the electrical connector.

We can go ahead and reconnect the washer fluid level sensor. All we have to do is push on the connector till it clicks. We're going to come around the back here. We're going to put our pumps and the level sensor back in. To get this back in, we're actually going to take the gasket off first. There's the gasket. We're going to take a look at it real quick. Look for cracks or dry rot, anything like that. If it's still not nice and rubbery, then you're going to want to replace this to prevent leaking from the tank. Then, we'll just go ahead and you can can fit the gasket right into the opening on the reservoir, and then you can take the pump and just give it a nice firm shove right into the gasket. You can see how there's a plastic rim on the pump. You want the gasket right up against that rim to make sure it's seeded all the way, and then you'll be able to do the same thing with the other pump right here.

We're going to go ahead and put the level sensor back in. If the gasket came out with the sensor, just go ahead and pull it right off. Take a look at it, make sure there's no cracks or it's getting dry or anything. This is what is keeping the fluid from leaking out, so if this is cracked or damaged in any way, then you're going to want to replace it.

I'm just putting the gasket into the opening first. Now that we've got the gasket back in the reservoir, we're going to go ahead and just push the sensor right in. You want to make sure that you've got it facing the right direction, otherwise when the tank is full it's going to say it's empty. There's a nice flat piece on the bottom here. You just want that to be straight down.

Here's our bumper. We're just going to set it in place right here to start with. I'm going to take my two screws to hold it in place while I work on the rest of the stuff. I'm just going to put them in loosely now. We'll come back and tighten them down at the end. Now that we've got it secured up top, we can go ahead and start putting it back in place over here. We've got some tabs on the back of the bumper here that just kind of rest underneath the headlines, and then we've got these tabs. They're going to lock in right here, so make sure you get these ones right under the headlight, and then these ones will press right in. Then, you can go ahead and do the same thing on the other side.

We're going to go ahead and take this 10mm screw that holds the bumper onto the fender, and we're just going to get it started here. We're just going to tighten that until it's snug. It doesn't need to be too, too tight, just enough to hold on. Now that we've got that screw taken care of up there, we can take the rest of this panel, slide it in behind the bumper. Get this piece tucked into this bracket right here. That piece fits in like that.

We take this pin, it's got the little wings on it, they line up with the slot in this bracket here. When everything is lined up, you can push it right in, like that, and then to secure it in place you can take a flat blade screwdriver or something similar and just give it a little turn. Now, it's locked in. Then, you can go ahead and do the same thing on the other side.

Now that we're down here, we've got some screws and some clips that we need to put in. We'll start with the screws. We're going to want one going here and here. We were missing a few, but if you still have them, you're going to want them all along here. We'll start down on this end.

We've got our screws in. Now, we've just got one of these clips. That goes in on this side. Push it in to lock it, and then another one on the other side. Now that we've got everything on the sides and underneath finished, we can come back up here to finish up the top. We're going to tighten down these screws, and then we've got three more clips to put in right here. We have our clips that we're going to put back. This one in the middle has a bumper on the top of it, so we're going to start with that one. We'll just slide it right in and push down to lock it, and then you can do the same thing with the other two.

Then, we can go ahead and finish tightening down these screws. Now, we can go ahead and put this trim piece back. It just sets in like that, and then we're going to secure it with a whole bunch of the clips with the center button. We'll start down on this end. Just push it in. Push down the button.

Now, we're going to go ahead and refill the washer fluid reservoir. Right here is our cap. Washer fluid only. Here, I'll open it up.

Thanks for watching. Visit 1aauto.com for quality auto parts shipped to your door. The place for DIY auto repair, and if you enjoyed this video, please click the subscribe button.