Monday, January 5, 2015

Early Bay Windshield Washer mod (part 2)

Continuing from the last post, I'm assuming you have the parts in hand.  Looking at the project, we have some larger logistics to figure out, and then some smaller detail construction. Again, all bus content this time, like last time. I'm going to just focus on the water part of the washer in this posting. Next time, I'll tackle the switch fabrication stuff.

Pump Location
pump mount strap
RAtwell suggests placing the pump below the tank so it doesn't run dry. I totally agree, though finding a spot you can get to for maintenance can be tricky. I placed my pump below the driver's side "floor" heat duct. To mount it, I got plastic pipe support strapping from Home Depot for about $3. The geniuses at the HomeDepot website don't list it, so I've linked it at a different supplier here. I pop-riveted a loop around the pump leaving a 3" tail. In the lip along the floor, there are pre-existing holes. I simply slipped a Phillips head screw through the hole and tightened it into the plastic tail. Easy peasy.

Running Lines
I don't have the benefit of having the old rubber hoses to show me where the replacements go (or even how long they are). For everyone else, since we placed the pump where we did, the rubber lines will move a little bit. I ran my line from the pump behind the air vent and then behind the radio slot. Since one of the benefits of this modification is to remove the risk of washer juice spraying into the electricals behind the dash, moving the pump-line-to-the-2-nozzle-lines junction ("Y") as far away as possible seemed prudent.

Old Nozzles Out
Pop out the nozzles and pop the new ones in. After wrestling with the passenger-side one, I found that you can rotate the nozzles from the outside 90* and it could pop right out. The driver-side one popped that way. Good thing too; accessing the nozzle from the cab-side is blocked by the dashboard and then the wiper mechanics. The passenger-side nozzle can be reached from behind the glovebox. I squeezed the tabs with a pair of needle-nose pliers and got it to slide out that way.
The new nozzles pop right in, but don't do it yet.

New Lines In
RAtwell, you're still amazing
Cut equal lengths of rubber hose for each nozzle-line, press them into the arms of the "Y" junction. I think mine were about 2 feet long. Run the nozzle lines through the retaining clips near the nozzle mounts and then feed the lines out through the holes the nozzles set into. Now you can press the nozzle hoses into the nozzles, and then pop the nozzles into the holes. You'll have to adjust the direction of the jets, but that needs to wait until later.
The last line to fit together is the pump output line. It simply presses into the base of the "Y" junction. Now, you should have the water system completed. It consists of an air line from the tank up behind the glove box, the water bottle, a hose (less than a foot) from the tank to the pump, the pump, a hose from the pump to the junction, the "Y" junction, 2 nozzle-hoses that run from the junction to the nozzles and finally 2 nozzles.

That's it for today. Next time, I'll get after the modifications to the early bay wiper switch to power the pump.

No comments: