Low Windshield Washer Light Inoperative On 2000 Corolla Le? - Toyota Corolla, Chevy Prizm (1998-2008)

Hi, all: default_smile

I recently ran out of washer fluid on my 2000 Corolla LE and obviously, I solved the "problem" by refilling the rather large bottle, which was virtually bone dry. (By the way, why do they make the darn bottle such a size that it ALMOST uses up an entire gallon of washer fluid, but, not quite????)

Anyway, I was looking through my owner's manual the other day and I noticed that there was a low washer fluid light on the dashboard. I have NEVER seen this warning light go on even one time! Now, my Corolla is a 2000 and my owner's manual is for a 2001 Corolla, so I just assumed that this option wasn't available on 2000 models. So, I downloaded a PDF version of a 2000 Corolla owner's manual from the internet and I found out that they did, in fact, have a low washer level light as well..

So, I guess my question would be, how can I find out if I have this option on my Corolla? My Corolla is a rather nicely optioned LE model, so, if it was an option, I would think that my car would be equipped with it. I'm figuring that the light is simply burnt out. There is some kind of electrical plug that goes into the washer bottle. Is that for the washer pump, or could it be for a sensor for the warning light?

Anyway, any insight or advice would be greatly appreciated!!!!

Thanks,

timkedz.

1,424 posts

That light was on the Canadian spec cars only.

Toyota did not do a good job at making that distinction.

This is why your light never lit up.

A-HA! That would explain it!

Interestingly enough, the manual DOES say for U.S spec. autos, but, the car itself was manufactured in Canada, thus adding to the confusion!!!

It's not a really big deal, but, it would have been cool to have this option!!!

Thanks, 99Contour, for your quick response!!!!!

1,424 posts

A-HA! That would explain it!
Interestingly enough, the manual DOES say for U.S spec. autos, but, the car itself was manufactured in Canada, thus adding to the confusion!!!
It's not a really big deal, but, it would have been cool to have this option!!!
Thanks, 99Contour, for your quick response!!!!!

No problem.

What I have found with manuals is that they are usually not well written and often contain small mistakes.

Last week my tire pressure monitoring system gave me an alert that my tires were low. It is supposed to go off when the tires go below 22 psi, so I got out and checked their pressures. The pressures were all 27 psi, which is only 2 psi below the recommended 29 psi. However, I remembered that I had inadvertently reset the tire pressure monitoring system to take 32 psi as the pressure the tires should be at earlier in the summer.

Anyway, I knew that the tires were only low because of the cold that night, but I didn't want to drive around with the light on, so I wanted to reset the system to take 27 psi as the pressure the tires should be. So I got out my manual and followed the procedure outlined for this task. It didn't work, and mind you I'm 4 weeks away from having a mechanical engineering degree, so I'm pretty capable with this type of thing. So I tried it again and it still didn't work. 30 minutes later I did what I thought the manual meant and not what it said, and viola, the light went away.

I don't know what happened there, but the way the procedure was worded sounded like it was written in Japanese and translated into French and then into English by someone who spoke French as a first language and English as a second language.

Manuals are often poorly written if you evaluate them by the principles of instruction writing that I was taught in technical writing, and that is probably why your average owner never opens the thing: they can't understand it!

A-HA! That would explain it!
Interestingly enough, the manual DOES say for U.S spec. autos, but, the car itself was manufactured in Canada, thus adding to the confusion!!!
It's not a really big deal, but, it would have been cool to have this option!!!
Thanks, 99Contour, for your quick response!!!!!
No problem.
What I have found with manuals is that they are usually not well written and often contain small mistakes.
Last week my tire pressure monitoring system gave me an alert that my tires were low. It is supposed to go off when the tires go below 22 psi, so I got out and checked their pressures. The pressures were all 27 psi, which is only 2 psi below the recommended 29 psi. However, I remembered that I had inadvertently reset the tire pressure monitoring system to take 32 psi as the pressure the tires should be at earlier in the summer.
Anyway, I knew that the tires were only low because of the cold that night, but I didn't want to drive around with the light on, so I wanted to reset the system to take 27 psi as the pressure the tires should be. So I got out my manual and followed the procedure outlined for this task. It didn't work, and mind you I'm 4 weeks away from having a mechanical engineering degree, so I'm pretty capable with this type of thing. So I tried it again and it still didn't work. 30 minutes later I did what I thought the manual meant and not what it said, and viola, the light went away.
I don't know what happened there, but the way the procedure was worded sounded like it was written in Japanese and translated into French and then into English by someone who spoke French as a first language and English as a second language.
Manuals are often poorly written if you evaluate them by the principles of instruction writing that I was taught in technical writing, and that is probably why your average owner never opens the thing: they can't understand it!

So true, even controls.

My 2003 CE had the word "timer" under the dash dimmer switch indicating that the dome light was timer controlled and would turn off a bit after the door was closed.

Not true. The CE had no timer, but Toyota forgot to use a different switch label. My 2008 CE has no such label.

Even the dealer wasn't sure. I had to call Toyota HQ.

thats nothing, my 93 prizm manual says i need 91 octane fuel (91 PON is 87 RON for those who dont know) and has the pictures of the 1.6 and 1.8 engine bays flip flopped as well as a host of other very misleading typos like the 1.6 fluid specs labeled for the 1.8 and vice versa.

Agreed, why didn't toyota just make the container 2 cups bigger?

That would be sooooo much easier.

Even the factory service manual is equally bad. Typos everywhere, and there're even conflicing information on if one of the subframe bolts is really not reusable. I guess we just chalk these up as extremely poor proofreading.

oh the Chevy manual is flippin awesome, i've yet to find any kind of mistake or typo.