Washer Fluid Sensor Fix

[Demolician]

I have a 2001 1.8T, Q with Tip and I finally got sick of having the washer fluid light stay on my dash when I didn’t have a chance to fill it. This is a special pain when it’s snowing constantly in the winter and you use a pint of the stuff a day. I took off the front driver’s wheel and then removed the fender liner. The reservoir is right against the fender and the bumper with the washer fluid sensor being on the upper right. I unplugged the sensor from the reservoir and tested it’s resistance while dunked into a bowl of washer fluid. The reading moved from .5 M Ohms to about 8 M Ohms, that’s when I stopped testing it. Since the plug that connects to the sensor only has 2 wires, I figured that putting the correct size resister across the terminals on the connector should fix the problem. After trying 2 different sizes I found that around a 20 K Ohm resisters works. I crimped on a spade connector to each lead of the resistor after trimming down one side so that it would fit into the connector snuggly, and then covered the connector with Electrical tape. I then zip tied the connector to another wire near the reservoir to keep it from moving around. Reinstalled the fender well trim and bolted on the wheel and lowered the car. Started the car up and put it into reverse and Voila, no light any more. The only “Problem” is that I will have to actually fill the reservoir when I change the oil. I think I can live with that.