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Calling all electrical wizards to help with my TMIC Sprayer


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Well ok, maybe thats a bit heavy handed, but when it comes to anything electrical I'm a total neophyte and think I'm going to blow and/or fry something up due to my complete lack of basic knowledge in this area.

 

So here is what I'm doing. I pulled my window washer reservoir out of the track car many moons ago as it was interfering with my brake duct project. Luckily I haven't really had the need for it on track so it hasn't been a big deal. I did however leave all my lines and the two electrical plugs, (front/rear pump) in when I pulled it out. I'm installing a smaller window washer reservoir from Vibrant Performance back into the car. It will be located in basically the same spot as the stock one but won't go nearly as deep down into the fender well. The Vibrant set up comes with a very simple plug; two wires, (one black one red) and a button install in the cabin. I don't want to go this route, I want to hook this up to the electrical from my rear window washer button which is located on the right hand steering column stalk. This way I don't have to take my hand off the wheel to push a button while driving on track. Essentially any time I'm going down a straight and not turning the wheel, (or baking in my car in pre-grid waiting to get on track, etc), I can use my finger to actuate it.

 

On my OEM plug, I see that there are two wires going into it as well, a white/brown one and a yellow/green one. Can anyone tell me which if these two could go to which of the black and red wires on Vibrant plug to make this work properly? Could I just trial and error it without wrecking something?, (see, told you I was scared!) Assuming once I know that answer its pretty straightforward from there. Also any suggestions on what I should use to splice them together? Gotta think that wire nuts are a bad idea long term :)

 

Once thats all sussed out I'll run a new hose from the Vibrant reservoir up to my Grimmspeed TMIC splitter and mount the spray nozzles there. I ordered up some OEM STI TMIC nozzles as I assume Subaru figured out what works for spray pattern.

 

Any electro wizards out there car to let me see behind the velvet curtain? I know, this is pretty basic stuff, I'm just clueless with when it comes to electrical stuff...

1983738944_washerplug.thumb.jpg.7780792ef05b0a0ab6f116bb043a41c4.jpg

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I'm sure there is a wiring diagram somewhere but you should be able to figure this out pretty quickly with a multi-meter. just connect to the two terminals and press the rear washer button until you get a +12V or so on the meter. If it reads -12v the polarity is reverse. No voltage means its the front washer plug.

 

As for how to connect them. Cleanest would be to find a matching factory plug and solder that to your new water pump so you could revert later and your harness isn't messed with. Although you could get an aftermarket plug with both male and female and replace both.

 

These guys probably have what you need for a plug:

https://www.iwireservices.com/2-pin-plugs

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Oh man now I need to buy a multi meter, this is getting serious! :) Definitely won't be reverting back so I'm not to worried about finding an OEM style plug. I did find some connectors in my garage that look like you feed up to 3 wires into a central little junction circle and then you push down on a button that looks like it squishes down onto the leads, (looks like there is some sort of gel inside that squishes down too? ) Edited by shralp
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fsm has complete wiring diagram too. even tells you the color of the wires.

 

utc_pyro, underdog, pik1111, etc all have done this mod. I think strizzy had it tied to a thermostat so it came automatically.

 

5th gen - https://legacygt.com/forums/showpost.php?p=5994331&postcount=59

4th gen with wiring diagram - https://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/schematic-reading-help-please-281142.html?p=5933269&highlight=intercooler+sprayer#post5933269

4th gen very involved thread- https://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/tmic-fan-controller-setup-252877.html?highlight=intercooler+sprayer

another 4th gen using a kit - https://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/need-help-wagon-owners-intelligent-intercooler-sprayer-99906.html?t=99906

Edited by boxkita
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fsm has complete wiring diagram too. even tells you the color of the wires.

 

utc_pyro, underdog, pik1111, etc all have done this mod. I think strizzy had it tied to a thermostat so it came automatically.

 

5th gen - https://legacygt.com/forums/showpost.php?p=5994331&postcount=59

4th gen with wiring diagram - https://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/schematic-reading-help-please-281142.html?p=5933269&highlight=intercooler+sprayer#post5933269

4th gen very involved thread- https://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/tmic-fan-controller-setup-252877.html?highlight=intercooler+sprayer

 

Whoah that wiring diagram made my head hurt. Still hoping for someone to chime in with "yeah that green/yellow wire goes with the red wire and that white/brown one goes with the black wire" :)

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So are you going to wire it up? or just hoping to strip some wires and crush a waterproof shrink connector?

 

the fsm will have colors. if you don't get a response by Monday, I'll look at prodemand (fsm for every vehicle everywhere)

 

Yup since the plug that came with the Vibrant Reservoir is completely different than the OEM plug, seems to me that it makes the most sense to strip and join the OEM wires to the black and red wires coming out of the Vibrant plug using some sort of weather proof connector. This isn't tossed around and yanked on at all once its in place so that should be sufficient.

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red & black? is one ground and one 12v?

 

The steering wheel stalk likely goes into the biu, so will be control & ground. Is there a reason to not add a button on the steering wheel spoke? Thumb push when intercooler gets hot? Which implies you know that temp via gauge or idiot light? Which begs the question why not make it temp based trigger? I know its more wiring work, but internet has resources and getting an ardiuno solution made should be cheap

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A test light from HF is very cheap. I can't help as far as which wire is which but a test light will give you the answer. Buy the one that hooks up to power and ground so you can check for both without having to switch the alligator clip from one terminal to the other.
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Here is a pic of the Vibrant reservoir and plug. So yup basically a red wire and a black wire, (so a hot and a ground?). I assume that its as easy as one of these going to the OEM yellow/green wire and one of these going to the white/brown wire?

1225794291_vibrantres.thumb.jpg.32dc62bfd1a234003c07f20974c85c99.jpg

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According to the fsm, brown/white goes to the switch and yellow/green goes to fuse number 23. The grounding appears to be done through the switch.

 

So what does that mean in regards to which wire goes to which :)

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Just for reference, most (not all) but most automotive circuits are ground side switched.

Meaning when the load, in your case the pump is feed 12v whenever the car is running. The circuit is completed via the switch to ground.

 

Even the most complicated circuits can be broken down to simple components if you understand what you are looking at/for.

 

All circuits need:

- a power source, (battery)

- transmission method, (wiring, depending on the current it has to handle will determine how thick the wire needs to be)

- a load, this is what is doing work, (light bulb, pump, sensor etc.)

- circuit protection, (fuse or circuit breaker)

- control, what allows the thing to turn on and off

 

From there you can build your knowledge up, but the basics are always there.

 

Boxkita mentioned a thermostat, what the means is the circuit has effectively 2 switches, one that provides power. The second tells it to turn on, both need to be 'active' for the pump to work if either are not engaged then the pump will not run.

 

There is a ton of help here on the forum you just need to ask, but the deal is you need to do some learning on your own. Not everyone is inclined to just give you the answer you are looking for at the drop of a hat.

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If you could add some part numbers etc. I am interested in this for a non track application, I may be able to fit that bottle on the other side under intake. Trying to see how I could have both my regular sprayer plus ic sprayer. Is it a complete kit, does it come with a button? And the nozzles are from an sti? Sti's have ic sprayers? You lost me lol. Edited by Tehnation
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I am doing something similar, but I have a sedan so I grabbed a wagon bottle for cheap (has both pumps) and will be using that, a button and a digital timer board to run it 6-10 secs on press. Wiring is all there so all I had to do was grab the wire from the column. On suggestion from a few friends, picked up numerous misting nozzles to try out. If the misting nozzles don't pan out, will grab a couple of the sti nozzles. Quick questions,

1) Is that a GS splitter?

2) Did you have to use a check valve?

 

Looks good

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Will post complete later today but for now, yes it’s the GS splitter. The sti nozzles are what is used in their OEM TMIC system part # 86636FA120. No check valve needed as long as the nozzle is higher than the bottle, i.e.- it will leak if you try this on a FMIC without a check valve. For you sedan guys, I like the idea of using the wagon res since its set up for two hoses. Obviously, you don’t want to spray washer fluid on your TMIC so you’d be spraying straight water on your windshield to clean it. I’ll be running a 75/25 mix of distilled water and rubbing alcohol most likely. Edited by shralp
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Hey all, some info on my TMIC sprayer project here with details, info, and pics. This is installed into my track car but certainly could be modified somewhat to work with a daily driver. There are various washer reservoir bottles out there that pretty much all use the same simple 12v pump and switch so depending on your needs and application any of them should work.

 

For my purposes I chose the Vibrant Performance bottle, part #10400. It comes with traditional sprayer nozzles, a simple red button switch for your dash, and clear tubing to hook it up. It's 1.2L so not super big. My track sessions are 20-25 min. so I'll be able to refill it in the paddock between sessions. This one worked for me because I needed something that would not sit too low into the fender, for two reasons - the OEM washer bottle is huge and interfered with my brake duct hose, (I pulled the reservoir years ago when the ducts went in), and I needed the bottle to have a bit of space underneath it so I could have access to the silver dollar sized hole you see just to the right of my battery, (this is typically covered up by the OEM battery), this is where I drop in one of my quick install front splitter supports when I'm at the track so the bottle had to "float” a bit. To accomplish this, I fabbed up a bracket that allows it to sit where I wanted it. Once I got it in, I could see that it would not stand up to high G-loads so fabbed up a brace to ensure that it will stay put. Both pieces are sprayed with black Duplicolor Truck Bed Liner from Napa Auto.

 

Since I have a wagon, I decided to use the electrical plug for the rear washer line. I did this for one main reason; I don't want to take my hands off the wheel if I can help it on track. The spray actuator for the rear window is on the right hand steering column stalk so that will allow me to do that. Granted I'm not going to be using it when dicing it up in the corners, it will mainly be used in the straights when you have a chance to settle a bit, check your gauges, etc. For the washer line I'm using the OEM front washer as the line is already installed. There is a Y already there under your hood that splits off to the left and right washer nozzles so you can disconnect there to tap in and at that point put a T-Line in if you want to still use this for your windshield, (something I may do as I'm stoked that I get my windshield washer back!) If you want it switchable, a simple 1/4" barbed irrigation shut off valve from Home Depot will allow on/off flow.

 

For the Grimmspeed splitter, I mounted the STI nozzles, part # 86636FA120 by drilling a hole and then using a small Dremel cutting wheel to notch slits that would allow the nozzle to pop thru, (see nozzle pic, it basically needs to be a keyhole shape). This seemed to work best for the tools I had at hand. The slits that I cut were at a slight angle towards the center of the TMIC so that when the nozzle was installed it would index to slightly point in that center weighted direction. The pressure tabs in the nozzles didn't seem to beefy to me given this custom application, so I decided to JB Weld them in by creating a little swimming pool around the tab to keep the JB Weld from going everywhere, (I roll duct tape sticky side out around a pencil to create 4 tubes you can stick around the perimeter). The end result is a JB Weld "plug" that keeps the nozzle in place. After some initial tests I could see that the middle splitter vane was impeding the spray pattern of the nozzles since Grimmspeed has placed a down turn to better force air onto the leading half of the intercooler. I cut off that angled section as well as a bit farther back so the middle vane is now about 2 3/8" wide. I also noted that the middle vane isn't attached as well as I'd like and didn't want it to flutter under speed that would again, impede the spray pattern. To fix this you'll see that I fabbed up a small spacer bracket that is located between the splitter vanes to keep them in place and slightly deform it to allow a clean spray pattern. That spacer is riveted in. The main line off the T is kept in place with a cable loom keeper, (also from Home Depot in the electrical section) that is also riveted in.

 

Think that's about it. Overall, super happy with the results and the fact that it didn't cost me more than about $75 makes me even that much more pleased with the results. Some pics below, hope that answers any questions you guys may have :)

 

I'll put pics one post down, for some reason a window pops up saying I need some sort of security token?

Edited by shralp
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Splitter pics... Note in the action shot that water is dripping off the middle vane of the splitter. This was before I trimmed off the excess metal to allow for a better spray pattern. Ideally you would want the water droplets to remain as small as possible before coming into contact with the intercooler. A high pressure brass spray head that mists would be the perfect option but this requires a high pressure pump, more parts and a level of complexity that I'm not interested in diving into :)

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738360126_sprayersplitterinstalled.thumb.jpg.4499d2afd5dab92e4bcb0de39ebcb702.jpg

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247680577_intercoolersprayer.thumb.jpg.542a676b23cfaa967d423d52676c6a72.jpg

Edited by shralp
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Just be careful - windshield washer fluid shouldn't be used since it contains alcohol and it's flammable. It might result in a bad day for you if it would result in a fireball. At least for the winter mix we run around where I live, 30 to 50% alcohol and the rest water.

 

 

 

A separate canister with just water is better. And remove it when you don't need it.

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