Washer fluid snot?
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Laughing Gas
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 1,175
Likes: 9
From: So. Cal.
Washer fluid snot?
My windshield washer recently quit squirting fluid, even though the pump was running. When I pulled the tank out today, I found that the pump filter was plugged with a snotty substance. I drained and filtered all the fluid and found lots more snot.
Everything is back to normal now, but I'm puzzled about what this snot is and where it came from. I use the normal commercial blue washer fluid and have added some Rain-X concentrate. Has anyone else encountered this problem?
Everything is back to normal now, but I'm puzzled about what this snot is and where it came from. I use the normal commercial blue washer fluid and have added some Rain-X concentrate. Has anyone else encountered this problem?
Junior User
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 51
Likes: 0
From: Oswego, IL
Apparently there's some sort of reaction between the two fluids.
Don't mix different fluids, or you see what happens! Clean out the washer system and fill it with yellow Prestone De-Icer washer fluid. Yes, it costs around $3 a gallon... maybe more... but it doesn't gum up the system, and it clears away bugs, ice, and road slop more effectively than the blue stuff, and it works better at lower temperatures, too. If someone offers to "do you a favor" and top off your washer with blue stuff, break his fingers.
Once it gets to Springtime and warm weather, rinse out the washer system with plain water and work it enough to rinse out the washer hoses and nozzles. Fill the washer for summer with plain water with just a little bit of ammonia added.
You're welcome.
Cargo Master
Joined: Oct 2010
Posts: 2,762
Likes: 536
From: barton city mi
Do you change your own oil? I ask because my wife took her car to one of the "quicky/magic" places once, and they refilled the washer reservoir with coolant. Same thing happened to her, only it did get to the windshield, instant blindness. I would have killed them if it wasn't illegal. This was at -5 outside.
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Laughing Gas
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 1,175
Likes: 9
From: So. Cal.
The Prestone fluid you speak of isn't sold in sunny southern California. In fact, you have to search to even find an additive that will lower the freezing point of normal fluid. The marketers are living in some fantasy world where the temperatures never fall below freezing.
Regarding the possibility of someone else adding something to the reservoir, I do my own maintenance.
Elder User
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 681
Likes: 0
From: SE Michigan
Reddog 99. I found some of the Rainx additive looked like a jel while on the store shelf and stayed away from it. I got some that looked like regular liquid and its been ok in my washer tank so far since December. It's been down into the single digits a few times since then too.
5th Wheeling
Joined: Feb 2013
Posts: 47
Likes: 0
From: Roll Tide HQ
The rain x stuff will gel up and cause issues. BTDT.
As a flush (during warm weather) you can wait until the reservoir is nearly empty and then pour in a mix of a quarter-cup of white vinegar with a quart of water.
Then run the washer enough to get the mix all the way into the system and let it set a while, then run it some more to push the crud on through. When the vinegar mix is nearly gone fill the reservoir about half full with water and work it through the system over a couple of days to finish flushing out the residue.
After that refill with your bug juice of choice. I usually stick with the basic cold temp fluid (cheaper), but have caught the Prestone on sale once in a while and used it.
Finally, do not, that is DO NOT dump an eighth-cup of Dawn dish-washing detergent into the reservoir as a bug cutter unless you want to scatter bubbles for 100 yards behind you on the interstate for a month of daily commutes. Don't worry about how I know that, just trust me...
As a flush (during warm weather) you can wait until the reservoir is nearly empty and then pour in a mix of a quarter-cup of white vinegar with a quart of water.
Then run the washer enough to get the mix all the way into the system and let it set a while, then run it some more to push the crud on through. When the vinegar mix is nearly gone fill the reservoir about half full with water and work it through the system over a couple of days to finish flushing out the residue.
After that refill with your bug juice of choice. I usually stick with the basic cold temp fluid (cheaper), but have caught the Prestone on sale once in a while and used it.
Finally, do not, that is DO NOT dump an eighth-cup of Dawn dish-washing detergent into the reservoir as a bug cutter unless you want to scatter bubbles for 100 yards behind you on the interstate for a month of daily commutes. Don't worry about how I know that, just trust me...
Postmaster
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 3,940
Likes: 8
From: Southern Oregon Coast
Finally, do not, that is DO NOT dump an eighth-cup of Dawn dish-washing detergent into the reservoir as a bug cutter unless you want to scatter bubbles for 100 yards behind you on the interstate for a month of daily commutes. Don't worry about how I know that, just trust me...
LOL... That's some funny stuff right there...
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Laughing Gas
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 1,175
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From: So. Cal.
Gosh, what a party pooper. You don't like bubbles? 
Actually, putting the detergent in the water sounds like a reasonable idea. I wonder if there is a mixture that would work. Premixing would be advised...
Bubbles aside, did it clean the windshield?
Actually, putting the detergent in the water sounds like a reasonable idea. I wonder if there is a mixture that would work. Premixing would be advised...
Bubbles aside, did it clean the windshield?
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New User
Joined: Jul 2010
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From: Nova Scotia
WWAF plus dish detergent
Hi all:
I actually do this (in the summer) with my work truck. It's a GMC Topkick 5500 with a 40 ft boom. I work for a cable TV company, the bucket gets a lot of use. At rest, the knuckle end of the boom hangs over the windshield, directly over where the the driver looks out.
Inevitably, some road crud/bugs/hyd oil/paint molecules from the paint used on the boom, etc, gets on the windshield. I've tried every detergent/window cleaner/chemical I can find to keep it clean, the best mix I've found is about a cup of "pickling vinegar" (for making dill pickles) with about 3 or 4 oz of dish detergent, poured into the 1L (about a US qt) WW tank, then filled with whatever brand of WW you use.
Yes it makes some foam, but the combination of the acetic acid and the soap cut through the film like nothing else I've tried, including ammonia.
Don't use this if the temp will go below freezing before you completely empty the tank and refill with proper WWAF, since pickling vinegar is 7% acetic acid, the rest is water.
Andy
I actually do this (in the summer) with my work truck. It's a GMC Topkick 5500 with a 40 ft boom. I work for a cable TV company, the bucket gets a lot of use. At rest, the knuckle end of the boom hangs over the windshield, directly over where the the driver looks out.
Inevitably, some road crud/bugs/hyd oil/paint molecules from the paint used on the boom, etc, gets on the windshield. I've tried every detergent/window cleaner/chemical I can find to keep it clean, the best mix I've found is about a cup of "pickling vinegar" (for making dill pickles) with about 3 or 4 oz of dish detergent, poured into the 1L (about a US qt) WW tank, then filled with whatever brand of WW you use.
Yes it makes some foam, but the combination of the acetic acid and the soap cut through the film like nothing else I've tried, including ammonia.
Don't use this if the temp will go below freezing before you completely empty the tank and refill with proper WWAF, since pickling vinegar is 7% acetic acid, the rest is water.
Andy
5th Wheeling
Joined: Feb 2013
Posts: 47
Likes: 0
From: Roll Tide HQ
After I got the mix thinned a bit by adding additional water it was not so bad, but initially it was pretty funny.
Last edited by basketcase; Feb 24, 2013 at 09:43 PM. Reason: grammer & speelin'
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