Head screen / headlight washer fluid

[TTDegs]

Just to share


Over on my previous online home, discussions went on long into the night about the 'correct' screen wash to use.

Basically this boiled down to the headlight washers (which is why I've posted in this section ), and general agreement was that certain 'cheepo off the shelf' washer fluids could eventually gunk up the nozzles.

No scientific definate proof of this, but it boiled down to paying an extra 50p for a bottle of Audi stuff, so wasn't worth taking the risk.

Just incase anyone is running low

[Hartside]

I have used Holts screenwash for years in my cars trouble free. I get it at Makro for about £2.99 for a gallon. It the dilutes down to how you want to use it. Great value for money, really brings out the Scotsman in me

[Ancient Nerd]

And even if the nozzles do gunk up, its nothing that can't be fixed in a few seconds with some fuse wire.

[CivPilot]

You got proof of this?

In all the years i've owned and driven cars I've never had a set of washer nozzles "gunk up" and I don't automatically buy the most expensive brand of washer fluid. I buy the one that works best (Used to use a German one that smelled of Oranges and had a weird 2 stage bottle but havent been able to get it for a while )

Your 50p extra a bottle of Audi stuff? The 50p extra a bottle is for the badge on the bottle. Merc, Porsche, Ferrari etc all do the same thing and I know for a fact that the stuff is bought in from the lowest bidder and that supply often changes depending on how long contracts run for. Not saying its rubbish, but its no better than stuff you would find in Halfords, beleiving otherwise is blinkered.


Ps. A certain popular car polish range is also "bought in and repackaged" and they changed their suppliers a few years back. No change in prices or labeling though

[basegreen]

Originally Posted by CivPilot

You got proof of this?

In all the years i've owned and driven cars I've never had a set of washer nozzles "gunk up" and I don't automatically buy the most expensive brand of washer fluid. I buy the one that works best (Used to use a German one that smelled of Oranges and had a weird 2 stage bottle but havent been able to get it for a while )

Your 50p extra a bottle of Audi stuff? The 50p extra a bottle is for the badge on the bottle. Merc, Porsche, Ferrari etc all do the same thing and I know for a fact that the stuff is bought in from the lowest bidder and that supply often changes depending on how long contracts run for. Not saying its rubbish, but its no better than stuff you would find in Halfords, beleiving otherwise is blinkered.


Ps. A certain popular car polish range is also "bought in and repackaged" and they changed their suppliers a few years back. No change in prices or labeling though

Do elaborate..

[Trekker308]

Yes! Please do...

[johnd]

I know that the Zymol range in halfords is just repackaged Turtle Wax products, and i think that the Car Plan range is made by Turtle Wax, as they both have the same hazard data sheets.

[TTDegs]

Originally Posted by CivPilot

You got proof of this?

In all the years i've owned and driven cars I've never had a set of washer nozzles "gunk up" and I don't automatically buy the most expensive brand of washer fluid. I buy the one that works best (Used to use a German one that smelled of Oranges and had a weird 2 stage bottle but havent been able to get it for a while )

Your 50p extra a bottle of Audi stuff? The 50p extra a bottle is for the badge on the bottle. Merc, Porsche, Ferrari etc all do the same thing and I know for a fact that the stuff is bought in from the lowest bidder and that supply often changes depending on how long contracts run for. Not saying its rubbish, but its no better than stuff you would find in Halfords, beleiving otherwise is blinkered.


Ps. A certain popular car polish range is also "bought in and repackaged" and they changed their suppliers a few years back. No change in prices or labeling though

real scientific proof? No.

Anecdotal proof? Yes (ish)

Of all the people who had problems with their headlight washers stopping working, the majority had used non-Audi washer fluid.

Not all - but most.

That said, there were also a lot of people using non-Audi stuff that had had no problems at all.

Please note that this applied to headlight washers, not windscreen washers.
Don't know if this was because the nozzles were smaller or something, or used less often (they only spray when the lights are on)


Pays yer money, and takes yer choice


for me, the small amount extra Audi were charging over and above what I would normally use was worth paying for piece of mind

I haven't looked at Honda prices yet though

[richierich]

Where they heated headlamp washers, could it have been scale? Maybe some screenwash has softeners in it too.

[Bungle]

I have a few times needed to sticj pins/fuse wires into nozzles in the past after they close up. In my cases, it was always due to lime scale build up at the nozzle opening. We have very hard water here.

[TTDegs]

Originally Posted by richierich

Where they heated headlamp washers, could it have been scale? Maybe some screenwash has softeners in it too.

to be completly honest, can't recall

I know that either the headlight or the screen washers were heated, but not which ones

Those with problems lived close to those without problems (bearing in mind we had 600+ OC members and something like 3,000+ registered users on the forum) - it could have been limescale.

heck it could have been anything

[MC Hammer]

I've never had any nozzle problems with 'cheap' screen wash or even fairy liquid (don't try it it smears the screen!).

It does pay to have good screen wash fluid as it shouldn't freeze and cleans the screen (and lights) better. As it has been said it's a matter of choice really but its more a performance issue than one that would cause a blockage.

[elfa7]

I use Halfords Ready Mix Summer Screenwash all the year round. No problems with it.