Windscreen Washer Fluid Turned to Gel

skerry

Probably a simple solution to this but I've not had much luck finding it.

I bought a car last March (Passat CC) and one day when spraying windscreen with washers this gel like stuff started spraying out. I presumed at the time there was maybe a residue from previous fill up of fluid that settled when the reservoir got low, so I filled it up with new fluid but it keep spraying out the same thing.

Mostly liquid that comes out but it seems to dry onto the outer parts of the windshield leaving salty looking crap dried all over it. It's starting to pi$$ me off and makes it a complete waste of time getting the car washed until I get it sorted.

Any simple solution to get it sorted would be super. Not sure if I need to get it drained (if thats something I can do myself), or if I just need to hold the sprayer until I use up whats in it and try top it up again and hope for the best next time round.

The car came from Wales so I'm thinking maybe its some anti-freeze type stuff previous owner put in for the colder weather they get over there.

bazz26

Maybe fill it with some warmish water and see if it will break it down. Wouldn't put very hot water in there though as it may melt the plastic piping or crack your windscreen.

The only other thing I can think of is to get at the washer filler bottle, remove it and give it a good cleaning out.

skerry

bazz26 wrote: »

Maybe fill it with some warmish water and see if it will break it down. Wouldn't put very hot water in there though as it may melt the plastic piping or crack your windscreen.

The only other thing I can think of is to get at the washer filler bottle, remove it and give it a good cleaning out.

Cheer's Bazz might give that a shot. Pain in the Ar$e it is, can't even get it washed or its al over it next time I use washers. Hoping it's nearly empty so might run it till empty and try fill it up with just water and see if that flushes it out. Will try slightly warm water if that fails.

No idea on how to get bottle out, that could be a last resort (and possibly a job for my mechanic as reckon it would be beyond my skills, which are pretty much non existent). Will have to endure a dirty car in the meantime.

BohsCeltic

skerry wrote: »

Cheer's Bazz might give that a shot. Pain in the Ar$e it is, can't even get it washed or its al over it next time I use washers. Hoping it's nearly empty so might run it till empty and try fill it up with just water and see if that flushes it out. Will try slightly warm water if that fails.

No idea on how to get bottle out, that could be a last resort (and possibly a job for my mechanic as reckon it would be beyond my skills, which are pretty much non existent). Will have to endure a dirty car in the meantime.

If you let it go empty that gel could clog the filter on the motor, Mine went empty and i topped up but nothing would come out, got a nice tank of fluid up my sleeve when taking the filter off the motor (That's how you can drain it, very simple really but quite fiddly as tight space and hoses to disconnect plus removing the splash guard, could be easier to get to on your car though)
This is the gunk that came out of mine (and no i don't have a fetish for cars )

biko

Drain what you can (remove the hose where it exits) and then dump a full bottle of mouth wash or white vinegar in there and let it cycle through.

skerry

Cheers for the replies chaps. Looks like draining it is my only real option, will have to get digging through my manual when I get the energy. It's a real Pain at the minute so need to get whatever it is out of there so I can get back to having a respectable looking clean car again.