Westley Posted May 30, 2019 Report Share Posted May 30, 2019 Having recently had a bit of trouble with my washers on a 2013 Honda CRV, it was looking like a trip to the garage to get them to strip out the washer bottle, which is housed under the front offside wing. Before doing that I had tried to flush the bottle out with a hose, but due to a 90 degree bend just below the filler, it made it quite difficult. I managed to get a piece of fish tank plastic tubing in and siphon the the contents out. I then dropped in 2 Steradent tablets and added some warm water. I left this for around 3 hours then filled and siphoned the bottle a couple of times, then tried the washers again. They are now more powerful than they have ever been, job done. I also use Steradent tablets for cleaning out my thermos flasks, letting them stand overnight then washing out with cold water before use. It is far cheaper than any of the 'flask clean' products too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billytheghillie Posted May 30, 2019 Report Share Posted May 30, 2019 bleach does the same, if not better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diver One Posted May 30, 2019 Report Share Posted May 30, 2019 Washer bottle on wife's Clio gets a weird black slime in it which then burns out the pump. Changed 3 so far. never thought of steradent !.....good call! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
panoma1 Posted May 30, 2019 Report Share Posted May 30, 2019 Works on yer false teeth too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Westley Posted May 30, 2019 Author Report Share Posted May 30, 2019 7 minutes ago, Diver One said: Washer bottle on wife's Clio gets a weird black slime in it which then burns out the pump. Changed 3 so far. never thought of steradent !.....good call! Before siphoning off the Steradent, I blew down the siphon tube to 'mix up' the bottle contents to help siphon off the gunge. It worked. Just now, panoma1 said: Works on yer false teeth too! I wouldn't know about that one, but I suspect it is far less harmful to the paintwork than any other cleaners. I too was getting black slime in the bottle, BUT that was coming from the pre mixed fluid that I was using. I now plan to stop pre mixing the washer fluid and flush out the bottle every other month. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
figgy Posted May 30, 2019 Report Share Posted May 30, 2019 If you use screen wash in correct dilution it stops the black from happening in first place. Toilet cleaner with limescale remover should clear out any crud. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vince Green Posted May 31, 2019 Report Share Posted May 31, 2019 (edited) 5 hours ago, figgy said: If you use screen wash in correct dilution it stops the black from happening in first place. +1 its usually caused by filling up the washers with just plain tap water. Screen wash contains a biological inhibitor, good screen wash that is. But once its in there its hard to eliminate it Edited May 31, 2019 by Vince Green Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snow white Posted May 31, 2019 Report Share Posted May 31, 2019 Would not like siphoning bleach out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldypigeonpopper Posted May 31, 2019 Report Share Posted May 31, 2019 hello, thanks for the tip, i had a leak on my rear washers, had to strip the back door out and tube had split, will try the tablets when bottle empty, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
figgy Posted May 31, 2019 Report Share Posted May 31, 2019 You could use baby bottle sterilisation fluid. Safe and won't harm anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pistol p Posted May 31, 2019 Report Share Posted May 31, 2019 Be advised, it is possible to contract legionnaires disease from the stale water in the windscreen reservoir. Just use screen wash, Euro car parts is selling 25 litres for £17 this week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldypigeonpopper Posted May 31, 2019 Report Share Posted May 31, 2019 hello, get mine from the ££££££££££ shop, only a £1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Westley Posted May 31, 2019 Author Report Share Posted May 31, 2019 Can I point out that I was using CLEAR plastic tubing for siphoning and as such, no liquid entered my mouth. Having used Steradent tablets for a number of years for flask cleaning without any side effects (other than the odd urge to put something on here !) I decided to try them in the windscreen bottle. It worked for me and my washers now work better than ever before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vince Green Posted May 31, 2019 Report Share Posted May 31, 2019 I don't know about the black stuff, what I have seen is a clear coloured or greenish coloured thick slime which is some sort of algae, even if you kill it off its still going to block the pump. We had to tell my step daughter to stop putting plain water and a squrt of washing up liquid in her washers and start using ready mix. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saltings Posted May 31, 2019 Report Share Posted May 31, 2019 for quite a few years have been using industrial glass cleaner from eurocell or any upvc supplier pour what you want into the washer bottle and top up with water do not get that rotten egg smell or black sludge a gallon goes a long way costs 5 or 6 £ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pigeon Shredder. Posted June 1, 2019 Report Share Posted June 1, 2019 Note, l’m led to believe washing up liquid contains salt which can attack any metal items in the pump/system so is not a good idea in a washer bottle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sphexx Posted March 27, 2022 Report Share Posted March 27, 2022 +1 for Steradent, cleared completely blocked front & rear washers. Turned out the source of the mould was in the (Supermarket) screen wash bottle — so COVID related since it had not been used much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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