General Windscreen washer fluid

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General Windscreen washer fluid

clair80

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Hi just a quick question..my windscreen washer fluid bottle is about an inch or away from the coolant bottle.
Sooo my washer fluid gets warm and i can smell it too.. Now does this stuff evaporate (washer fluid). I pressume all water evaporates , so does washer fluid evaporate?, esspecially being next to the coolant bottle which is quite hot after a journey. thanks guys xx(y)
 
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Hi the lid is always on but the one burning question i really wanna know is:- does or is this windscreen washer fluid evaporate?
 
Well, it's been a while since I did Chemistry at school, but presumably screen wash is alcohol-based so would have a different boiling point to water - I would guess this would be lower...
 
depends entirely on the washer fluid in general terms as to what is in it....

some winter screen washes are almost pure alcohol so leave little behind summer screen washes are water based.. so not a problem there The problem comes from the cleaning agents ( Surfactants ) these generally do no harm and are rubber safe (when you think about it they end up sprayed all over the windscreen and roof) but can be left behind and leave white marks (so to can water if your tap water is hard)

As for the smell many are perfumed to some degree and this is probably what you can smell

if it bothers you try mixing it at a lower dilution I generally mix it in bulk in say a 5 ltr bottle and leave it tucked by the shed makes a quick top up nice and easy and its easier to work out the correct dilution ratio (y)

(ps did you ever get the leak sorted?)
 
Hi andy..well i took it fiat and they put sealant around the grommet (black rubber washer) and it was still leaking. so i figured it out.. the neck of the bottle didnt sit right in the bottle so i bought a really good waterproof sealant and stuck that around where it was leaking ''BINGO!'' No leak! but i have been keeping my eye on it and the screen wash level very very slighty drops but as i said the bottle is more or less next to the coolant bottle and i have noticed (as i lift the bonnet) a warm smell of screen wash and the screen wash itself is warm. so i'm thinking.....Is it evaporating??? (thats why i put this thread up) hehe
BTW..The lid is always on, on the screen wash
 
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Hi andy..well i took it fiat and they put sealant around the grommet (black rubber washer) and it was still leaking. so i figured it out.. the neck of the bottle didnt sit right in the bottle so i bought a really good waterproof sealant and stuck that around where it was leaking ''BINGO!'' No leak! but i have been keeping my eye on it and the screen wash level very very slighty drops but as i said the bottle is more or less next to the coolant bottle and i have noticed (as i lift the bonnet) a warm smell of screen wash and the screen wash itself is warm. so i'm thinking.....Is it evaporating??? (thats why i put this thread up) hehe
BTW..The lid is always on, on the screen wash

Clair,
Even if there was an evaporating effect happening with the lid being on the liquid would reflux back into the bottle and therefore you should not loose it, that is unless you wash your windscreen(y)
 
There is a little hole in the windscreen washer bottle lid.

The little hole is to allow for expansion/contraction as the bottle contents heat and cool. The hole is so small that evaporation through the hole will be irrelevant. As Kop said, the lid will prevent evaporated fluids to escape and will reform in the bottle.
 
The little hole is to allow for expansion/contraction as the bottle contents heat and cool. The hole is so small that evaporation through the hole will be irrelevant. As Kop said, the lid will prevent evaporated fluids to escape and will reform in the bottle.

Nah, thats a bit extreme......
The hole acts as a vent. As liquid is pumped out of the bottle the hole lets air enter in its place, if the hole wasnt there a vaccuum would soon form and stop liquid leaving the bottle.......or cause the bottle to collapse in on itself.
 
Nah, thats a bit extreme......
The hole acts as a vent. As liquid is pumped out of the bottle the hole lets air enter in its place, if the hole wasnt there a vaccuum would soon form and stop liquid leaving the bottle.......or cause the bottle to collapse in on itself.

Ha, i was thinking too deep into it. There will be some expansion but it will be primarily there to allow air in to replace the water/liquid as you said. I'll put that one down to me being super tired last night andd trying to be clever!
 
If people have nothing serious to say on this thread then don't post , keep ya pointless comments to yourself. I really like this forum but i mean 'come on guys there is some knobheads on here giving pointless views. Its a great place to share things, find out about things and help each other out.
Anywayssssss....
It must be evaporating as there is no leak. Its only a few centremetres that it goes down. the liquid doesnt get hot but it gets warm. Am i being silly about this washer liquid thingy, I'm sure i have nothing to worry about eh guys???:eek:
 
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ahh i see what your talking about now... the way the bottle fills it traps air at the top of the tank as the neck of the fill ube sits into it a bit Therefore when you fill it you get a bit of air trapped.

then you move the car the water moves and moves the air which then escapes up the tube

dont believe me fill it up as normal then get a mate to give the car a quick shake and you will see the air bubbling up (y)
 
andy your such a good help i really appreciate it hun x
I understand what your saying and it really makes sense, Cause when the car is just sittin there the washer liquid is fine but the wahen i've driven it for around a week and then i check my liquids i find that the washer liquid has gone down around an inch or so. but now you've made it a lot clearer andy.

The first time i filled the bottle up i noticed that the larger part of the bottle (below the neck) didnt look full to the top which i found odd. and yet it was nearly right up the neck of the bottle. So andy i guess you are right cause the grommet and the neck of the bottle goes in the larger part of the bottle about an inch or so, and there must be some trapped air going on at the top of the bottle so when the car is driven e.g going over bumps etc plus the vibration makes the water slosh around and some of the air escape and this is when some of the fluid is going down. Andy your a genius mate :worship:(y)x

I know its only a minor thing i'm talking about but i like my car perfect and things doing what they're supossed to be doing but when i cant figure something out it plays on my mind and i just have to sort it.
 
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