Screen Wash - Stinks of rotten eggs

[bazza1603]

Hi,

Had my car recently serviced at a main dealer

Car has been stinking of rotten eggs, and I have been waiting for the engine management light to come on as I thought it was the Cat on the way out

Anyway we traced it to the screen wash... Absolutely stinks to high heaven.

What screen wash are they using to make it smell like this...?

Baz

[Superhoop]

It's probably not so much what they are using, but a combination of what they were using, combined with whatever you were using before

[bazza1603]

I use water only in the warmer months....

[WaferThinHam]

Maybe someone chucked a couple of eggs in when you weren't looking?

Flush it out man!

[vrsmxtb]

I've had this before, I thought mine was because the car had been stood for quite a few months so went stagnant. I suppose it could be a reaction between different chemicals though!

[markmullen]

I've had it before.

Squirt it all out, then flush the system with hot water from a kettle, then refill with fresh, and strong, screenwash and give it a sqirt through so that what is sitting in the pipes is screenwash, not just pure water. Don't forget to do the rear wiper too, if you have one.

[Jimmy No Hands]

Yep it is fairly common. Had it a lot at work in customer vehicles. Some of it absolutely stinks.

[McWigglebum4th]

bazza1603 said:

I use water only in the warmer months....

Ah ha

A clue

[fourfoldroot]

Couple of taxi drivers in this country have died of Legionnaires disease from wiper washer bottles infected with the Legionella bacteria. It likes the warm environment of the engine bay and the washers atomise the spray as an ideal delivery system to your lungs. Luckily it is easily disinfected. Put some bleach in the system,run a bit through so the pipework is purged,leave it for a couple of hours then flush it all out. Wash it off the paintwork with lots of water. Refill with an antifreeze type screenwash,this should prevent further growth.

[pmanson]

On my old MG ZT there was a filter on the bottom of the washer fluid container that you could remove and wash through.

Mine was blocked so the water was dribbling out onto the windscreen.

[mrmr96]

McWigglebum4th said:

bazza1603 said:

I use water only in the warmer months....

Ah ha

A clue

This is the problem. Bacteria will have been growing in the water. Use proper screenwash (dilueted natch) and it should solve the problem over the next couple of weeks as it will kill the bacteria and stop them coming back.

(Basically your screenwash bottle with water only in has become like a stagnant pond. Get some chemicals in there quick!)

[Northernchimp]

Quite normal - my girlfriend's car stank of cat piss whenever she used the jets. I ran to hose pipe to the washer bottle and put a load of Fairy through the jets. Worked lovely.

[Vince70]

Mine does the same, when I get round to it I'm going to pela pump the system and pour a bit of bleach and hot water in there and leave for a couple of days, I may put in a couple of steradent tablets in the system as well for good measure.

Then refill with a good quality screen wash then its job done.

[bazza1603]

Thanks all....

[davepoth]

Neat screenwash is enough to kill the smell in my experience, no need to go as far as bleach.

[Evoluzione]

Mine normally smells like Martini, shaken not stirred naturally.

[hidetheelephants]

mrmr96 said:

McWigglebum4th said:

bazza1603 said:

I use water only in the warmer months....

Ah ha

A clue

This is the problem. Bacteria will have been growing in the water. Use proper screenwash (dilueted natch) and it should solve the problem over the next couple of weeks as it will kill the bacteria and stop them coming back.

(Basically your screenwash bottle with water only in has become like a stagnant pond. Get some chemicals in there quick!)

I cleaned out the washer fluid bottle on my defender shortly after I bought it; it was filled with just water and had an interesting collection of floaty black stringy things and a thick layer of slime on the sides. In short it was disgusting so I attacked it with some bleach followed by hot soapy water and a bottle brush. Now it's nice and clean, filled with proper screenwash and the jets no longer get blocked with evil black sludge.

[amstrange1]

davepoth said:

Neat screenwash is enough to kill the smell in my experience, no need to go as far as bleach.

Agree with the above.

I've had similar issues with a used car, presumably because the previous owner just used neat water. Anyway, after a month or so of constantly keeping the reservoir topped up with neat screen wash the stench had gone.

[texaxile]

Seen this before, and my shedscort suffers with it. Apparently a couple of Milton sterilising tablets does the trick.

When I squirted the screen the other week I thought someone had swapped the water for stale cats piss. Either that or a cat has actually been pissing in my washer bottle, which isn't unusual cos they also st in my garden, bless 'em.

[mrmr96]

amstrange1 said:

just used neat water.

Yeah man. That neat water is just a ripoff, it'll go much further if you just dilute it.