Smelly Washer Bottle water !

52 Passat TDI

I know this one sounds like a strange one, but I am baffled !

Recently my girlfriend complained that when she used her front washer jets she got an awful smell, I did suspect she might have put something in the water by mistake, but upon further inspection by myself the water seemed fine, although the smell was still there, it is a really pungent almost rotten egg smell.

I have used the jets to virtually empty the washer bottle but after refilling the smell is still present !

Would appreciate any help.

Thanks

Chris :(

A few runs till empty might cure the problem with undiluted washer fluid.

I had a similar problem in a previous car. The water smelled of cat ****, it really was bad. I flushed soapy fresh water through the system and replaced with new water/washer fluid. After a time the smell re-appeared.

I reckon we either had a very technical Tom cat in the area or the washer fluid was perhaps causing the problem.

I sold the car before I ever found out what was causing it.

If I were you I'd drain the water either by squirting it on the windscreen or actually draining the bottle, then add screen wash without diluting it. When I squirt my windscreen I can normally just smell screen wash.

Had the same issue a couple of years ago. Had to take the pump off the water bottle and clean all the seals and then clean the bottom of the water tank with a bottle brush as the smelly bit was like a jelly at the bottom of the tank and around the pump housing.

PA

I have exactly the same problem. I've rinsed it through buy running it right down to empty a few time, even put a mild solution of bleach through (I collected the water in cups, I didn't spray bleached water over the car).

During it's last service (Tuesday this week) I asked for the washer bottle to be removed and flushed through, they took the pump off and flushed it that way. It's better but still not right.

I'll probably remove the bottle myself and have a good look in there as I'm convinced it's something rotting in the bottom.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by PerArdua

Had the same issue a couple of years ago. Had to take the pump off the water bottle and clean all the seals and then clean the bottom of the water tank with a bottle brush as the smelly bit was like a jelly at the bottom of the tank and around the pump housing.

PA

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Reckon you are on to something with the jelly stuff. I never removed the water bottle. The smell only occurred when I used (many) different screen washes. I reckon something was reacting with the screen wash.

MalcQV
I previously used lots of different screen washes but now just use the H*fords Premium (Pink) one which has prevented this re occurring

PA

If you use washing up liquid, the thickener sinks and biodegrades. It isn't suitable. Proprietary washer fluid should just be water, alcohol, fragrance, colour and surfactants.

Just leave a hosepipe running in the bottle for a while and let it stir up the sediment and flush it out. Bleach will destroy the compounds that cause the egg odour.

You have all got bacteria growing in the bottles. A warm wet environment is just what bacteria love, you might as well give them an olympic swimming pool and tell them to get fornicating. The smell is a by-product.

In winter the bacterial growth will slow down but they'll be back next summer.

This is why all your shampoos, shower gels and any other liquid toiletry containing lots of water, including body creams and lotions contain preservatives (look for things like parabens on the ingredients panel).

Probably the best solution would be to tip in some Milton fluid (which is actually dilute bleach) and go for a drive, using the washers a lot. Otherwise try cleaning solution as sold by home brewery suppliers but I'm not sure what this might do to your paintwork. A good dose of ethyl alcohol or methyl alcohol (meths) will make the environment pretty unpleasant for the little varmints too. Both are of course water soluble as we all know!

Since preservatives cost money, only the more expensive screenwashes will contain any. Don't buy cheap.

DO NOT use dishwash liquid in your washer bottle - it contains lots of water, a little surfactant and sodium chloride (SALT) as a thickener.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by chrisbut69

52 Passat TDI

I know this one sounds like a strange one, but I am baffled !

Recently my girlfriend complained that when she used her front washer jets she got an awful smell, I did suspect she might have put something in the water by mistake, but upon further inspection by myself the water seemed fine, although the smell was still there, it is a really pungent almost rotten egg smell.

I have used the jets to virtually empty the washer bottle but after refilling the smell is still present !

Would appreciate any help.

Thanks

Chris :(

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The smell put in to the official VW additive is supposed to be Lemons ! However in my experiance has a limited shelf life when in the washer bottle and can give an offensive pong a bit like rotton eggs. I leave mine - the additive that is, not rotton eggs !! in, until the warning 'bong' message comes up to tell you to top it up. I strongly advise not yo use the blue stuff that Halfords etc sell, as it is not suitable for the VW Fan type Jets and can clog them. although to be fair to Halfords, it is fine for normal nozzle types.
Another reason could be nothing more than wet leaves etc, going rotton especially at this time of year !

The lemon perfume will quickly break down, especially when attacked by bacteria and their by-products. The rotten egg smell is hydrogen sulphide, a by-product of bacterial growth.

.....like I said earlier.

Did anyone ever find a quick solution to this problem?

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Originally Posted by dickturpin

Did anyone ever find a quick solution to this problem?

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I sold my car :p I would say post #9 and #10 seem the quickest.

Hmmm...Not too sure about spraying meths or milton fluid all over the car?

I assume it wasn't the smell that made you sell

DC

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dickturpin

Hmmm...Not too sure about spraying meths or milton fluid all over the car?

I assume it wasn't the smell that made you sell

DC

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No fancied a change.

The other thing I did which helped was to just use water and not screen wash. Not a big problem in the summer.

Go with the hose pipe option and just leave it running in the washer bottle for awhile and squirt the screen every now and again.