Methanol-free washer fluid?

[nthach]

Originally Posted By: Tegger
Originally Posted By: nthach
303 washer tablets and isopropyl alcohol for the antifreeze part of it.

You Californiacs need to stay out of discussions like this. We north-easterners can go through many, many gallons of the stuff every winter. You have NO idea.


Personal attack aside, there is a legit need for the good stuff even in California - especially if you live inland or in the higher elevations like Lake Tahoe - my parents who live 20 miles north of Oakland had their washer bottle freeze up overnight, and a few years ago me and a friend were driving down the 50 in South Lake Tahoe and all of sudden the washer system didn't work.

He stockpiles the legit fluid, and dealerships/parts stores carry concentrate here.

But if you look at it all washer fluid is water, an alcohol and a surfactant.

 

[CarbonSteel]

Originally Posted By: sleddriver
Re: Freezing Point. Not sure. But where I live, it doesn't really matter.
Thanks; I will stick with the Rain-X stuff I pick up in CO each winter.

 

[akela]

Originally Posted By: HerrStig
Originally Posted By: Garak
It's kind of like the pack a day smoker that told me he wouldn't live in a house near a transformer, due to the risk of cancer from electromagnetic radiation.
Or a guy who rides his motor bike on the freeway without a helmet but avoids French fries.

Motorcyclist worrying about junk food makes perfect sense to me. Health and safety are two different things.

 

[akela]

Originally Posted By: racer12306
3 page long thread about washer fluid????

Put blue stuff in, clean bird poop off your windshield.

yeah, boring stuff. Methanol, shmethanol.
It would be much more interesting to start a fresh discussion about "thick vs thin" or "tearolator vs OCOD".

 

[Garak]

True, that! We should have a weekly thread about different methanol-free washer fluid recipes!

 

[Olas]

I usually use concentrated -40 degree in a gallon jug, but, reading through some of these recipes made me think coolant would work ( we all have it laying around and it doesn't freeze) plus a dishwasher tablet should be all anybody needs in a fix.

 

[Garak]

Here, we don't get to play around. Unless it's a taxi with a fair bit of engine heat keeping the reservoir warm, you run the best stuff you can get, the -45 C stuff, unless one doesn't mind taking a risk on some of the worst days. I've had the -35 C stuff freeze solid on several occasions - and I don't mean slush - I mean solid.

 

[ironman_gq]

Originally Posted By: simple_gifts
The Italians put methanol into a their wines in the 1980s resulting in over 20 deaths.

http://articles.latimes.com/1987-02-01/news/mn-321_1_italian-wine-production


The US Govt did the same thing with industrial ethanol, mixed it with methanol but had no warning about it. Many died during prohibition because of this, it's still done today and the product is called "Denatured Alcohol".

 

[kschachn]

Coolant?? As in ethylene glycol antifreeze?

No. No, no, no.

Originally Posted By: Olas
I usually use concentrated -40 degree in a gallon jug, but, reading through some of these recipes made me think coolant would work ( we all have it laying around and it doesn't freeze) plus a dishwasher tablet should be all anybody needs in a fix.

 

[Robenstein]

Originally Posted By: kschachn
Coolant?? As in ethylene glycol antifreeze?

No. No, no, no.

Originally Posted By: Olas
I usually use concentrated -40 degree in a gallon jug, but, reading through some of these recipes made me think coolant would work ( we all have it laying around and it doesn't freeze) plus a dishwasher tablet should be all anybody needs in a fix.


Yeah you would want to use propylene glycol based stuff. I mean the stuff is in Mr. Pibb soda and is the active ingredient in MiraLax laxative.

 

[meborder]

Prestone de icer has both ethylene and propylene glycol in combination with methanol

http://www.co.vermilion.il.us/MSDS/EMA/8-Prestone De-Icer.pdf

 

[Olas]

Originally Posted By: kschachn
Coolant?? As in ethylene glycol antifreeze?

No. No, no, no.



Why not? It won't freeze..

 

[Kestas]

I believe ethylene glycol is too thick a fluid and won't vaporize as quickly or clean the windshield as well as methanol or ethanol.

 

[kschachn]

Originally Posted By: meborder
Prestone de icer has both ethylene and propylene glycol in combination with methanol

http://www.co.vermilion.il.us/MSDS/EMA/8-Prestone De-Icer.pdf


Less than 10%, and I'm going to tell you it's a lot less than that.

 

[kschachn]

Originally Posted By: Olas
Originally Posted By: kschachn
Coolant?? As in ethylene glycol antifreeze?

No. No, no, no.


Why not? It won't freeze..


Hey, go ahead and try it. Here's a chart of the FP depression, pick the concentration you need:

 

[Jarlaxle]

From experience, ethylene glycol makes a horrible mess of a windshield.

I know this because I worked with people not bright enough to tell the difference between a coolant fill and a windshield washer bottle.

 

[Garak]

Remind me of a horrible story. Years back, a buddy and I picked up a car to flip. We cleaned it up and did the fluids. Well, some idiot put antifreeze in the washer fluid reservoir. They didn't put the lid on, and a bird got attracted to the sweetness, fell in, and croaked. You can imagine how pleasant that was to clean out and get functional again.

 

[meborder]

I had a similar thing happen to the wife's Subaru. I had blue juice in there but the end result was the same.

Not sure if it was a bird or a mouse, but my gosh that was gross. Couldn't figure out what that smell was until I found that. Yuck.

After rinsing it a few times with bleach water and replacing the pump, all was well again.

Make sure the lid is on no matter what you put in there.

Which brings us back to point.... If you have enough exposure to methylated washer fluid, it can indeed kill you.

 

[Garak]

Yes, bleach, and more bleach, and rinsing, and more rinsing, and what a heck of a mess.

 

[kschachn]

Originally Posted By: meborder
Which brings us back to point.... If you have enough exposure to methylated washer fluid, it can indeed kill you.


Well yeah but what are you doing, bathing in it? It's not as if it's a sodium cyanide solution where 1ml is going to kill you.

The same could be said for gasoline, ethylene glycol coolant, motor oil, battery acid and anything else in the car.