Windscreen Squirter Clean

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Every car has a windscreen squirter. It’s usually 1, 2 or 3 holes that washer fluid is forced through.

The problem with these is 3 fold.

1 – The holes are quite small.
2 – Water contains impurities.
3 – They don’t get used that often.

Impurities like calcium from hard water areas didn’t take long to build up in small apertures and the lack of use means that the water regularly just sat around building up deposits. Windscreen washer fluid does usually contain water softener but that just slows down the build up.

This shows the jets on a 451 connected to the plastic scuttle panel. Other models have similar jets in similar places.

No Flow

Some people even put vinegar in the washer fluid to help dissolve the calcium build up.  However, if you leave it too long and one of the squirters gets blocked, it won’t help adding it afterwards.

If you ask on FaceBook or the forums, you’ll no doubt get a stream of shit about blasting it out with an air compressor. Sure but normal people don’t have such things. Fixes are varied but mainly crap. So I had a think about it and came up with a decent way to do it.

This is an interdental brush. It’s something I recommend you use regularly on your teeth anyway. They can be bought for a few pounds/dollars.

They are normally coloured for different sizes:

Pink 0.4mm
Orange 0.45mm
Red 0.5mm
Blue 0.6mm
Yellow 0.7mm
Green 0.8mm
Purple 1.1mm
Grey 1.3mm
Black 1.5mm

The figure is the outside diameter of the wire that holds the bristles.

The orange 0.45 fits in nicely. The red 0.50 will be fine too.

The smart nozzles are approximately 0.7mm but you need some room for the bristles.

Like a tiny pipe cleaner, gently push it into each of the squirter holes to clear them out. Dripping vinegar on the bristles will help clear any stubborn deposits.

Put it back in your tool kit, don’t use it on your teeth.

Poor Flow

If you can remove the jets from the car, remove it and put it in a cup of white vinegar for 24 hours. Rinse off with water and refit and test.

If you can’t remove the jets from the car, You can try to disconnect the jets and back flow the jets with white vinegar. Or pull the pump off the tank and allow the washer fluid to drain. Refit the pump and fill the washer tank to the top with white vinegar. Get squirting until it’s all gone. Hopefully you should see an improvement during that time.

Assuming it worked, fill the tank with washer fluid and a cup of white vinegar each time to help it keep clear.

Don’t Just Fill With Water

Water isn’t bad for cleaning the screen but it’s not ideal. The proper washer fluid contains surfactant and detergent as well as an anti-fungal additive. This will slow the calcium build up but it will stop organic growth that often thrives in stagnant water. However, also adding a small amount of white vinegar will keep the calcium from building up by using the higher acidity to dissolve it.