Head light washer = lots of washer fluid needed

[ajmoir36]

I found out by accident that if you move the wiper lever away from you and then pull it towards you the headlight washers don't seem to operate.

Doesn't that activate the rear wiper?

Yes, but then the headlight washers don't seem to come on when you pull forward again to wash the windscreen.

You can turn them off in VCDS or increase the wash frequency to a large number so they only activate once until the car is switched off.

Last year when it was really cold mine froze in the out position 

Liking the sound of increasing the frequency to 10. So glad I spent the money buying VCDS in the end.

[Belix]

still not figured mine out yet - seems to squirt every morning on the first pull, and sometimes again shortly thereafter if I pull a few more times for something stubborn, but usually not after that until the next day.

[GolfTi]

I disabled mine two years ago, fuse 36 in the fuse compartment to the right of the steering wheel.

Cheap washer fluid is a waste of money as it will freeze.

The VW stuff is good to -70 C and around £3.90 a litre.

[mkviken]

do you get an error code by pulling the fuse out?

[GolfTi]

do you get an error code by pulling the fuse out?

No error code in mine, there are some plastic tweezer/grips in the fuse box which help removal.

I've kept mine in the glove box 'just in case' but I've never felt the need to put it back in.

[mkviken]

Will try this as a temporary fix till I can get vcds sorted.

[ajmoir36]

Modded mine to 6 the other day in the adaptions section.

[Daz Auto]

At £3.90 for -70C protection that would cost me £19.50 to fill my 5 litre bottle. And last me about a month during the winter.

Cheap washer fluid is a waste of money as it will freeze.

The VW stuff is good to -70 C and around £3.90 a litre.

Yeah, but like Halfords, VW wash fluid does not have a chart showing what happens to temperature rating when you dilute with water.


Comma washer fluid actual data-

neat or 100% = -23C
1:1 or 50% = -9C
1:10 or 9% = 0C

Ultimate Speed (from Lidl) washer fluid actual data-

neat or 100% = -60C
1:1 or 50% = -20C
1:2 or 33% = -10C

VW washer fluid NOT actual data - just using the others as a guide -

neat or 100% = -70C
1:1 or 50% = -23C ?
1:2 or 33% = -12C ?
1:4 or 20% = -4 or -6C ?
1:9 or 10% = -1C or -2C or maybe 0C as there is mostly water in there?


Edit to correct a ratio and percentage.

[Rhyso]

At £3.90 for -70C protection that would cost me £19.50 to fill my 5 litre bottle. And last me about a month during the winter.

Where do you live where the temperature drops to -70C?? 

Do you know someone with a TPS account??  I picked up 25 litres of the screenwash for £12 

[Daz Auto]

Where do you live where the temperature drops to -70C?? 

Do you know someone with a TPS account??  I picked up 25 litres of the screenwash for £12 

I was just using that as an example to show how much that -70C protection would actually cost. Then I went on to show that when diluted you will not get anywhere near -70C.

What is a TPS account?

Edit: it is forcast to drop to -4 here this weekend. It was -15 about this time last year.