But that's what the washer fluid should be doing anyway :S

Is the Car Plan stuff concentrated or ready to put straight in?

I add the Aldi/Lidl cleaning detergent in the summer when I use the Car Plan washer fluid at only a low concentration.

The Car Plan stuff from Makro is concentrated. At 1:4 dilution its supposed to work down to about -20 deg. I think. I use it about 1:3 last month and never had any freezing. Been using this stuff at least 8 years without any problem.

Maybe none of the above as stated.

IMHO, jet problems come from the use of hard water to dilute WW concentrate. Some water evaporates at the jet and leacves a little crud behind. Use soft water from a bottle of tap if your water is soft or from the condenser on condensing clothes dryers or dehumidifiers/airconditioners.

Clean the jets with a little citric acid or acetic acid - a few drops will do and an old toothbrush helps.

Great tip. One of mine stopped working at the weekend. I used a bit of lemon juice and toothbrush and it is fine now.I'm in London so had been using very hard tap water. Car only 2 months old and scaled up already!

Is Lidl whisky any good? Can you run an Octy on it?

How long is it since you shopped at Lidl? IIRC their cheapest own brand is pushing a tenner now. Aldi's was the best of the own brands at one time, but the others have improved. Still quite smooth for a blend, so long as you're not requiring single malts of 8+ years.

Edited 2 February, 201016 yr by icarusi@hotmail

How long is it since you shopped at Lidl? IIRC their cheapest own brand is pushing a tenner now. Aldi's was the best of the own brands at one time, but the others have improved. Still quite smooth for a blend, so long as you're not requiring single malts of 8+ years.

Love it, weve turned scandalxk's post about washer fluid into a debate about Lidl's range of quaffable whiskies I'll still stick with my Talisker and Skoda screen wash (though havent tried mixing both yet )

You see, the Scots get it comfy cos there have been 100s of those ships that are always foundering on the rocks round the coast, and the whisky cargo is claimed (except on the Sabbath naturally) for filling trucks etc. It's true cos it's been on the TV (most years).

All we see in Derbyshire is the odd rowboat containing a couple of teenagers who have consumed the Magners already, leaving nothing for onlookers/rescuers to use... :'(

I think I'm moving to the Hebrides. :yes: (Is there an Octy garage up there?)

Great tip. One of mine stopped working at the weekend. I used a bit of lemon juice and toothbrush and it is fine now.I'm in London so had been using very hard tap water. Car only 2 months old and scaled up already!

White vinegar might work as well, I always use it to degrease the screen

I use Halfords ready mixed, with no issues.

As for the mist wash method being poor, it does the same job, and uses less fluid IME.

Never had any problem with lidl's screen wash £3.99/5l made in Germany unmixed says it works down to -70.c!!

Never had any problem with lidl's screen wash £3.99/5l made in Germany unmixed says it works down to -70.c!!

The 70 degrees is if its neat I have been told, the skoda stuff quotes the same.

The Skoda/VAG stuff isnt all that expensive - £3.20ish for a litre. I bought some for mine after being advised about the whole "if it falls over and you havent used it...." warranty bit and couldn't be arsed with the possible hassle over the sake of a couple of quid.

I used to buy in 1 litre bottles from my local Skoda dealer, however, on two consecutive occasions they were out of stock, whereas, the more local VW dealer had stock. The price is virtually the same at the VW dealer so i now tend to buy four litre bottles to ensure I don't run short.

In the recent cold weather the fluid ensured a clean screen, albeit using a significantly higher concentration than under normal UK winter conditions.

I find the fan type jets to be a marked improvement over directional jets, as typically found on older vehicles.

Is Lidl whisky any good? Can you run an Octy on it?

In Germany the cheapest option was to use tax-free vodka. It worked but the screen smelt like smirnoff and went a bit blue otherwise it worked.

I got this one pulled on me the other week, on my fabia though. I topped up with Halford cheapo washer fluid as rear washer wasn't working. Still wasn't working so I took it to the garage (there were other problems which meant I had to take in anyway). Pump had come away from washer bottle and they said they tested the washer fluid that I'd put in and it had no anti freeze content at all, even though I'd put the halfords stuff in neat. They drained the bottle and put the skoda stuff in instead and it hasn't frozen once yet!

For some bizzare reason I can't explain my local VW dealer always sells the genuine VAG stuff a lot cheaper than the local Skoda dealer.

Edited 3 February, 201016 yr by Minimoke

I got this one pulled on me the other week, on my fabia though. I topped up with Halford cheapo washer fluid as rear washer wasn't working. Still wasn't working so I took it to the garage (there were other problems which meant I had to take in anyway). Pump had come away from washer bottle and they said they tested the washer fluid that I'd put in and it had no anti freeze content at all, even though I'd put the halfords stuff in neat. They drained the bottle and put the skoda stuff in instead and it hasn't frozen once yet!

Weird ... cos during the snowy weather, we were stuck in Yorkshire with 18" drifts and the Halfords mix worked as appropriate. Maybe pipe fitments need checking regularly?

Remember dirt can also get in and block nozzles.

What's so special about Skoda's own washer fluid?

VAG screenwash contains anti flocculants that stop particles (e.g. limescale) clumping together and blocking the finer diameter fan jets.