Bulk washer fluid at gas station

It is great news to the companies that make it because it is literally food coloring, "plant-based cleaners", and distilled water that then they sell for criminally high prices (auto part stores). I just to to Walmart to get mine for $1.78 a gallon.
Heck yeah I’d go to Walmart and get it too lol
 
The big truck stops sell DEF in a small nozzle next to the diesel. A PIA for them as the pump needs to have an insulation jacket on for the winter since it can freeze.

But I would buy WWF from a bulk dispenser if the price was right and it was a de-icer.
 
Not really scientific but I get a bottle of the cheapest no name glass cleaner and pour it in ( maybe 1 bottle a year per vehicle and usually a fraction of that)

Those vehicles have been all over the North American continent from Ft McMurray and wintering down to Mexico and all over the west deserts in mining for some 50 odd years and never encountered any issue of any kind.

FWIW
 
It'd be cool if they offered it at cost if you bought 8+ gallons of fuel. $3 is too much. And what happens if you only take 3/4 of a gallon, you forfeit the rest of it?

I can think of no better way of buying low-grade methanol than just buying WW fluid.

Cali banned it in some areas/seasons because of the VOCs making smog. They're also after the VOCs in paint and brake cleaner.
 
I wish they weren't dyed...nothing I hate more especially on a white vehicle is dried overspray in blue, orange, purple, etc. The orange is the least offensive but I recently discovered that the Adams fluid is clear...that'll be what I buy next and I don't have an issue paying a premium. No interest in mixing my own and it needs to be good down to -20F. But I digress, I'm picky.
 
BTW California has banned the good washer fluid too.
I still see it in Tahoe during the winter time. CARB allows the higher VOC, freeze-resistant to -20*F to be sold at higher elevations during the fall/winter IIRC.

you can still buy the methylated concentrate as well.
 
I’d buy bulk washer fluid or BYOB. As long as it’s not water-repellent stuff.

I personally use the Einszett concentrate. Pricey compared to 303 tablets but nothing cleans better. Supposedly the single-shot shots sold at a Mercedes or Porsche parts counter is the same stuff. I then use a $1 gallon of distilled to dilute it. The local Whole Wallet charges $.60/gallon for deionized water, BYOC.
 
I buy - 45C stuff here at Costco. $10 for a 4 X 1 gallon box. Anything less than - 45C freezes on the windshield in the slipstream on really cold days, say - 30C. Seems like the evaporation taking place needs a lower freeze point fluid.
 
True, our stuff only goes down to +32. There is some 0+ degree stuff on a overstock shelf somewhere at the local autozone, but that cannot be sold due to legal reasons. Most of the time, if I worry about it freezing over, I just toss in about half a quart of 91% alcohol. A gallon with about that much alcohol will get through most california winters.

That 32 stuff is basically water. You mind as well use tap water. Easier to just keep some of the winter mix and just dilute it with tap water.
 
That 32 stuff is basically water. You mind as well use tap water. Easier to just keep some of the winter mix and just dilute it with tap water.
Be interested to see how many people end up with Legionnaires Disease as a result of that practice. Similar situation that happened all over the UK about a decade ago.
 
Be interested to see how many people end up with Legionnaires Disease as a result of that practice. Similar situation that happened all over the UK about a decade ago.
That's why you mix it with windshield washer fluid, it would still have some methyl alcohol in it.
 
Not really scientific but I get a bottle of the cheapest no name glass cleaner and pour it in ( maybe 1 bottle a year per vehicle and usually a fraction of that)

Those vehicles have been all over the North American continent from Ft McMurray and wintering down to Mexico and all over the west deserts in mining for some 50 odd years and never encountered any issue of any kind.

FWIW
If you used glass cleaner in Ft. Mac. in the winter, your car’s reservoir would have split. I’ve spent days between there and Ft. McKay with mornings well below -40C. Even -40 rated fluid gelled up until engine heat liquified it. You wouldn’t use it at those temperatures anyway as the hoses leading to the nozzles stay frozen.
 
Please elaborate on what you're talking about...
If you use straight water, or low level of methyl alcohol, bacterial growth is likely to occur if the washer system is not used on a regular basis. This growth occurs with heating and cooling of the water or liquid. When the washer system is eventually used, the water spray is dispersed onto the windshield resulting in the bacteria being carried in the water droplets which then become airborn and inhaled by the person. This bacteria then grows in the lungs and results in a condition known as Legionnaires Disease. If you would like further information related to these circumstances, a simple Internet search will provide you with further information to these specific circumstances as a result of using only water or low-level anti-bacterial agents. These accounts were especially well documented in the UK. I will not post direct links on this forum as there is an ample amount of scientific information available through the NHS and various media outlets.
 
If you used glass cleaner in Ft. Mac. in the winter, your car’s reservoir would have split. I’ve spent days between there and Ft. McKay with mornings well below -40C. Even -40 rated fluid gelled up until engine heat liquified it. You wouldn’t use it at those temperatures anyway as the hoses leading to the nozzles stay frozen.
Nope, never happened. I grant you it would have been expected and by all rights should have but never did
 
If you use straight water, or low level of methyl alcohol, bacterial growth is likely to occur if the washer system is not used on a regular basis. This growth occurs with heating and cooling of the water or liquid. When the washer system is eventually used, the water spray is dispersed onto the windshield resulting in the bacteria being carried in the water droplets which then become airborn and inhaled by the person. This bacteria then grows in the lungs and results in a condition known as Legionnaires Disease. If you would like further information related to these circumstances, a simple Internet search will provide you with further information to these specific circumstances as a result of using only water or low-level anti-bacterial agents. These accounts were especially well documented in the UK. I will not post direct links on this forum as there is an ample amount of scientific information available through the NHS and various media outlets.
Thanks, that's interesting.
 
If you use straight water, or low level of methyl alcohol, bacterial growth is likely to occur if the washer system is not used on a regular basis. This growth occurs with heating and cooling of the water or liquid. When the washer system is eventually used, the water spray is dispersed onto the windshield resulting in the bacteria being carried in the water droplets which then become airborn and inhaled by the person. This bacteria then grows in the lungs and results in a condition known as Legionnaires Disease. If you would like further information related to these circumstances, a simple Internet search will provide you with further information to these specific circumstances as a result of using only water or low-level anti-bacterial agents. These accounts were especially well documented in the UK. I will not post direct links on this forum as there is an ample amount of scientific information available through the NHS and various media outlets.
It's an interesting theory but it's a bacteria which a cabin filter should easily be able to filter. I suppose if it's in the system and you use the windshield washer fluid with the window down, that'd be one way to get infected. But whenever I use it, the windows are up and I'm inside the car. It's no fun getting splashed by your own windshield washer fluid.
 
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