Washer bottle / expansion tank cleaning

The place to pick up tips on bringing that showroom shine back to your E30.

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poolnoodle
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Post Tue Nov 10, 2009 9:13 am

G'day, Doing some engine bay detailing and wondering if anyone has any tips for cleaning the inside of the window washer bottle and radiator expansion tanks?
I heard somewhere that vinegar works??
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gooner1
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Post Tue Nov 10, 2009 12:43 pm

Have tried several ways to clean one, vinegar, baking soda and domestic cleaners.
None worked for me, so i bit the bullet and bought a new expansion tank.
Having seen the prices you, antipodean chaps, are charged for spares though have you
thought about painting the bottles black :?: Cliffybabe over here is currently doing
just that atm, i believe.
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dazleeds
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Post Tue Nov 10, 2009 12:45 pm

i always meant to paint mine black for the tech 1 and they were brand new lol

cleaning them never seems to work they just end up looking worse
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Cloggy Saint
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Post Tue Nov 10, 2009 12:46 pm

Yep, forget geting the expansion tank clean, I tried everything, bleach, vinegar etc etc and it still stayed brown. 40 euros for a nice clean new one was money well spent. The washer bottle is much easier, any soap and a bottle-cleaning brush will bring it up nice again.
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andye30nut
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Post Tue Nov 10, 2009 7:29 pm

i have use of a decarboniser 80% pure acid 300oc and it cleaned mine up but still had brown marks etc. buy a stainless steel itemthey look the part.
bobbin1982
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Post Tue Nov 24, 2009 10:22 pm

I read on here somewhere that putting them in a dishwasher works a treat... never tried it as i dont have a dishwasher lol...

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Post Wed Dec 16, 2009 5:45 pm

Ive just cleaned mine cause my windscreen nozzels kept getting blocked.

Just washed the inside with a brush init and soapy water.
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BEERBOY123
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Post Mon Jan 18, 2010 6:20 pm

Bleach worked on my washer bottle a treat when I'd all but given up. I put a strong bleach and hot water solution in (bog bleach basically) and left it for about two hours with occasioanl rigourous (careful) shakes and all the crap came off from the insides. Looks lovely now. Obviously rinsed it plenty of times before I put it back on. May have helped that I mixed the bleach with very hot water too. All I'll say if you try this is wear gloves and do it carefully (and sober).
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