I always get a long pause on the phone when ever I tell customers that they can pick up 50-80 hp on their diesel truck using windshield washer fluid which is then followed by "did you just say washer fluid??"
Nate
Dangerous business here- got to make 2 pistons & repair billet al head on diesel pulling tractor that thought washer fluid was a good idea instead of water..russ
Are you suggesting that a small concentration of methanol melted through two of your pistons? There are so many variables involved that I find it difficult to believe that washer fluid had enough methanol in it to cause any kind of catastrophic damage. We've got a fairly well hot rodded '04 Cummins 3500 here in the shop that is our test mule. That truck hasn't gone a day in its life with less than 70% methanol in it. Catastrophic failues are more frequently caused by overfueling conditions than water/methanol. If too much water/methanol is injected into a diesel motor it will simply quench and misfire. BTW -20 degree f washer fluid has about a 30% concentration of methanol.
Some of the "blue juice" windshield washer fluids have enough detergent additive in them, that they can clog the spray nozzles due to a build up. It appears this happens when the spray fluid has a chance to repeatedly evaporate off the nozzle, leaving behind a buildup of the detergent goop. One way to clean out the nozzles if you see that happening is to boil them in vinegar to re-dissolve the goo.
Pre-filters on the nozzles also help of you have any sort of crud floating in the lines.
Our nozzles have pre-filters built into them.
I think the lesser quality fluids probably have less detergent. Rainex with bug cleaners would probably be bad. But Snow Perf has a mixture, or I guess you could mix your own w/ your own meth. Or use Heet and washer fluid to bring the meth content up
We've seen that the lesser quality fluids usually have lower concentrations of methanol as well. -20 degree fluid usually has 25-35% methanol, 0 degree fluid usually has 10-20% methanol, and 32 degree fluid has 0-10% methanol. FYI Wal-Mart brand "SuperTec" winter blend washer fluid has one of the highest concentrations of methanol we've come across at ~36%. We do not recommend that any specialized washer fluids with bug removers or water shedders (Rain-X) be used for injection purposes. Also, washer fluid that is rated below -20 degree typically has glycol based antifreeze agents which is also a no-no for injection.
Isn't talked bout much - but instead of alky in the water- some are using hydrogen peroxide..russ
From our research and according to a number of SAE technical papers, the combustion characteristics of methanol make it act as a catalyst in a diesel. Because of its effective octane/cetane rating and combustion rate, methanol tends to work best in a diesel application.
Hope this helped.
Nate