Dear Friends,

Does anyone know what kind of windscreen wiper fluid I should be using in a 1984 300d and a 1986 126?

Thanks in adavnce,

David Rayment.

I use the Mercedes Benz Windshield-washer concentrate S additive you can buy form your local Mercedes dealer. A little bottle cost like $2. And you add it too your washer fluid.

Good Luck!
Mike

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1986 300E 138k
Board Member
Western Reserve MBCA

I bought some of this stuff too, and if I recall the label referred to washer fluid called "summmerwash" and "winterwash" which makes me suspect that MB might have their own washer fluid also?

As far as I know you can use most any winshield wash available at any parts store. You might just want to add the booster concentrate from your MB dealer or independent.

Best of Luck....Lee

I don't know if there is a MB fluid or not.
I hope there is a concentrate for MB at dealer.

In the past I could buy a concentrate at the local auto store. And use distilled water with it. The combination did not spot much at all. The .99 gallon jug spots bad here. (Texas) I've been using distilled water and nothing else(no freeze)

I can say from experience NOT to use Peak brand washer fluid. I dumped a gallon of it into my SD's reservoir and the first time I used it my windshield smeared badly. Not sure if it was "cleaning" my aging (but not cracked or torn) wiper blades but it left a whitish film all over the windshield! Also it left blue marks as it streaked along my roofline. (They came out with washing the car.) I see Prestone makes a yellowish "premium" washer fluid that is about $2 a gallon but I haven't tried it. I also have used a pinkish "premium" fluid (50/50 brand perhaps?) but I haven't seen this for sale anywhere recently. That stuff worked well. My mechanic uses a product from Wurth that works nicely, and it smells nice too :) Just my $0.02...

Robert,

I have used the yellow Prestone washer fluid. It's great for not refreezing on your wiper blades. By using this, I now don't have to install winter wipers (with the protective rubber boot). Winter blades don't seem to wipe away the water as well as regular blades (Bosch Excel is a nice one).

The only two downsides with the Prestone is 1. cost, and 2. During above freezing tempertures, there is a little hazing when the wiper goes across the windshied. It's just like tires- one set for summer and another for winter.

I bought some of this stuff too, and if I recall the label referred to washer fluid called "summmerwash" and "winterwash" which makes me suspect that MB might have their own washer fluid also?

According to 1992 W124 Owner's Manual,

mix water and MB washer fluid concetrate in summer,

mix antifreeze washer fluid (available in any parts store or gas station) and MB washer fluid concetrate in winter.

Here in Miami, it does not freeze, and I got rather tired of paying $1.00-$2.00 for Window Washer fluid, which doesn't hlast long in the w124 because it has a heater in the WW tank and evaporates rapidly.

So I recommend the following: take one gallon of tap water, add seven or eight drops of dish detergent, and a teaspoon of degreaser.

It works fine and does not seem to damage anything. If I wanted it to be blue, I could add a drop or two of food coloring, but I don't really care about the color.

This costs next to nothing, works fine, and it takes less time to prepare than to stop at the auto parts store.

If I lived farther north, I imagine I could add half a pint of isopropyl alcohol, or perhaps a half pint to a pint of gas dryer, which is methyl alcohol. You can also get methyl alcohol at Home Depot, I think.

Do NOT use MEK (Methyl, ethyl ketone) under any circumstances. It is not methyl alcohol and will strip off paint. Not good.

I bet that would keep it from freezing.

I heard dish detergent may damage paint.

MB has its own wiper wash. In tropical Singapore, only the "Summerwash" is available. It is a colourless concentrate in a little bottle. I use the entire bottle in my w126. Seems to work well; the sales people say it is better than the usual after-market brands, but my windscreen is always meticulous clean from a safety point of view that I don't really notice a difference.

While it MAY be true that dish detergent may damage pain, eight drops of it will not damage anything, just like a teaspoon of beer will not make you drunk.

It is, however, just the right amount to cut the road film, smog fallout and bug proteins and kelatins that obscure one's vision.

You could try such an ostensibly unsafe concoction on the inside of your gas filler door, or the areas under the hood where it will not show for possible damage. I am pretty sure that a weak solution of dish soap will not damage anything. eight drops to the gallon are probably safe to drink, although not with the degreaser added.

Mercedes uses extremely durable paint. The original paint on my 1985 300TD shines like new with a little wax. The paint on the 300D 2.5 is a clear-coat finish and the harsh Florda sun has burned off some of the clearcoat. There is no notable damage on any portion of either car that could be touched by my cheapo window washer solution.

Windex and other window cleaners seem to be just a weak detergent solution with a little alcohol and blue dye added. You can get windows cleanest with a 25-50% vinegar solution rubbed off with newspaper, then polished with a soft t-shirt or paper towel.

Richard.

Disconnect the heater.

Problem solved.

Louis.

The problem is not that the more expensive WW fluid dries up too often, the problem is that it is expensive.

The fact is the weak detergent solution is virtually free and not time-consuming to make.

I might actually NEED a heater in the W washer should I make a trip north (I have driven it to a potentially freezing climate once before), and then I would forget to reconnect the heater.

It is just annoying when the dash light comes on, telling me I am about to run out of WW fluid.

Richard, I'm sure your solution works just fine and will not damage the paint (although I'm not sure what you mean by "degreaser"). One thing that I might suggest is that you replace the dish detergent with car wash soap. My thinking is that the dish detergent may take your wax off, whereas most car wash soaps are designed to not do that.