RallyQ

Hey everyone... Had my 15 Q5 for 4 months now and it has been a brutal winter as we all know... so the other day my LOW WW fluid light comes on , so I filled it within 2 hours when I got back to my house. I use the orange Rain-X as I have for years. The light doesn't go right out as expected so I figure it will after a little while. Here we are Monday (4 days) and still on... So I called my dealers Service Dept and explain my issue and they right away ask " do you use Rain-X fluid ?" Yes ... of course ! This IS Western NY after all.... !

Seems rain-x may have changed the ingredients and what happens is there is a waxy build up on the sensor in the reservoir that needs to be cleaned off.... the only way to get to the sensor is pull the wheel and inner fender skirt , pull the sensor ,clean it ( probably just gets wiped off) and re-install everything ! $60 for the cleaning .... So I guess the moral of the story is AVOID Rain-X washer fluid as much as I love it .... the Service Writer said it MAY self clean after a few full tanks (basically a years worth lol) of reg blue fluid or may not . I'm going to see if I CAN drain the reservoir and fill it with blue and see if I can get a bottle washing brush in there to maybe clean it ... . Not sure who to be pissed at (Rain-X will be hearing from me btw) but Audi for their usual German ****-retentive Engineering! lol .... live and learn !

RostyVyg

Quick fix for poor souls who suffered from evil Rain-X. Go to nearest pharmacy, buy two 22 oz bottles of 91% isopropyl rubbing alcohol. Empty your washer fluid reservoir by constantly running the pump for 2 min. Pour both bottles of rubbing alcohol into reservoir. Put a few drops of dishwasher soap in each empty bottle, fill with hot water (I used my instant hot water faucet in the kitchen) - be careful, use thick gloves. Add hot water/soap mix into the reservoir. Drive around a bit to have it mixed, spray windshield (and back window if Avant) for a few seconds until Rain-X stops coming out and your clean soapy mix starts spraying and leave your car for an hour. The light will be gone by then. Use the soapy mix as usual washer fluid (if summer) or drain it immediately (if winter) then re-fill with blue liquid, or any Prestone brand washer fluid. God luck and good speed.

Rosty.

vtsquid

Found out the hard way on my wife's A4 about the Rain X.Been using it for years though.

RallyQ

Rosty ... thanks ... I didn't think of the Rubbing Alcohol.... I was planning on just draining ( siphon) the Orange RainX and replacing it with the Blue stuff( most have the isopropyl alcohol in it),but your method sounds like an easy , faster fix at least . Thanks for the info !

LJ

RallyQ

Rosty ,

Thanks ... I did my Rain-X CLEANSE yesterday and it worked like a charm ..... I used 2 32 oz bottles of 70% ......People ... the design of the Washer Fluid Reservoir is such that you can NOT put in a hose to siphion it out ! I tried a piece of 3/8" vac hose but due to a baffle at the very top.... there is no way to get the hose down into the canister ... so .... just run it thru the nozzles (don't need to do the rear washer btw) until it stops , fill with the mixture , then run till it runs clear .... it was in the tank MAYBE 45 mins and the warning light was off ... so it's not a long procedure in the least.
Later last night after work ( in the pouring rain no less! ) I ran out 90% of the isopropyl alcohol mixture and filled it with Blue fluid.... I figured I'd leave a little Alc mix in for the time being... next time it'll all be blue !