How to renew the yellowed plastic overflow and windshield washer tanks

Bmachine

Bmachine

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I had to get a new brake fluid reservoir and of course, the other two plastic tanks now look horrible by comparison.

Instead of buying new ones, is there a method to make the existing ones look white again?

A google search seems to indicate that bleach (which was my original thought) does not work well. But Drano or Liquid Plumber do.

Has anyone tried those? Any luck? Any other solutions?

Thank you.
 
Once the plastic is yellow it will never become white again, the heat and gasses in the engine compartment turn them that way. For some reason the cap turns a little darker than the tank. I have soaked mine for a week in "environmentally friendly" solutions, scrubbed and dubbed and you can get all the dirt off but it won't turn white again. The brake/clutch reservoir will turn darker to match soon enough :)
 
+1 on what Peter says, for dirt and grease on those parts I clean with brake cleaner, that will get them as clean as they will get.
 
yellow W/W reservoir

Hey, I was just thinking about how to go about this. Saved me some trouble. Thanks! Will clean as per Steve's suggestion and call it a day. On to other stuff, like that rear parcel shelf/ hat rack.;) Mike
 
mellow yellow...

Cant argue much the previous two posts, but I have had some improvement with a slurry of 'Soft Scrub with bleach' as a "marinade/gravy" that covers the piece generously, and then put in a big ziploc baggie in the sun for a few days, rotate occasionally...there are some Youtube posts on using bleach, especially in the hot sun for plastic...the soft scrub seems to help with the adheshion to the plastic part...mileage may vary...
Dave V. in hot western NC
 
Is beauty only skin deep?

Not all plastics are identical and, depending upon their construction and exposure to the elements, tend to degrade at different rates.

With respect, I was given a pristine-looking plastic windshield washer fluid vessel that was said to have received the UV light treatment for its good looks. Problem was the plastic was brittle and leaked when the pump was installed (epoxy to the short-term rescue). I am currently using a plastic coolant overflow tank. It looks nice except for where I scratched it with a finger nail probing around the filler neck for superficial spider cracks . It may have far more life left but the bloom is forever off this jaundiced rose.

I suppose old tires could be just as good as new if they were revulcanized rather than coated with silicone. Similar observations can be made regarding beautiful looking upholstery, the upper vinyl dash and sun visors, unless they are placed behind guard rails under glass with appropriate low level indoor lighting.
 
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I just checked and a new coolant overflow is close to $100 and depending on which model of washer fluid tank it is either $60 or $100.

I am definitely going to try the above methods.

Thanks everyone!
 
and keep at least 1/3 full of washer fluid in it whether you use it or not, it dissapates heat out of the plastic from the exhaust right under it.
 
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