More IceAdvice: How do I stop my screenwash freezing?

Bought "Winter Screenwash" from the Shell garage yesterday.
One bottle readymixed (good to -5°C) & one bottle concentrate.

Been a lot colder than -5 here so I added the concentrate into the readymix, hoping to create an unfreezable SuperWash.

Frozen solid again this morning! The washers are supposed to be heated, but they were only just starting to dribble a bit by the time I got to work.

So any tips? What do they use in properly cold countries?

I doubt you can keep them unfrozen all the time. Our car has heated washers, but it's only the jets that are heated, not the whole system. So it's the pipes that freeze up and you need engine heat to stop that. And in cold weather the engine takes longer to get hot.

I always used off the shelf from the garage and never had a problem ( living west of boston, usa and temps alot colder )

I'd guess the line is frozen… was the fluid reservoir empty when you put the new solution in, or was there perhaps a good bit of old "summer use" washer fluid… again it's probably that thats frozen up.. nothing to do but wait till it warms up abit ( july ?? ) and run washer fluid for awhile.

You can get better rated additive from Motor Factors. The one I saw was in a bright red bottle.

Windscreen needs to have warmed up – otherwise you are putting the liquid onto a minus whatever surface and adding the windchill as you drive. Pretty hard for anything not to freeze. Am in Canberra and we get quite a few low temps in winter – have found the best is to spray meths from a bottle onto the glass to clear the windscreen – alcohol has a lower freezing pt and mixes with the ice and defrosts glass. Not really sure if this is good for the duco long term though – Company car…
Start car – turn on demister/heat, heated seats – wait and finish coffee – drive off!

did you use the washers after you put the concentrate in and did you put quite a bit of concentrate in?

Mine have been ok, but I've been running a high concentration mix for a few weeks.

was the fluid reservoir empty when you put the new solution in, or was there perhaps a good bit of old "summer use" washer fluid

It was completely empty, and there's been plenty of winter solution through it already this year!

oh yes, and wait a few miles anyway for everything to warm up – cold screenwash onto a frozen screen makes a lovely frosted glass effect.

Windscreen needs to have warmed up – otherwise you are putting the liquid onto a minus whatever surface

Windscreen is heated and was clear. It's the actual washer jets (or the lines) that have frozen up.

did you use the washers after you put the concentrate in..

Yep.

and did you put quite a bit of concentrate in?

All of it.

The Halfords double concentrate isn't bad

I do wonder why car manufacturers put the washer pipes between the insulation & the bonnet skin

& … when will they make washer system that doesn't involve the wipers being operated at the same time
Cars used to be like this

GGRRRRRRRR……… 😀

In Canada, we had either pink-coloured summer wash (good to around +5c) and blue-coloured winter wash (good to around -50c). I have never heard of 'good to -5c'. I mean, what's the point?

Having said that, it does sound like your lines were frozen due to previous liquid in them.

ok… just starting to guess now… where is the reservoir in relation to the windshield? .. some cars I've seen stupidly put the reservoir near the front of the engine compartment meaning the fluid has so much further to travel ( and get icy ) on the way to windshield.

when will they make washer system that doesn't involve the wipers being operated at the same time

Yeah the Ford one does three wipes, then a pause, then one more wipe. Works great until no wash comes out and it wipes anyway, smearing crap all over the window. 🙄 It could at least only operate the wipers when it detects that wash has actually been dispensed.

Replace with Vodka

and you put all the concentrate in… forgive me as I'm not familiar with this stuff ( always used ready mix )
any chance the resulting fluid is too viscous , too thick, for the poor little washer pumps to handle

*bracing for the ridicule.. too viscous?????*

Z-11, now there is an idea !!, and if you ever get stuck in a snow bank you have emergency supplies on hand.

Sounds like the bottle of concentrate was water plus colouring….opps in the factory. Oh well its Summer – no- one will know… 😉

I find the best solution for finally unclogging the system is to stop the car for a while once the engine is warm and switch the engine off, the heat from the engine then soaks up through the bonnet rather than being circulated by the cooling system. Not much help on a 10 minute commute, but on longer trips I just pull over after half an hour and get a coffee, when I come back they're sorted.

Works with some cars but not others, my old polo used to have the water jets on the bonnet but about 4 inches behind the fire wall, where warmth would never ever reach them. My current merc van has them on the wiper blades leaving about a foot of the water line exposed to windchill.

I think with some designs it doesn't seem to matter how good screenwash is if the jets or the waterlines are exposed enough they just seem to freeze anyway

and you put all the concentrate in… forgive me as I'm not familiar with this stuff ( always used ready mix )
any chance the resulting fluid is too viscous

Don't think so.

Both were the big blue Shell Winter Screenwash range.
The concentrate instructions were to mix 1.5-part water to 1-part concentrate to create the equivalent of the ready-mixed stuff.

My mix of ready-mix + concentrate was certainly a lot bluer, but didn't seem particularly thick or sticky.

Mine has heated washersthat come on automaticaly when temp drops beloew 5 degrees.
Sorted

Isopropyl Alcolhol should do the trick lovely: Freezing point of -86 degC plus it's a great cleaner and degreaser

It is, however, a bit "burny" as they say in science.

graham… move south?

( and my comment about Boston being colder?.. I guess I should have actually looked where you were *L* … a cold January day I don't think I'd want to be in either location )

Mine has heated washers

I think mine does too (07 Ford Focus). If it does then it didn't help much.

come on automaticaly when temp drops beloew 5 degrees.

How does that work when it's -12° overnight, but only -4 when you get up and start the engine?

Some cars are good, others are crap – irrelevent of paying for a 'heating' pack. My wifes Freelander works great, no heat – my Beemer is crap even though its s stonking V8 generating a serious amount of heat.

Be careful not to have too thick a mix, as this will block the jets.

And to answer a 'poster', linked wipers/washers were introduced to save you having to do both separately… first car I remember driving with them was a high-spec Renault 5 my mum had (1983ish), absolute pain in winter/dirty weather/roads.

Isopropyl Alcolhol should do the trick lovely

Ideal. Spray it on the window then light it = instant defrost 😀

snow melt/water build up on the jet exists themselves (i.e. not washer fluid – partially melted and re-frozen or frost build up) ??

have found the best is to spray meths from a bottle onto the glass to clear the windscreen

I bet your paint is lovely after all that!

Bloke at work reckons the Halfords Premium stuff is good down to stupidly low temperatures. -20 or less, I think he said.

Mine tends to freeze at between -2 & -3, but that is a 50/50 mix as recommended on the bottle. Will probably go for neat next time or get some lower temp stuff.

Have you tried keeping the screenwash pump running, even is there a tiny dribble coming out keeping the wash on will eventually free it after what seems a painfully long time.

washers are supposed to be heated

Are they linked to the rear heated window…I believe mine (Mondeo) are only heated whilst the rear window heater is on…i.e. not long enough to unblock frozen jets

I think they are linked to the front heated windscreen, same as the mirrors.

Bloke at work got a ticking off from the police yesterday…he had cleared the ice from his screen but they stopped him due to salt build up that he was unable to clear due to frozen washers. Can't have been that bad as he only has a 5 mile commute!

I've seen photos of cars where people have extended the washer line, and wrapped a section of pipe around a coolant pipe before continuing it to the jets. Obviously you have to identify a pipe before the thermostat otherwise it won't get hot for ages…

Won't help defrost the jets themselves though. Maybe they need a redesign…if that last unheated section of pipe was able to self drain through a one-way valve, there would be nothing to freeze 🙂 There would just be a short delay whilst the pipes refilled before getting a squirt of hot water.

Like skidartist, my van has pipes across the wipers rather than bonnet jets…they normally stay frozen all day.

On the Mondeo thing, I thought the heated washer jets and mirrors were linked to the rear windscreen demister…

Cheesyfeet – Meths in Canberra is actually ethanol plus colour/taste agent to stop idiots drinking it. ie same stuff as alcohol. As has been said very low freezing temp – only needs a couple of sprays to clear screen. And it was a company car – they go backwards at 80 and run on no oil…!

CarPlan Sub-zero… -22
SubZero

yep – Mondeo heated mirrors linked to rear heater also

u get heated washers?
um i could do with advice…my current unfreezing plan for getting the washers un frozen is to start the engine and 5 mins into my journey start pulling the squirt lever untill they squirt. will this burn out my pump as back one hasnt worked for 2 weeks now…

Mondeo heated mirrors linked to rear heater also

fair enough – maybe it's rear. Don't have the manual handy. They were both on anyway.

That Car Plan stuff look like the business. Mind you they were fine on the way home today. I'll see what tomorrow brings.

Add a bit of anti-freeze coolant?? 😀 😀 😀

DONT!!

it's menna be ok down to -40. Sure it's the actual screenwash freezin and not just the nozzles? If it actually is then just make it stronger.