Windscreen wash, pipes frozen!

r3nu4l

We've had a few freezing mornings where I live (-4C this morning) and my windscreen wash pipes seemt o be freezing up.

The actual wash in the container isn't frozen but when I pull the stick for a jet of water I get nothing until later in the day when it's not as cold. The jets work fine once the pipes have thawed so it's not a blockage.

Can anyone suggest a way to stop this happening as I've had some very scary experiences where the windscreen is full of dirt and I can't see. I'm carrying a bottle of water in teh mornings to throw over the windscreen and use the wipers to clean it but I can't keep doing this!

All help appreciated.

Saruman

Happens to everyone i would assume.. It has to any car i have ever driven anyway.
You could try mixing anti freeze into the water. Might still be frozen at first but it should get through after a while.. i need to try it myself

Oh and pouring hot or cold water over the dispenser does not help... in fact i think it just freezes it more

MarkR

Maybe it's just the nozzle frozen over with frost? Try hot water over the nozzles and make sure the dilution is ok with the wash. I know mine is just water right now. Must pick up some today!

peasant

Undiluted windscreen wash from the motor factors is safe to about -20 to -30 degrees. Top up the washer fluid with this and pump a few times so that the mixture fills all pipes and nozzles. You'll be grand then.

Seth Brundle

Saruman wrote:

Happens to everyone i would assume..

Not me - I have heated washer jets!

Saruman wrote:

You could try mixing anti freeze into the water. Might still be frozen at first but it should get through after a while.. i need to try it myself

Presumably when you say antifreeze you mean washer fluid with a low freezing temp rather than the paint stripper that goes inside the engine!

prospect

Put undiluted anti-freeze screen wash. Use it a few times so the liquid is in the pipes and nozzle, works for me.

On another point,
NEVER put hot water on your windscreen when it is frozen. There is no need. Cold water works fine, as it is still warmer than ice! I know so many people who boil kettles for this purpose, or leave the hot tap running to get hot water, and there is simply no need. Also, pouring hot water on freezing cold glass can cause it to expand rapidly and crack.

P

r3nu4l

MarkR wrote:

Maybe it's just the nozzle frozen over with frost? Try hot water over the nozzles and make sure the dilution is ok with the wash. I know mine is just water right now. Must pick up some today!

No it ain't the nozzle, I checked that.

The wash that's in there is diluted exactly as it said to for winter motoring but I did buy some new 'Winter-grade' wash last week that I haven't tried that yet. I was waiting until the current wash was empty.

Thanks for the advice guys, I'll look at the wash bottle labels in future to see what temperatures it is safe to.

mike65

Its a pain, even if the washer jets are heater you can still have no water if the contents of the pipe are frozen, you'd think maufacturers would have developed pipes with an integral wire element so when you switch on after 30 seconds its warm.

Something discovered one morning was that cleaning a very cold screen can sinple cause the view to dissapear as the water freezes on contact! :eek:

Mike.

JohnCleary

Heated washer jets FTW

I know the pipes could be frozen, but for some odd reason it's never happened me with the new car, whereas hapened plenty with the old one

peasant

I always buy a big canister of screenwash (5 or so euro) concentrate at the motor factors. During the summer months I dilute it very much, during winter I use it almost neat ....never, ever had a problem with frozen screenwash, not even at -25 degrees one winter. Everything else was frozen stiff, screenwash still worked.

fletch

Park closer to your house if you can....my Dad parks next to the house and I park on the road. Most cold/frosty mornings my car will be completely iced over while my Dads will be clear.

r3nu4l

Hee hee,

Let me address a couple of points.

mike65 wrote:

Something discovered one morning was that cleaning a very cold screen can sinple cause the view to dissapear as the water freezes on contact!

I feel your pain brother! Has also happened to me at 80 mph on the A14 :eek: Nasty, but at that time it was my own fault as I was driving with very little screenwash and mostly water in the container.

peasant wrote:

During the summer months I dilute it very much, during winter I use it almost neat

I'm currently diluting 9 parts screenwash 1 part water as suggested on label for 'winter motoring'. And yes, I'm sure I did it that way and not the other way around

fletch wrote:

Park closer to your house if you can....

If I park any closer I'll be in the hallway, seriously, I park with the bonnet almost touching the garage door...I can't use the garage as it's an older house and the garage isn't wide enough to accomodate newer cars...unless I get a sunroof put in and use that to enter and exit the car

So, I've addressed all those issues, is there anything I could use myself to insulate the pipes without adding a fire risk? Insulating tape or foam?

peasant

I'm currently diluting 9 parts screenwash 1 part water as suggested on label for 'winter motoring'. And yes, I'm sure I did it that way and not the other way around

In that case your type of screenwas is crap:D
It simply shouldn't freeze at -5 degrees. If you have some room left in your container, put in some neat methylated spirits (the brush cleaner from your local DIY shop) and stir it a bit, if you can. That's 100% alcohol and will not freeze (plus it cleans your screen nicely). Pump that through the pipes once they're thawed and you'll be grand.

r3nu4l

Absolutely crap! I checked the bottle this morning again to be sure that it was a concentrate and not pre-made I was beginning to doubt myself.

I used to work in a lab-based environment and always used 70% ethanol in part of my dilutions, worked a treat.

I'll try the newer screen-wash at the weekend, it's a different brand so I'll let you know if there's any change

Thanks again for the replies

Darven

i have been experiencing this same problem for the last week or so. i need to put water on the windows anyhow so i thought splashing the last of the warmer water directly at the nozzles would help but it doesnt. i drive from tipp to cork and if i have any water action by the time im at the motorway i'll be lucky. would recommend using the correct antifreeze altered screen wash rather than just a bit of the normal antifreeze chucked into your screen wash tank as that stuff can be lethal on paint work even diluted.