No water for my wipers ? frozen

Cerocco

I'm a girl so don't know much about what goes on under the hood (thats not to say all girls are like this before i get lambasted)

Anyhew my problem is since the big freeze no water is coming out for my wipers. The car was sitting idol last week cuz i was away but I brought it for a 5 hr round trip today and it still hasn't thawed out. I know the fuse isn't blown as I can hear it trying to push out the water. Could it still be frozen after 5 hrs driving or should I bring it into a garage. Its a big problem for me as i drive for a living and the sh1t that is being thrown on the windscreen is making it near impossible to see after 5 mins driving and I have to go to Limerick on Monday!!!! Can anyone advise me

copacetic

there is a bit of ice stuck in the bit the water comes out of, it's a pin hole sized exit in a piece of black plastic below the wipers above the bonnet. clear it with a pin, or pour lukewarm warm water on them. Either that or there is no water left?

patrickc

im having the exact same issue, i drove carlow-bantry -carlow today and still have no water. had to keep slowing/stopping and putting water on the window with a bottle.

im imagining its the pipes because looking in my resevoir for the washer fluid thats not frozen.

im hoping they thaw themselves, otherwise might be case of taking them off, and unblocking them with warm water.

i tried clearing the spray heads on mine but didnt work for me

shinikins

Could be the tubes connecting the resevoir to the jets that are frozen, had a similar problem with my car.

I ran the engine for about 15 minutes to get it heated up and then topped the resevoir up with hot water and kept filling it when it over flowed. Poured some on the jets too, and hey presto!! Jets work again!

I'd bring a big bottle of water with me on monday too though, just in case, the roads are mucky and throw loads of crap up onto the windows, and out of 6 petrol stations i stopped at yesterday, not one had water!!!

wyndham

I had this problem last week. Bought a bottle of all weather screen wash in the petrol station for 2 euro. You're supposed to mix it 1:4 parts water but I just poured it in neat and then topped up the water bottle to the top. Solved my problem. It should be done anyway as your water bottle could crack in the car when the frozen water expands.

Mint Sauce

Last week the water in my resevour was slushy despite having antifreeze screen wash in there, and no wash coming out when turning the washers on.

Left car running for about 15 minutes, some warm water over the noozles, some of the lines that I could see (avoiding any electrical cables) and some in the resevour, stiring it with the handle of my window scraper to break up for the slush, held on the washers after all this, seen the wash ozzing though the nozzles, repeated the whole thing with warm water, after a few goes she eventually cleared.

Cerocco

Thanks for the advise everyone, i'll get on the case tomorrow. Fingers crossed

Stealthirl

could also be that 1 of the pipes poped of a conector if any of the above doseant work.

Lex Luthor

the washing fluid I buy is from Tesco and even fully concentrated only works down to -5

not sure what the other brands are like but for the time being the diluted stuff is a waste.

I had a bottle of 50/50 mix in the shed and it was practically frozen solid when I took it out yesterday

the lines feeding the nozzles are very narrow so any bit of slush will stop the fluid getting through. if you can hear the pump running chances are its just frozen fluid in there

DublinDilbert

Esso have a concentrated one that works down to -65, so you can add about 4L of water to it to get protection down to -16. Get a kettle of warm water pour some over the jets, if that doesn't work pour some into the reservoir.

Once you get it working again run the washers to drain of a good bit of the water in there and put a bottle of the Esso concentrate in there.

Cerocco

Thanks everyone, tried everything and popped into a mechanic and he told me that the parts that push the water onto the screen are banjaxed. He managed to partially free the driver side but said I need new ones. Don't think he was pulling a fast one cuz he didn't charge me for the work. Ho Hum!! at least I wasn't like other poor fcuker in there whos head gasket?? was shot and they told him he would need a new engine :eek:

rainbowdrop

Had the exact same problem myself OP (I'm also a girl;)). Thought it might be that the jets were blocked, so tried unblocking them with a pin. That didn't work so I had to give in and consult a male(my Dad). Took him two seconds to diagnose that the tube to the water reservoir had popped off, probably due to the cold.

At least I'l now what to check if it happens again!!

djimi

I found that the trick to unblocking frozen washers is not just to run the engine but to park the car up somewhere indoors (car park or the like; away from the outside cold) for a while when the engine is still warm. This worked for me last year; driving the car for a while made no difference but parking it in the garage when the engine was warm melted everything.

astrofool

Best thing I did was to buy a 5l bottle of screen wash just before the snow kicked in. Been filling the washer up with it neat, and I've had working screen washers every day Works well in the morning as well when trying to clear the wind screens of ice.

Mint Sauce

My resevour had at one point 1/4 screen wash during the snow and ice over the last fortnight, if I had been stopped at a check point just after using the washers I would have been breathilised for sure due to the smell of alcohol from them.