How to Stop Wind Screen Washer Fluid Freezing

Adding household ammonia, also a good cleaner, will lower the freezing point.

Thanks i will try that,

Possibly Meths and House hold ammonia to help with freezing and cleaning of glass

http://www.ehow.com/list_6246403_physical-properties-household-ammonia.html

Funnily enough i was looking at that,

as vodka has freezing point of -40 ish

also if you get stuck in snow you could drink it

using the excuse for the officer " i was adjusting my washers officer and they started working and sprayed vodka into my mouth"

thanks

On a more serious note, the prob is often the nozzles freeze up due to the extra wind chill of the wind wistling over them, also the damn wipers freeze so they don't pivot and flex correctly to clean the screen.
Just hope we get a mild spell over Christas as I don't fancy trying to drive round the M25 to my parents if it's freezing.
Del

I like this idea, I would need a 3rd hose to my mouth though.

Vodka splash just by pulling the handle. Awesome. Must be Absoute though.

It's not supposed to get that cold there.........what happened to global warming?

24°F Here this morning, been stoking the wood stove since 5 AM.

According to the global warming experts it is supposed to be colder in Europe and warmer in Canada. Warmer in Canada could still be well below Siberia. Any warmth we get ...yahoo! Imagine the Floridians becoming snow birds (what they call Canadians that winter in Florida).

Anyway to get on topic, we use windshield washer fluid and can readily purchase it in any hardware/department store. Generally costs are $1.49/4 liter container and good for 35 below C. Colder fluids are available, but where I live, it never gets that cold. We tend to use some sort of prepared fluid all year round even if water works in the summer. If your line is frozen you may have to get the car in a heated area for a few hours and once thawed make sure you pump windshield washer fluid through it. Check your radiator for antifreeze and make sure it is good for at least minus 35. Some people who let their gas tanks run low may get frozen condensate and then you will need gas line antifreeze. You can check with this manufacturer. They may sell direct or tell you where in UK or Europe it is available.

Ain't winter fun. Welcome to my world. Are there good ski resorts in UK.

There might be a slight twist to all this. I don't know how many different types of plastic, rubber seals, gasket lube, etc. might be present in a windshield washer pump, but you don't want to damage any of these parts.

Denatured alcohol or methylated spirits as you call it should do the trick. Use it straight has a melting point of -150° F. You need to check the label for concentration. Some products maybe diluted. Use no water just add a detergent. Couple drops of dish detergent to a gallon should do.

I don't know about that ozzb. Wouldn't atomized straight alcohol evaporate too quickly to be effective as a windshield washer?

I think bruce may have had a point too, on the effects of alcohol on rubber seals.

I won't bring up "melting point", I'm sure it was a typo.

I have use denatured alcohol to clean steel. Have applied it with spray bottle it doesn't evaporate that quickly. That's done in the summer and we are talking winter now.

As far as it's effects on the rubber seals. Have not seen any damage to o-rings that I cleaned with it. Ethanol has many application to make antifreeze. Its use to winterize boats fresh water systems. All types of plastics and rubbers in a faucet. Then there is it's use as fuel in stoves the pumps have seals.

Is not the melting point the same as the freezing point?

ethanol -173° F: methanol -143° F Since it's a mixture I thought -150° F close enough. Will really depend on who's product you use.

Sure enough! Once again, I've learned something new. The temps are roughly the same, I just hadn't heard melting point used in reference to a liquid before.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melting_point

How does that affect wax and paint/gelcoat finishes? I'd be a little wary.

The wax is to protect the finish it is something that needs to be done continuously. The tons of salt on the road will have just as much harm. The alcohol will have little effect on the finish unless the vehicle been freshly painted. Then I would not recommend denatured alcohol use. I would also not recommend driving around in a freshly painted car in such weather either.

It will be no where near as bad to the finish as the tree you slide into will. Because you could not see out of the windshield because it's frozen over.

You can do what one car manufacture did in the Soviet Union. They simply connected the siphon for the windshield washer to the antifreeze in the radiator.

Just ignore the trail of dead wildlife behind you.

Go and buy it from some place that actually get cold. Our wiper fluids around here have a -40 F rating right off the shelf.

Until now I wasn't aware it came in anything less.

I thought about that ie getting it from somewhere cold, But would like in next few days.

I have tried Methylated Spirits and thats working now.

But a bit Expensive @ £2.88 for 500 ml

trouble is in UK no one prepares for the possibility that the weather will freeze us down to -18 its such a rare event.

and as i said the off the shelf stuff only protects to -7

there is some stuff at halfords thats good down to -20 they say but i have some of that and it froze last night.

Isopropyl alcohol is cheap and does not freeze. Same with ethanol.

This is a trick I learned a long time ago and it has never failed me. My washer fluid has never frozen up.

Not what you asked but I also suggest not having products such as Rain-X on the windshield or in the washer fluid. I can't explain why but I always have more trouble with frozen #%@! on the windshield with these products in the fluid or on the glass.

" Not what you asked but I also suggest not having products such as Rain-X on the windshield or in the washer fluid. I can't explain why but I always have more trouble with frozen #%@! on the windshield with these products in the fluid or on the glass."

Hi re rain x i have noticed from past use of the stuff that it works well in the rain, but when frosty the glass forms a sort of mist that cannot be cleared until the glass warms up, Thus actually making visibility worse with the use of Rain-X.

Tried on rear wind on this car just in case, and as it did on my other car i used it on, Once the ice has been cleared there remains a mist like covering that will only disappear when the glass is warmed up

thanks for your reply

I don't know which Rain-X product you are using but I use the orange stuff made for icy conditions. I started using it about 3 years ago and it is my exclusive product for all vehicles. I have even gone so far as to tape over the reservoir fill to keep well meaning maintenance people from filling with the blue crap. I drive 70 miles per day on interstate in western NY USA and find the product to be perfect. Also on frosty mornings the frozen water vapor wipes off because it is not well adhered to the glass.

Abner I think they are talking about the RainX product you apply directly to the glass to make rain bead up and blow off the windshield not the washer fluid.

yes i was talking about the rain-x you apply direct to the windscreen i had not heard of the stuff the other guy was talking about,

By the way since using meths in the washer bottle its been fine

thanks for all your advice

Isopropyl alcohol is best. Wood alcohol if you can get it. Ethanol as a last and most exensive choice becuase it is usually denatured (made poisonous), and you don't know what they denatured it with. I have had denatured alcohol leave streaks on glass. Your mileage may vary.

You don't use it straight. You mix it. Here is a chart for you.

Pour a little of the stuff unmixed straight in your fuel tank, to keep ice from clogging your fuel lines. Don't need much, just a couple ounces. It will combine with water or ice to make a flammable mixture which will actually burn.

Methyl alcohol is pretty much the same as isopropyl alcohol, at least for this purpose. Mix it with the windshield fluid you use now until it won't freeze. You don't have to add much...say twenty to twenty five percent methanol to get a really good windshield washer antifreeze. Here is a chart for you.

Try not to drink it.

Finally, the voice of a Canadian. We can also buy in-line heaters here for your windshield washer lines, spray warm fluid on windscreen, though I've never used one.

Hee hee..I bought one of those...cracked my windshild with the thermal shock. In fairness, it WAS about forty below... My neighbour used to dump a bucket of water on his windshield to avoid scraping off the frost. He tossed a couple litres of hot water on it one morning, figuring it would warm the windshield and he could get going. Imagine his surprise to see his windshield in about a million pieces on his dash! Oh well...like my old grandaddy always said..."sometimes ya jest gotta piss on de electric fence yerself to larn not ta do it!"

I also wonder about people who put cardboard in front of their radiators in the winter. I can't help but wonder if they have a solid understanding of why there is a radiator there in the first place. But thats off topic....grin!

Oh, and thanks for the "good answers" guys...I try!

We put the cardboard over the radiators, mostly on small engined vehicles, because some times its so cold that little bit of coolant that gets past the thermostat is still enough to prevent the engine from properly warming up when idling or the heater draws enough heat off that the engine cant keep up with the parasitic losses from both.

However most of the time the cardboard still has a gap between it and the radiator so its not a perfect or full seal just a partial blockage to reduce surface area.

What it all comes down to is the simple principal of no warm engine no warm interior or clean windows.

excellent answer thanks, best so far i knew someone would know.

again thanks

Methylated Spirits

Mineralised Methylated Spirits is a virgin alcohol prepared for industrial use. Suitable for use as a solvent for knotting, spirit based varnishes, some spirit based paints and French polish. Methylated Spirits can also be used as a cleaner for paintwork, glassware and for wiping resinous matter from knots prior to knotting. It is also commonly used as a fuel for heating/cooking. Commonly known as Denatured Alcohol, Ethanol (Ethyl Alcohol) is mixed with a small quantity of Methanol to make it unfit for consumption, and dyed purple.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methylated_spirits

Rats! bob c, you beat us to it.

LynDoor Motor Industries™ has this project (similar anyway) in R & D. I guess the first to publish is the winner. Good idea, by the way, and GA.

Well, there seems to be little threat of someone beating us to the punch with our line of pre-rusted lawn tools we are preparing to offer...

Wood Alcohol, Methyl alcohol, & methanol are names for the same product. Just as methylated spirits is a different name for denatured alcohol. The methylated coming from the mixture of methanol with ethanol to denature it and make unfit for human consumption.

Here in the states there are inexpensive battery warmer that might be usable on a WW jar. Are they sold there?

not that i have hard of yet. but might be worth buying cheap heated socks and removing the heating element.

I once have my new full face helmet visor fog up so badly that I drove my motorbike through a fallen tree..... (huge tea tree that had blown over in a storm)

Ahem.....

Ummmm I saw a set of tables once on the freezing point of water, based upon how much alcohol was added to it.

A thought... as well as defrosting the wind screen from the inside - using warm air, can you rig up some kind of a blower to take warm air from the engine compartment // cooling system, and to drive it out "upwards" out of the engine bay?

To make a sort of laminar set of air flows over the front of the bonnet - so a thick warm stream runs up and over the windscreen and a layer of ambient air flows over that?

You could also try making a gap at the rear of the bonnet (hood) to allow hot air from engine to escape up and over windshield. Did this on a car in the past; not very good at speed, but it helped.

It's no good adding low-temp antifreeze, (-20C) to your washer bottle because the water already in the bottle will dilute it. Before the Winter I always empty the washer bottle and fill it with neat antifreeze. Flush this through the pipes and jets and you are ready for the worst.

I find that at very low temperatures the windscreen stays pretty clean, snow just blows over the glass without sticking. Using the wipers is a 'last-resort', usually when driving on busy roads which have been salted.

Always carry a squeezy bottle full of neat antifreeze in the vehicle to squirt directly onto the windscreen, (and another bottle of water/antifreeze solution to use generally) and carry plenty of old towels to wipe off the dirt if the washer jets do freeze up.

Whatever you do, don't drive when your visibility is impaired - better to stop and clean the windscreen regularly than end up under the back of a lorry with a mouth full of tailboard!

I used to manufacture de icer/cleaner.Methanol is the active ingredient,at least 50%.A very small drop of non sudsing detergent(Calgon),a little color,and WALLA! Winshield Cleaner/De icer.

In answer to Your question "how do we in colder climes keep the fluid from freezing"

Here in Chicago the fluid already comes in a bottle pre mixed to keep from freezing.

oilcan13

That's what I use. It also helps a little bit to melt ice on the windshield, and to prevent the wipers from icing up.

It really depends on the actual concentration of the wiper fluid in the bottle. Stay away from the cheaper stuff as it's very much diluted. If the concentration of the methyl is high you must dilute it some with water for it to be more effective (lowers the freezing point more, just like radiator anti-freeze).

Special winter Rain-X works great! Also, straight rubbing alcohol works great too!

As for windshield wiper blades, buy the special ones constructed for winter that have the rubber sleeve molded around the blade arms. That sleeve keeps the metal/plastic wiper blade arms from freezing-up, the remainder of the blade flexible and stops the salt streaking. I don't know if they're available anywhere in the UK, but you can buy them on Ebay relatively cheap. Around here in upstate NY we can get them relatively easy....even Walmart has them in the Auto section.

Good luck!

CaptMoosie I like the newer wiper blades that are flexible contour blades because the winter wiper blades with the rubber boots have a tendency to lift off the windshield on the highway.

Here in "the peoples republic of kallifoornia" they have outlawed the antifreeze part of washer fluid because it "hurts the environment"...... but the people get to drive blinded by a frozen windshield. Squirting more of the "environmentally safe" fluid, if it's not already frozen in the tank just adds to the thickness if the ice on the windshield.

But of coarse I am being sarcastic because this helps the economy, what with the crashed cars, medical bills, police and fire department and funeral home profiting from the elimination of the antifreeze. We can't let some chemical company profit by increasing the safety of the public, can we?

Now that you got electric cars you can just squirt electrons onto the windshield.

This is going to sound crazy,I know but try it,you'll see:

If you have room in your 4x4 or vehicle, put a bale of hay in the back.It will generate enough heat to prevent frosting of the windshield.

QED

WOW!! You're absolutely right!! It DOES sound crazy!

The only way hay will generate heat is if it molding or rotting from being wet from being bailed to green or having been left out in the rain.

Now do you really want a rotting moldy block of hay in your back seat just to keep the window clean?

On the other hand In her book of household management Mrs. Beeton recommends a bucket of rotting hay placed in the centre of a room to take away the smell of new paint: so maybe if you threw a tin of emulsion all over the back seat as well.....

When all else fails and as a last resort, where the WW nozzles freeze and there's an accumulation of streaked salt spray on the windshield that's impairing my visibility, I always am prepared to pull over into a safe area, pull on the Winter gloves and throw plenty of clean wet snow onto the windshield and then work the wipers until it clears the smeared crappola.....repeat as necessary! Also, stop frequently, as necessary, for safety's sake. Also, I always carry a couple of squirt/pump bottles full of rubbing alcohol for spritzing the windshield occasional, especially while driving towards a rising or setting sun.

Additionally, make sure that the inside surface of the windshield is thoroughly clean of tobacco smoke (if you're a smoker) and other contaminants, including any and all moisture........Rain-X makes a good interior windshield product that helps minimize these surface conditions.

Much safer this way then driving blind!

Wow!!! This thread is still going?

When it gets sooo bad my windshield wash freezes and I can't see through the windshield, I stay home.

It's not worth it to leave......everybody is either stuck or crashing into things anyway. I just make sure to keep enough adult beverages on hand to see me through..........................and no, I'm not pouring good vodka into my wash reservoir!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well then, how about used vodka? will it contain sufficient alcohol to prevent freezing?

"But you don't understand officer, I was just trying to prevent my washer fluid from freezing."

Were you thinking of putting it in the washer bottle; or, just standing on the bonnet (US hood).

Whatever seems appropriate at the time.

Fill the bottle with ever clear,that should do it,if it doesn't eat the plastic.

Whats ever clear ?

have you a link to it ?

basically its 180 -190 proof pure ethanol.

My mom used to give a shot to my brother and I every time we gave her a headache.

Its probably why I never got into drinking as I grew up. I already had too high of tolerance to do me any good.

This will do!

a little overkill i think but yes it would work

Yes, but have you considered its carbon footprint?