RA2OR

Does anyone else have a problem with the front windshield squirters freezing up in cold weather. The back one seems to work fine (on a P5). So far the only times I have needed them were on the highway and it was about -20 to -30 degrees out. The blue fluid in there is supposed to be good to -40. Either that or the hose is disconnected which I can't see because it's burried in the wheelwell. Has anyone else had this problem?

JJB

I have not been in as cold a weather as you have, but on my old car (the junker that keeps my parking spot warm) the nozzles for the spray were on the stalks of the wipers. The washer fluid would freeze in the delivery tubes. I really do not think that the generic blue stuff makes it to the really low temps. I solved the problem by going to Rain-X winter stuff, the advertise -35degF right on the bottle and once I switched over I never had frozen fluid again.

On my current car that is what I use as well.

Pro_fan

Never had that problem and I had my Pro last winter as well and I know we hit a few really cold days. Check to see that the nozzles aren't plugged up.

nate0123

Hmm, mine haven't frozen up... but there's still these annoying little gobs of carnauba wax in there and one of the jets sprays sort of down and to the side.

Installshield

Yeah I use some kind of Rain X stuff in my P5. They claim it has some de icing agents in it as well, which makes it good for defrosting the windshield in the morning quickly. I have used it in temperatures as low as 5 to 10*F. Never had a problem with the nozzles freezing. Just looks like *** where it dries on the side of the windshield

proman

i also use the rain-x stuff. works great and haven't frozen up on me since i switched to it either

bmorton

It was -20 (-4 F) here the other morning and my passenger-side washer nozzles were mostly frozen, with only a little fluid leaking out (driver's-side worked fine). My previous car (VW) had heated washer nozzles to avoid this. Changing fluid won't help if the nozzles themselves freeze up, so best to check them before leaving home if it seems to happen often.

Alex M

Mine have frozen temporarily but it seems to be more with ice covering the nozels rather than the fluid freezing up. They seem to work about 5 minutes later. Shrug.

Pro_fan

Does the Rain-X stuff hamper the use of the wipers? I've heard of normally applied Rain-X causing wipers to chatter across the windshield.

Reason I ask is because there is a lot of crap that gets tossed up onto your windshield in the winter and normal Rain-X wouldn't do any good for it.

I'm interested in the de-icing factor of that Rain-X wiper fluid though!

thrasher

You can stick a pin or long long thin object into the nozzle and readjust it. I had to readjust both my driver side nozzles after I left the dealer as they shot up and over the car and onto my trunk.

I'll second (or third) the Rain-X washer fluid as after a bunch of squirts it acts as if you did a normal Rain-X application and water beads off nicely. With a normal Rain-X application what could happen is the chemical builds up on your wiper blades like wax causing them to chatter across your windshield as mentioned earlier in the thread.

Installshield

I never had any chattering problems. Works just like the blue stuff. I am currently using Bosch Micro Edge Excel blades or whatever they are called and they are great as well. But I never had chattering with the stock blades.

Tom Slick

i've used rain-x window treatment for years, i never get any chattering or build up, and it works really well. i just started using the castrol accu vision and it works well also. it is not quite as good as the rain-x but it is much easier to apply. you just spray it on like window cleaner and wipe it off.
rain-x washer fluid works well also.

jlanger

I usually use the cheap blue stuff. Though every now and then I'll get a bad bottle that'll freeze up on me. I usually keep a bottle bottle in the trunk and if it freezes up I throw it away. If it freezes up in the dispenser try adding some good stuff, running your car long enough for the rest to thaw out and hopefully that will lower the freezing temp for the old stuff you have.

RA2OR

Thanks guys I'll have to give that rain x a try, I seen it in the stores and because it was a couple bucks more I stuck with the blue stuff. I generally haven't had problems before, maybe a bad batch. The chattering from the wiper blades probably accurs when your windshield is dry and just means its time to shut off the wipers. I also installed a set of wiper springs ($10 can) from a uap/napa store and they give more pressure to the wipers. They work a lot better at gettting rid of frost/ice than without them. I found the pressure in stock form was very low and the wipers couldn't get rid of anything.

Evil Homer MP5

They would start to work as the engine heats up and melts the ice around the nozzles.