Washer Jets

[fridayman]

What do you guys do to get your washer jets working in very cold conditions? Mine are frozen all the way to work, so I'm having to pull over and pour water on the windscreen so that the wipers can get the salt spray off. Is there something that I can add to the washer fluid (currently the blue stuff I bought on a garage forecourt)?

 

[Chas]

What do you guys do to get your washer jets working in very cold conditions? Mine are frozen all the way to work, so I'm having to pull over and pour water on the windscreen so that the wipers can get the salt spray off. Is there something that I can add to the washer fluid (currently the blue stuff I bought on a garage forecourt)?

I've been adding Isopropyl alcohol to my washer bottle, they sometimes still freeze up but usually they're OK, smells lovely when the washers are used, well I like the smell, SWMBO :eusa-pray: hates it though. I fill with water to about 2" below top of bottle, then top up with the Iso stuff.

 

[sae70]

I emptied my washer bottles before the freeze & refilled them with neat concentrated washer fluid I then pulled the washer stalk till it came through all neat & blue &and I've not yet had any trouble

You'll need the wifes hairdryer to defrost your jets before you can do the empty replace thing But don't tell her whatever you do

You can get an aftermarket heated washer jet kits This Rover one is one that I've seen discussed as an good solutioin for cars that don't have them from standard http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Rover-75%2fMG-ZT- ... ne-NEW-(R9)_W0QQitemZ200433680214QQcmdZViewItem?rvr_id=187632021985&rvr_id=187632021985&cguid=94f710bf12c0a0a9f5807330fdae8be7

 

[Lorin]

I removed the fire-guard blanket under the bonnet. As a result the washer pipes and jets defrost as soon as the engine gets a bit warm

 

[sae70]

I removed the fire-guard blanket under the bonnet. As a result the washer pipes and jets defrost as soon as the engine gets a bit warm

I like that Nice & cheap Are you a Yorkshireman

I've been adding Isopropyl alcohol to my washer bottle

OK This is a new one on me Had a quick search on the Bay & 5ltrs is about £8.50 So how much do you need to add for best result I bought 15ltrs of concentrated screen wash from my local MF for £10 (they were doing buy two get one free)

 

[ignat]

I drove for over an hour yesterday until the lines finally thawed out!

 

[fridayman]

The isopropyl alcohol does not seem to be freely available, and if I order it on ebay it will only arrive after the weather improves... Any idea where to get hold of it locally?

 

[Chas]

I've been adding Isopropyl alcohol to my washer bottle

OK This is a new one on me Had a quick search on the Bay & 5ltrs is about £8.50 So how much do you need to add for best result I bought 15ltrs of concentrated screen wash from my local MF for £10 (they were doing buy two get one free)

I've never actually measured how much I put in, I fill with water to about 2" below top of bottle, then top up with the Iso stuff.
I got 10 ltrs for about £15 from eBay, but the seller was close enough for me to collect so I didn't have to pay P&P. I can't remember where he was though, somewhere in Surrey. I bought it about two years ago and I've still got 5 ltrs left.

 

[Andrew Prince]

Why not just add some meths if isopropyl alcohol is hard to find? Pretty much the same flammability but meths has a lower freezing point and I'm sure will be cheaper and more readily available. I can't think of any drawbacks of using meths vs IPA. I would suggest mixing it with water and/or screen wash to reduce any flammability issues (same goes for IPA - using it neat is not a good idea).


In terms of the washer jets - have a quick check that the nozzles don't have a layer of ice/frost on that's blocking them up. I had that problem the other day and the washer liquid was all fine. Scraped the ice off and everything was A1

Cheers,

 

[callum]

just get some decent washer fluid. most of the stuff on sale is diluted rubbish only good to minus 5 even if its rated as 'extreme cold weather'. check when you're buying on the back for a temperature rating and get some stuff that's good down to -25. Whilst the uk isn't that cold, i think the ratings are optimistic. my stuff froze in the rear washer line at -16. If there's no rating, get it from somewhere else.

you'll still have to clear the jets in the morning, but after that it should be fine all day.

 

[Crispin]

A cup of hot water poured over the jets before you set off. Seeing as there is always spray, you always using them so they never get a chance to refreeze.

 

[Chris]

Unfortunately Crispin, whilst I would previously have agreed with that, on the way home from Wales this weekend they did just that! I was using them every couple of minutes when they just stopped. The tank was still half full and mixed almost neat with new super concentrate and it just froze in the nozzles.

On a previous Cruiser, I took some washer pipe ad wrapped it around the heater matrix pipe under the bonnet. Filled it with anti freeze and put a small washer pump in line. I connected the pump to a switch inside the cabin. The pipe was wound around the washer pipes in the bonnet. Effectively, this was trace heating. And..it actually worked. The only thing I never got around to was fitting a resistor in the wire to slow the motor down on the pump. I had intended to fit a T and drop a coil of the pipe into the washer bottle too.

The fluid in the line certainly picked up quite a bit of heat. I have wondered about doing this agin, but this time just extend the original washer pipe, coil it around the heater pipe so that it give warm water onto the screen.

Chris

 

[Lorin]

You can get an aftermarket heated washer jet kits

There are a fair few heated washer jet kits that can be bought cheap and are easily retro-fitted, of which the Rover 75 one does seem to be the most popular. Would solve the prob of the washer jets freezing.

Just thinking.... I also wondered whether you could fit a water heater element such as http://www.swd-uk.net/12v-water-heater- ... -356-p.asp in your washer bottle. Again, dead cheap and you'd not only have heated jets that defrost themselves but also warm washer fluid to defrost your screen

Admittedly you'd have to give it a couple of mins to warm up..... but I reckon it'd work

 

[Crispin]

Chris, I was reading a writeup about the (IIRC) Saab cars which do that. The washer fluid is heated by the radiator water. I thought about doing a similar thing as you, wrapping a length of pipe around the top rad pipe but the problem if jets freezing would still be there. Out of interest, are yours round squirty ones or do they splatter all over the window? I have the hilux jets on mine and they don't block like the standard round "ball bearing with a hole" type.

On another note - I like the Meths idea. You can have two settings: Normal and Normal + Flame for those bad conditions. Now that would look cool as you driving along.

 

[Chris]

Crispin, nothing fancy on mine just STD Toymota jets. They block easily and never give the same pattern twice. Heard about Lux jets but never taken any action

C

 

[Chas]

I can't see how heating the washer bottle would help , it's the water in the tubes/nozzles that freezes blocking any flow, so the warm water wouldn't be able to get to the washer nozzles until the tubes de-frosted. the only thing I can see working is some sort of anti-freeze in the water in the first place.

 

[Chris]

There is a device called a Hot Shot from Webasco, that heats the system up. Doesn't heat the nozzles. Sits between bottle and jets. Chas, if you heat the water in the system, it will permeate through conduction and eventually warm it all through, but I think the point is that if you have warmer water in the lines, it's less likely to freeze in the first place. I don't see that it'd be that much help in defrosting the whole thing, just stops it freezing when you need it most.

I think that I am going to fiddle around a bit with this. I actually have a 12v immersion heater; it's one of those drinks heaters that were popular about 30 years ago. I could drop that into the bottle, flick a switch and get heated water. Lovely!

Yea yea, hot water cold screen - I get it. Not that fuddled. I never said boiling!

Chris

 

[Chas]

Chas, if you heat the water in the system, it will permeate through conduction and eventually warm it all through, but I think the point is that if you have warmer water in the lines, it's less likely to freeze in the first place. I think that I am going to fiddle around a bit with this. I actually have a 12v immersion heater; it's one of those drinks heaters that were popular about 30 years ago. I could drop that into the bottle, flick a switch and get heated water. Lovely!Chris

I presume you won't leave the heater switched on all night, so in the morning there will be no heated water, how long do you think it will take before the heat permeates through to the nozzles? I don't think it could, it would need the washer pump to try and circulate it which it couldn't do if the tubes were frozen.
I also have one of those 12v heaters, so if your idea works let me know and I'll try it.
I used to have a car I fitted with heated washers, a SAAB 900 I think, it worked on the method of having the washer tubes wrapped around one of the cooling system hoses, but I don't recall them being anything special, I don't think I owned it through an ice age like we are having now though.

 

[Nuclear Chicken]

Mt last few BMWs had heated jets. They were good to a point. Still need the right fluid though. Anything else just turns to ice on the screen and makes the wipers freeze too. Unless the whole package is right is just don't work. The heated windscreen, mainly pioneered by Ford, should be mandatory. Heated rear screens and mirrors are pretty much the norm yet we a look out the windscreen the most and it seems to get less attention. It's a major, major faux pas by Toyo ( and lots of manufacturers) in my view.

 

[Dave Burgess]

Those heated windscreens are only available on Fords (and Ford group cars) because they hold the rights and are only willing to sell them at a price which other were not willing to pay... They should be made to release them or at least have the decency to let them go cheap as a safety item

On the fluid front, make should the concentrate is a concentrate not just soapy fluid - not the stuff front Halfwits! My mother used to swear by Meths (in the washer bottle - I wasn't that bad a child ) but it may have corrosive properties. I know to my cost that it will eat through a Sigg bottle.

The Russians use vodka probably as cheap at Tesco!