simple Posted December 16, 2008 Share Posted December 16, 2008 Hard to tell what the specific problem. I used about a 1/2 gallon of blue stuff in nasty driving the other night. My entire wiper tray was full of blue snow and gunk. Night temps were below 0 degrees and I added the prestone yellow stuff in the morning. The nozzles haven't worked since and the temps haven't gone above 10 degrees to un-freeze whatever is causing the issue. My Bosch Icons needed to be cleaned with rubbing alcohol before this storm but of course I forgot which caused me to use that 1/2 gallon of blue stuff and make a mess of the front of the car. Nasty cold here in Colorado right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danase Posted December 16, 2008 Share Posted December 16, 2008 You guys need to make sure to read the jug. They make summer and winter formulas. Some won't freeze and some will. My cousin used to do this yearly, he must be 1/2 retarded. I'd get the call on the first really cold night of the year, "Hey my washer resivoir is frozen again." I'd just pull it in the garage and turn the heater on and it eventually melt. One year he took a jug that had frozen in the trunk, took it inside to thaw it so he could put it in car. Why he thought it would freeze in the trunk and not under the hood I have no clue. LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simple Posted December 16, 2008 Share Posted December 16, 2008 -32 degrees on the Prestone bottle I have. anyway it is 30 degrees now and I just checked the sprayers. They're working now. Sweet! I'm still going to stick w/ the blue stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mwiener2 Posted December 16, 2008 Share Posted December 16, 2008 i put rubbing alcohol in mine (mixed with wiper fluid) for two reasons. 1) it makes for colder temps when used for the IC sprayer 2) lowers freezing point of the wiper fluid and does a better job at cleaning the windshield because it acts as a solvent. Also, any overspray evaporates in seconds and doesn't leave a residue on the unswept parts of the glass I drove 130 miles last night in -13 degree snowstorm. Only towards the end of the trip did the nozzle start to show signs of blockage (funky spray pattern) But cleared itself after a short spray My Mods List (Updated 8/22/17) 2005 Outback FMT Running on Electrons Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NSFW Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 That $4 bottle of stuff I mentioned up above was in fact rubbing alcohol. There's some other stuff in it too, but from the way it smelled when the nozzles were spraying, I think I could have just poured in $1-2 worth of alcohol and gotten the exact same results. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mwiener2 Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 I just drove the 130 miles back tonight.. also snowing most of the way and not quite as cold, only 12 degrees. I had much bigger problems with the fluid freezing on the windshield than the nozzles freezing up. And with temps this lowmoving at 40+ mph, I don't care how high you set the front defroster, it ain't gonna thaw unless you pull over for a few min. My Mods List (Updated 8/22/17) 2005 Outback FMT Running on Electrons Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joshf Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 I have the same problem and I never dilute. Any idea's here? My old BMW never had this issue. I guess the heated nozzle feature was real. Anyone have a DIY for it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rice_rocket Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 Alcohol FTW... and it smells great when it hits the air vents.. so you know its getting to the nozzles. I never actually use the wipers/fluid until the car is on the road and warmed up. I always wipe it when I get close to my destination so that it will be clean for the most part when I get onto the road. It's so cold that if you spray it immediately in this weather it will ice up right away on the windshield.. So far this year I've just been using the prestone and it's been fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonnyJagaru Posted February 3, 2014 Share Posted February 3, 2014 I used isopropyl alcohol one winter 'cuz it was free from my employer. It attracted water and actually froze the lines. It also did a number on the wiper blades and window rubbers. The car was a junker anyway, but my point is I wouldn't use it again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grovlet Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 I used isopropyl alcohol one winter 'cuz it was free from my employer. It attracted water and actually froze the lines. It also did a number on the wiper blades and window rubbers. The car was a junker anyway, but my point is I wouldn't use it again. Yeah I avoid the Isoproply Alcohol for those reasons:redface: This year I've been using a 50/50 mixture of: #1 - Prestone De-Icer (-27 on the bottle) #2 - AutoZone Standard Blue (-32 Rating) We had a few weeks in Jan. where it was 0 & below 0 temps in the AM - and I had no issues with freezing. (Although I do think I have to clean the Bosch Icons, as they seem to be streaking lately:icon_eek: - but not enough to totally screw with visibility:p) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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