scubie02 Posted December 15, 2004 Share Posted December 15, 2004 You know, you'd think that maybe subaru would consider that an awful lot of the people who get awd cars GET them because they live places where it SNOWS alot and gets COLD, and maybe design their cars accordingly. With my 02 wrx, something about the hoodscoop I think caused turbulence or something that sucked every snowflake right into the windshield. On most vehciles you get going, and the slipstream takes the snow right up over the car. Not the subie--zoop right into the windshield. This would have been bad enough, but something about the positioning of the wipers compared to the defrosters maybe meant the wipers froze up worse than any vehicle I have ever owned or driven, so you had tons of snow sucking into the windshield, and wipers that wouldn't wipe it away. Great. Nothing like having to stop every few minutes and wipe the crap off your windshield--real safe in the winter. I'm assuming the redesign of the hoodscoop on the 04 and after models was an attempt to remedy this somewhat. So I get the new legacy, thinking the more subdued hoodscoop and heated wipers might remedy these two nasty tendencies that ruin the subie for winter driving to some degree. We've finally started in with some colder temps and snow now--not the usual 30 degree stuff, but the colder single digit stuff along with some snow. I guess the sucking the snow in is somewhat better, but go to use the washers...nothing...and the wpiers just skip over the mess...great. Now probably designing the washer openings so they are down in where the snow and ice will be 2 inches thick in another couple weeks wasn'ty the brightest idea, but even with the snow and ice completely chipped away, still nothing. Get in the 94 ranger with 100k miles and the washers work fine. At least I'll have heated seats as I sit at the side of the road...*sigh* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D-2.5-GT Posted December 15, 2004 Share Posted December 15, 2004 Can't say i have the same problems....are you talking about the washer fluid nozzles down kind of under the hood a little? Just brush the snow out of the way, or just pump some fluid through, i certainly haven't had any problems with this. Obviously if they are covered in snow or ice, there will be some sort of blockage, all cars will have this to some degree or another. As far as the wipers getting stuck or not working on the snow or ice i can't say i have had that problem as well. Granted the wipers don't work too great, but they are certainly adequate. Not sure what you are talking about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scubie02 Posted December 15, 2004 Author Share Posted December 15, 2004 even after clearing all the snow and ice away I am still getting nothing as far as washer fluid. The wipers just skipped over the crap thrownup by the truck, despite having had the wiper de icers on. Most annoying. Sure, any vehicle can get frozen up at times, but it seems ominous that this is happening this soon intothe winter season. Sure, it was 10 degrees this morning. But its not unusual to have 20 below snaps for weeks at a time. And like I said the truck's were working fine. Just annoying to have new vehicles that don't work as well as old ones... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest *Jedimaster* Posted December 15, 2004 Share Posted December 15, 2004 I tried my front and rear wipers on the way to work and got nothing. It's 19 degrees right now- I hope I'm just out of fluid- have to check it at lunch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parousia Posted December 15, 2004 Share Posted December 15, 2004 Instead of blaming Subaru.... I would get some -30 washer fluid, the same kind that people use everywhere there is a serious threat of constant below 0 temperatures. I drove mine to Calgary and back already and loved the fact that even @ -10 with snow I just sprayed the fluid until it broke through the snow and dissolved the ice on my windscreen, i didn't even have to scrape it. I love my car in the Snow! Parousia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D-2.5-GT Posted December 15, 2004 Share Posted December 15, 2004 [quote name='Parousia']Instead of blaming Subaru.... I would get some -30 washer fluid, the same kind that people use everywhere there is a serious threat of constant below 0 temperatures. I drove mine to Calgary and back already and loved the fact that even @ -10 with snow I just sprayed the fluid until it broke through the snow and dissolved the ice on my windscreen, i didn't even have to scrape it. I love my car in the Snow! Parousia[/QUOTE] --those were my thoughts.... +1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scubie02 Posted December 15, 2004 Author Share Posted December 15, 2004 you realize that the regular blue stuff is rated -25 degrees, right? Somehow, considering it was 10 ABOVE this morning, I don't see the extra -5 degrees from yellow or pink washer fluid making a difference... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest *Jedimaster* Posted December 15, 2004 Share Posted December 15, 2004 Well, my washer fluid worked at lunchtime (30 degrees). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deer Killer Posted December 15, 2004 Share Posted December 15, 2004 btw, when the air runs over the wiper fluid it's possible to cool it below ambient :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drift Monkey Posted December 15, 2004 Share Posted December 15, 2004 There was ice on all the windsheilds in Houston this morning and my Legacy performed great! Oh, did I forget to mention I park it in my garage? :p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbbradley Posted December 15, 2004 Share Posted December 15, 2004 [quote name='Deer Killer']btw, when the air runs over the wiper fluid it's possible to cool it below ambient :)[/QUOTE] Ummm, care to explain that? 35* air moving at 0MPH or 30MPH is still 35* degrees. Wind chill doesn't affect cars the same way it does people. To the original poster, have you tried winter wiper blades? Those tend to make a big difference in my experiences. /bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cosmos Posted December 15, 2004 Share Posted December 15, 2004 It is impossible to cool below ambient temp without some sort of advanced cooling technique. i.e. not airflow Back on track, this thread sort of has me worried. I'm due to have my LGT this week or next and I spend a lot of time up in the mountains... anyone else having issues/ I would really think this would be a stupid design flaw considering how much time they put into thinkin about snow comfort ;C Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scubie02 Posted December 15, 2004 Author Share Posted December 15, 2004 [quote name='jedimaster']Well, my washer fluid worked at lunchtime (30 degrees).[/QUOTE] yeah, mine worked at 25 degrees at lunch time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D-2.5-GT Posted December 15, 2004 Share Posted December 15, 2004 if the tank is freezing at like 10 degrees, then you should get some new liquid. It could be mixed with water, or someone at the dealer topped it off with water, something isn't right. I have the Rain-X orange stuff, specifically de-icer. Its supposed to be good down to like -30 or -40, although most all of them say something to that effect. Either way, i haven't had any problems with it. Turn it on when the nozzle is covered with snow, i see some orange liquid in it, then bam, it powers itself through the snow...no freezing at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beanboy Posted December 15, 2004 Share Posted December 15, 2004 Beanboy thinks that a road trip to find some falling snow to test windshield clearing is on order for this weekend. -B http://www.standardshift.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest *Jedimaster* Posted December 15, 2004 Share Posted December 15, 2004 [quote name='D-2.5-GT']if the tank is freezing at like 10 degrees, then you should get some new liquid. It could be mixed with water, or someone at the dealer topped it off with water, something isn't right. I have the Rain-X orange stuff, specifically de-icer. Its supposed to be good down to like -30 or -40, although most all of them say something to that effect. Either way, i haven't had any problems with it. Turn it on when the nozzle is covered with snow, i see some orange liquid in it, then bam, it powers itself through the snow...no freezing at all.[/QUOTE] Damn, I'll bet Bill Kolb DID fill mine with water :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frontrangeSubie Posted December 15, 2004 Share Posted December 15, 2004 been to -11 F ....mine hasn't frozen yet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scubie02 Posted December 15, 2004 Author Share Posted December 15, 2004 hmmmm, hadn't thought of the dealer topping off, I always add my own...but I guess its possible they had put in some water...you'd like to think they wouldn't be that stupid this time of year, but... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amason Posted December 15, 2004 Share Posted December 15, 2004 [quote name='cosmos']Back on track, this thread sort of has me worried. I'm due to have my LGT this week or next and I spend a lot of time up in the mountains... anyone else having issues/ I would really think this would be a stupid design flaw considering how much time they put into thinkin about snow comfort ;C[/QUOTE] I wouldn't worry about it, mine seems OK, and I'm in Ottawa, we've had some pretty solid storms already this season. You do have to make an effort to clear the crap from in from of the washer nozzles, more so than I did on the WRX (but hey, these ones make the car that much more aerodynamic...). I also think that using the wiper blades to clear the ice probably wasn't very good for them, but I'm an idiot sometimes. If you want to talk about design flaws related to snow, why do they mount the rack so far back on the car? It's going to be a PITA to get my box on there. I had to take the rear wing off my WRX just to get it to kinda work, and it's a car that should have appealed to winter sporty types. I'm also not thrilled about the change to a flush rack, so I can't just use the same clamps from the old car. Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deer Killer Posted December 16, 2004 Share Posted December 16, 2004 [quote name='bbbradley']Ummm, care to explain that? 35* air moving at 0MPH or 30MPH is still 35* degrees. Wind chill doesn't affect cars the same way it does people. [/QUOTE] Nope. [url="http://energyoutlet.com/res/cooling/evap_coolers/"]http://energyoutlet.com/res/cooling/evap_coolers/[/url] The boundary from solid->liquid and liquid->gas requires energy to cross, this amount of energy does not result in temperature change. So if you evaporate a liquid without adding energy, you'll drop the temperature instead because of conservation of energy. Ever wonder why alcohol feels cold on your skin? It evaporates more readily. High school physics :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sduford Posted December 16, 2004 Share Posted December 16, 2004 It was -21C (-6F) at my place this morning and the car slept outside. No problem whatsoever with the windshield washer jets or the wipers. Sounds like you had some water in yours! Sly Sylvain www.digitalfotographer.com - Audi Q5 Club - MB-GLK Club Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Der5er Posted December 16, 2004 Share Posted December 16, 2004 Pardon the thread hijack - is it possible to display the outside temp in Celsius on US models? (Even after 6 years in the US I don't "feel" the Fahrenheit scale..) (I've searched the archives..) Thanks, Dragos Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
offthacliff Posted December 16, 2004 Share Posted December 16, 2004 Move to South Beach! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxerGT2.5 Posted December 16, 2004 Share Posted December 16, 2004 I haven't had any probs with the wipers or nozzles here in chi-town. The wiper blades subaru put on flat out sucked. I chucked them and put the PIAA blades on. OBAMA......One Big Ass Mistake America! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sduford Posted December 16, 2004 Share Posted December 16, 2004 [quote name='Der5er']Pardon the thread hijack - is it possible to display the outside temp in Celsius on US models? (Even after 6 years in the US I don't "feel" the Fahrenheit scale..) (I've searched the archives..) Thanks, Dragos[/QUOTE] Yes there is a way to do it, but I don't remember how off the top of my head. It's the same computer, with a different mode, but you will also get mileage in liters/100kms. Sly Sylvain www.digitalfotographer.com - Audi Q5 Club - MB-GLK Club Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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