General Frozen Washer Bottle

[trackdayqueen]

Kirsty, to make your life easier just buy pre-mix, then it should be fine.

 

[Ffoxy]

Kirsty, to make your life easier just buy pre-mix, then it should be fine.

Just make sure it protects below -5.... or -10.... or -15.... which is actually the whole query this Thread is about...

Buy pre-mix that protects to -5 & when -10 comes along your shafted...

So.... always read the bladdy label!

 

[LeanMeanRacing]

And finally, a handy hint. Find one of those plastic water bottles with a 'sports top' (the pull up or flip up tops). Very clearly label it as screenwash, and fill it with a mix of screenwash and water. Keep it in the house overnight and put it in the car each day, taking it into the house again at night. Then, if the car's washers are still frozen, you can open the window and squirt water from the bottle onto the screen (best when stationary, he adds, just in case). Worked a treat for me last winter on the days the washer bottle did freeze...

Top tip

 

[Dan Friel]

Top tip

That's a fine idea. Only doing short journeys at the moment has meant that my Panda has been frozen solid for 10 days. Hoping that a long run tomorrow will sort that. Will be taking a sports bottle just in case....

 

[Andy Monty]

I love these replies - 'take the bottle off'. Has anyone who suggested this actually tried it? (its accessed from under the wheel arch, so, jack car up, remove wheel arch liner, then access possible to the bottle, bolted or even riveted on, etc...)

where do we draw the line on the forum? we get posts ranging from the likes of how do i check my tyre pressures right through to how do i remove my cylinder head and replace the head gasket. Problem is we do not know each members technical ability.

Having removed the bottle off a vectra (now that was fun) And a KA last winter for the same reason, Its not an impossible task as long as you have a decent selection of tools and a nice warm coat

Thats why i added the eper links shame we can't post links to the Fiat workshop manual due to copyright and the like :bang:

what do you think it would take if you had all the tools to hand? twenty minutes to remove perhaps 25 if its riveted and about 10 to refit? and 5 mins with the first aid kit afterwards

If anyone is interested, Lidl are selling some screenwash [ignore the 'Antifreeze' label] which states it will protect down to -60C in undiluted form:

i have been using this at 1:4 ratio and it only began to freeze at -13^c but only in the jets, the bottle i pre mixed sat outside the back door has remained liquid so far... (now thats tempted feat)

 

[306maxi]

I've got another solution. It's getting warmer as of tomorrow/Friday. If you can wait it will just defrost itself

 

[johnw]

The problem usually is, its not the bottle that freezes up its the washer jets they get iced up due to the very cold air hitting them as you drive along. The position of the washer jets on the panda doesn't give them a chance to stay warm from the engine ,If they were positioned on the bonnet the heat of the engine would keep them warmer so there would be less chance of them icing up.
Cant think of a solution at the moment sorry.

Go to a tropical fish shop. Buy a few feet of airline tubing (same diameter as screen washer tubing but cheaper) and a couple of connectors. Use that to splice into the existing washer tube but coil the excess tube round a convenient cooling system hose.

it won't work instantly but once the engine is hot it stops the washer fluid from freezing in the tubing.

 

[BambooShoot]

If anyone is interested, Lidl are selling some screenwash [ignore the 'Antifreeze' label] which states it will protect down to -60C in undiluted form:

Hi

When did you buy that? I popped into Lidl in Milton Keynes last weekend, but they didn't have any.

 

[LeanMeanRacing]

I bought it at the start of last week, although my local store still had some available on Monday. The problem is that Lidl's offers change each Thursday and if they have sold out, they don't restock immediately. Perhaps try another branch?

 

[kirsty1985]

I love these replies - 'take the bottle off'. Has anyone who suggested this actually tried it? (its accessed from under the wheel arch, so, jack car up, remove wheel arch liner, then access possible to the bottle, bolted or even riveted on, etc...)

And, if the bottle is frozen solid, not much heat from engine while driving is likely to reach it during a drive, unless you go a very long way (cold air from under the car is more likely to get there first)

The suggestion to go shopping is not actually that daft - get car good and warm then park in the centre part of a multistorey (away from the colder air at the edges) and it may just work. But, once its defrosted, you then need to make room to add a good dose of undiluted screenwash (try washing the windscreen lots in that car park and take the concentrate with you to fill up while you are still parked)

As to screenwash -- most 'normal' screenwash is designed for summer and offers little protection. Even if the bottle is protected to minus 5, the jets will still freeze over. Look for 'double concentrate' or 'extreme winter' grades (and not the ready-mixed sort). Used neat that will protect to Siberian temperatures. Mine is 1 part wash to 3 or 4 parts water at present and is working well in Hertfordshire's cold weather, but it's only been down to minus 8 and still no snow :-(

And finally, a handy hint. Find one of those plastic water bottles with a 'sports top' (the pull up or flip up tops). Very clearly label it as screenwash, and fill it with a mix of screenwash and water. Keep it in the house overnight and put it in the car each day, taking it into the house again at night. Then, if the car's washers are still frozen, you can open the window and squirt water from the bottle onto the screen (best when stationary, he adds, just in case). Worked a treat for me last winter on the days the washer bottle did freeze...

P

thanks for taking time to reply (everyone) i do have one of them sports bottles to put it in iv had it since last winter it stays in my boot and i have no trouble at all doing it thanks for that anyway! i drove for 2 hours on motorway last week and it didnt defrost then, really its my own fault as i had to stop on services to fill it up and just used water and now im suffering for it! its just this stupid weather!!

 

[306maxi]

thanks for taking time to reply (everyone) i do have one of them sports bottles to put it in iv had it since last winter it stays in my boot and i have no trouble at all doing it thanks for that anyway! i drove for 2 hours on motorway last week and it didnt defrost then, really its my own fault as i had to stop on services to fill it up and just used water and now im suffering for it! its just this stupid weather!!

Not to be funny but are you saying that you don't have a big coke bottle or 5 little bottle of ready mixed screenwash in the car with you during the winter at all times?

I know it might seem extreme but the result was inevitable. When I went on a roadtrip through France, Italy and Germany during the summer I took about 10 litres of screenwash because you never know what the weather's going to be like and better the devil you know rather than walking into Das Halfords and wondering what screenwassenhausenhuben is

Surely it's not that difficult to mix yourself up some screenwash to keep in your car ESPECIALLY if you're doing long journeys. Heck I can go through 2 litres in a day on my short 20 mile each way commute through North Wales.

This is not designed to make you feel bad, I'm sure driving around with a block of ice for a washer tank is bad enough, but let this be the last time it happens to you

 

[Trefor]

I find it strange that your washer bottle is still frozen after being in a warm engine bay for so long. Are you sure the jets are not blocked/frozen? This seems more likely. I'm assuming you press for screen wash, hear the motor whine and nothing comes out?

 

[Dan Friel]

Took the Panda an hour journey and an hour parked in warm sunshine for the jets to defrost today, and I've got some proper screenwash in it. First time they've worked for a while. Now topped up with even better stuff.

 

[SurreyAlan]

not much help but I bought some of that Lidl concentrate last winter. Not too sure what I dilute it to - maybe 20% concentrate and 80% water. This is the first winter I have never had any freezing - lowest temperature here only -7 though. If I see any more I would definitely buy it.
Alas Lidl never seems to have any of what they promise in stock, the posters said they were knocking out those little trolley jacks again and car top covers but did they have them, of course not.

 

[JTD_Liam]

Not to be funny but are you saying that you don't have a big coke bottle or 5 little bottle of ready mixed screenwash in the car with you during the winter at all times?

I know you said it's not meant to make her feel bad so fair enough on that, but so what if she doesn't carry screenwash in the car with her I carry round a massive undiluted bottle of screenwash in my car but i'd say i'm the exeption rather than the rule.

I find it strange that your washer bottle is still frozen after being in a warm engine bay for so long. Are you sure the jets are not blocked/frozen? This seems more likely. I'm assuming you press for screen wash, hear the motor whine and nothing comes out?

I'd guess it was still frozen because she was driving on the Motorway, so the warm air in the engine bay was being cooled by all the fast moving cold air coming in whilst driving. If it'd been 2 hours plodding round town, the bottle may well have thawed.

 

[306maxi]

I know you said it's not meant to make her feel bad so fair enough on that, but so what if she doesn't carry screenwash in the car with her I carry round a massive undiluted bottle of screenwash in my car but i'd say i'm the exeption rather than the rule.

When the weather is like this everyone should be carrying a decent sized bottle of screenwash and some concentrate if possible.

 

[gleno]

mix some methalated spirit in to your water bottel this will stop them freezing up

 

[mrstirs]

When the weather is like this everyone should be carrying a decent sized bottle of screenwash and some concentrate if possible.

If you aren't a Scout leader, join up now. They love that sort of chat.

 

[306maxi]

If you aren't a Scout leader, join up now. They love that sort of chat.

I'll take that as a compliment

 

[Herts Hillhopper]

mix some methalated spirit in to your water bottel this will stop them freezing up

My grandad (who used to live in County Durham) used to do this in the winter: mix of water and meths, and a drop or two of washing up liquid. Basically, this is all 'commercial' screenwash is anyway (except they tend to use isopropyl alcohol instead of meths). I've never done the maths to see which is cheaper - the meths mix, or Holts double concentrate from Costco (where I buy it from)

P