I am assuming something has happened during the freezing
More than likely; it's been reported lots of times before (and IIRC this is the second time this week).
If you need to take off the scuttle, the wipers have to come off first. A few tips:
- to remove the covers over the windscreen wiper nuts, put your hand behind and pull straight outwards, away from the car.
Do not try to twist or turn them, or you'll damage the mounting lugs.
- the scuttle is held on by a handful of
single use plastic clips. The hint is in the name; either get some new ones, or (as I did) just replace them with some suitably sized nuts, washers & bolts. You can get these, finished in black, from most model shops and some hardware stores.
- before removing the wiper arms, mark the resting position of the wipers on the screen with some tape. This saves much frustration when refitting. Note that some screens have printed dots to show this location; if yours does, just make a note of which dots to use.
And next time it's likely to get very cold, use a decent screenwash additive at an appriopriate concentration for the forecast weather. Most ready mixed off-the-shelf screenwash products won't protect the system below about -5C.
