How to stop windscreen wash fluid freezing?

[yosamite sam]

the tube round the top rad hose is the best idea - just depends if you cab be bothered to do it!
the heated screens are patented to ford so manufacturers have to pay ford to use them.. hence not many will
heated jets i bet are patented as well hence the high prices

if you can get a 12v hot air blower to defrost the nozzles that should work to get you away then once the engine is warm it will do the rest - or you could make 2 channels to direct hot engine air to the nozzles from the rad fan or above the exhaust area being careful not to let the tube catch the moving parts or get too close to melt of course

[kevin63]

On one of my cars I bought a length of windscreen washer pipe and from the bottle coiled it around the radiator hose and eventually to the windscreen washers, this heated it and it would never freeze. I was going to coil it around the washer bottle too but due to where that was situated it did not freeze anyway.
I found this cheap, easy to do and very effective and was left on all year round as warm water cleans the screen better.

[brickwall]

It seems the washer fluid sold in France (particularly the alpine regions) doesn't freeze half as easily. I use it neat, hasn't frozen at -15. Combined with heated washer jets, I have no problems.

[Sticks.]

Add meths. At a guess a 500ml bottle will do a washer bottle but size and min temp varies, so might need more.

[Smike]

Mastodon2 said:

briers said:

Buy halfords premium, should work down to -23

A friend of mine got some of this. Waited for a warm day, drained his washer tank completely, poured the new stuff in, ran the washers again to get in running through the tubes then topped it up again. Frozen solid in the tank at -10 degress C...

Halfords double concentrate Lemon screenwash fine this morning at temp of -17 deg C

[Gareth79]

I assume that the manufacturers have been lying on the labels and have been diluting it more than they should, assuming that for 99% of people it would be fine.

Would be interesting for a motoring magazine to buy a few dozen bottles of various makes and pop them in a calibrated freezer to see what happens at various temperatures....

[NHK244V]

For heated washers i wrap the extra pipe around the heater pipe not the rad pipe, the rad pipe won't get hot till the stat opens and in the really really cold that could be never with the windchill on motorways, where-as the heater hoses get supplyed from start with the current temp coolant pluss they are usually closer to the washer jets so less frozen water after the heated part to thaw

Is washer fluid like antifreeze in that it needs to be mixted with water to get a lower freezing temp? IE neat antifreeze will freeze at a higher temp then a 50/50 mix ?

Edited by NHK244V on Sunday 26th December 00:42

[traffman]

I purchased the Halfords lemon premium wash , 3.99 a litre but it seems to be the only wash that hasnt frozen.

Its that good that ive used the washers in the morning on a frozen screen and it defrosts the windscreen.

The temp in Central Scotland has been around minus 11 to 17 this week.

I have left tescoes screen wash inside the van and thats frozen solid , not slush ...solid!