What can I do after my windshield washer fluid is already frozen, and before this evening's return commute?

I believe that when I last had my car's oil changed, the washer fluid they added had too much water in it.

I thought the heat from the engine on the drive to work would thaw the fluid. but it didn't. Is there anything I can do to thaw the lines out before I return home? Heat is scarece on this brutally cold day.

Vehicle:
95 honda civic EX w/ automatic tranny

 

Nothing for the commute but you will need to get the car inside to thaw the bottle out and the lines.I would suggest windshield washer antifrezze be added to the washer fluid when very cold weather is forcast.

 

What I do if I goof and don't change to winter fluid in time, is to fill a partially filled washer canister with straight methyl hydrate.
Or, remove the canister from the vehicle if not too difficult and thaw it indoors.

 

In the end, I had no choice but to wait till the lines thawed on the commute this morning. Then I drained the fluid as I was driving, and replaced it with winterized fluid.

It's time to write a nasty letter to the place where I had my oil changed - just a month ago. You'd think they'd know better than to install a summer mix in the month of November....

 

Please forgive my lack of sympathy here, but people actually live where it's so cold they have to worry about the fluid in their washer tanks FREEZING???

 

This guy is my next door neighbour. :wmann3:



Text Forecast from Environment Canada
The Pas: Issued 4.00 PM CST Tuesday 21 December 2004
Tonight .. Clear. Low minus 37.
Wednesday .. Sunny. Wind becoming northwest 20 km/h in the afternoon. High minus 26. Wind chill minus 42.
Thursday .. Sunny. Low minus 33. High minus 24.
Friday .. A mix of sun and cloud. 60 percent chance of flurries. Low minus 29. High minus 18.
Saturday .. Periods of snow. Low minus 19. High minus 13.

Normals for the period .. Low minus 25. High minus 15.

Yesterday's diy tow job in my own yard.

 

Are those stated temps F or C?

 

Stop! You're killing me!!!

07:49 Wednesday

Temp: 54
Wind chill: 54
Today's high: 78
Tonight's low: 61
Chance of rain: 0
Chance of SNOW: Ah hahahahaha

High /
Low (°F) Precip. %
Today
Dec 22 Partly Cloudy 78°/61° 0 %
Thu
Dec 23 PM Showers 79°/57° 30 %
Fri
Dec 24 Few Showers 70°/49° 30 %

The only thing WHITE around here on Christmas will be the SAND on the BEACHES!

Merry Christmas to all! :gespann:

 

One thing about our climate is that it builds character.
I know.....................my wife is always saying, "you're a character"!

The temps here are in celcius..
-37 degC is -35 F so it's not really that cold here.
Our expected high of -16 degC is a balmy +3 degF.

All the best to you and yours. :glocke:

 

I ended up pouring hot water into the reservoir and sucking it out with a wet vac continuously, until I had thawed the reservoir. After that, be sure to drain again and replace with deicing fluid.

 

Easiest solution just let the vehicle idle for 1/2 and hour during the sunniest, warmest part of the day ( 1, 2:00pm)......run the waher pump until all contents are empty then fill with REAL washer fluid and run the washer till it is fully primed and squirting that blue juice out of both wipers.

Word of caution.........by putting H20 in the washer tank and freezing you could have allready caused permanant damage to the pump.

Of course I have never done this before.........NOT.

 

This thread is 5 yrs old......?

 

Took a long time to thaw !

 

Why are these popping back up after sooo many years?? Quirk in the software?

 

People search for it through Google and it shows up there. Nothing wrong with the software.

 

I have given this some thought and have come up with a solution(no pun intended).Pour in a little warm/hot water until there is a shallow depth of water on top of the ice in the reservoir. Then buy a cheap, small aquarium heater and submerge it in the liquid on top of the ice.After a while the reservoir will be thawed, run out all of the warm water through the nozzles and refill reservoir with a good winter washer fluid.