Coldsnap froze my windshield wiper fluid?

[SWEEDE]

I’m a new owner of a 2023 Max Limited, and I’m learning a lot about my new wheels in a hurry. Today, during the crazy cold snap (-11℉), I noticed that my windshield wiper fluid nozzles or lines seem to be frozen. Is this a common issue with the 2023 Expy’s?

I can hear the pump, but nothing is coming out from the front or back. The fluid I topped off with was the purple stuff rated for -30℉.

Any tips on how to thaw them before spring arrives in Minnesota?

 

[Fizzy]

Regularly drive in in -30f and below here, and never had the nozzles freeze up. I suspect you're not using the appropriate washer fluid. The stuff we use up here is rated down to -50f.

Edit: If this is the case, you could very likely have ruptured a line, or killed the washer pump motor. Worse yet - the lines run through the vehicle to the rear window. If one of those has ruptured, it's going to pour washer fluid into your interior somewhere.

Edit 2: I missed your part about the -30f rating. Still, only explanation is that the manufacturer is lying. It's more expensive to make a lower freezing washer fluid.

To thaw, I would go to a mall or somewhere with a heated underground car park, and go for a long stroll around the mall. When you get back it should be thawed enough to do some diagnosing.

 

[sliderz71]

Mine was frozen today too....22 Limited SPP. I had topped off recently with Rain-X orange which is rated -25, but in checking the reservoir it was definitely on the slushy side, so some of the prior blue stuff was probably the cheap stuff. Leaving it in the sun for awhile eventually thawed it enough. I added some isopropyl alcohol to it to get it to not freeze up before I can refill everything. I'd suggest that too.

 

[Rob6805]

Umm.. Need to use washer solvent that is rated for below freezing temps. I use the orange Rain X and never had an issue here in Northern MI.

 

[GixxerJasen]

Topped off with -30, but what was already in there?

I had this issue when I didn't think about it and took my Texas truck up into the mountains of Colorado during a snowstorm. Once I got things warmed up it finally started working, and I about ran it dry with all the crap being flung by the other vehicles. Grabbed some proper stuff at a gas station and didn't have a problem the rest of the trip.

I suspect you should probably drain and replace with what's appropriate for your driving area though. Hopefully no damage done. None was done on mine, but I might have just gotten lucky.

 

[bb37]

It's more expensive to make a lower freezing washer fluid.

Most cheap windshield washer fluid is water, some sort of alcohol usually methanol, and a dye. Methanol freezes at minus 143.7 deg F, so the controlling factor in determining the solution's freezing point is the ratio of methanol to water. Methanol is more expensive than water--draw your own conclusions about which way that ratio swings if the manufacturer is trying to save money. I looked at the MSDS for one variety that was 30-32% methanol. Canadians may be able to buy washer fluid with higher concentrations of methanol.

I had topped off recently with Rain-X orange which is rated -25...

Looking at the Rain-X website, they have different grades of their windshield washer fluid, so one must watch what they're buying. "All Season 2-in-1" is rated to 0 deg F. They have another product labeled "All Season 2-in-1" that's rated to minus 25 deg F. The labels shown on their website for these two products are identical except for the temperature rating. There's also a "De-Icer Heavy Duty" that's rated to minus 25 deg F. Not sure what the difference is between the minus 25 All Season and the minus 25 De-Icer. All of these solutions are orange, so buyer beware. Look for the minus 25 deg F on the label. The MSDS I found for the minus 25 deg F variety only listed methyl alcohol (methanol) as the active ingredient with the concentration being 30-50% (exact percentage is a "trade secret").

Then there's the "De-Icer Extreme Temperature" that's rated to minus 30 deg F. It's purple, so noticeably different from the orange varieties. The MSDS says 15-40% methyl alcohol, 1-5% ethylene glycol, and up to 1% ammonium hydroxide.

 

[NevadaGeo]

When winter came this year, I had summer windshield bug cleaner stuff in my reservoir. Instead of purging all that before adding winter solution, I poured 1 pint of 92% methanol (rubbing alcohol) into the summer solution. Then I ran the pumps to purge the lines (front and back) to get all the summer stuff out. Always works fine and no clogs. As mentioned above, methanol is the antifreeze.

 

[DieselMonk]

Just add some 99% IPA. No more icing.

 

[BigOleFordFan]

Not sure what the difference is between the minus 25 All Season and the minus 25 De-Icer

The De-icer contains an extra ingredient (usually ethylene glycol) to melt the ice that has or will form on your windshield in really cold weather...

A few weeks before the current Arctic blast came our way, I bought a case of Prestone De-Icer that is rated down to -34F, and it has worked extremely well, both by not freezing in the reservoir/pump/lines, but also to stop any water/slush etc from the road from freezing on my windshield once I'm rollin...

It is a lemon-yellow in color, but I've also had blue, purple & green stuff in the past

 

[SyndicateZ]

the spray nozzle are prolly blocked with ice

 

[LegalBrief]

You can’t top it off, you drain it, then refill with the purple -35..

Now that it’s busted flush it and use -35 going forward, it much better anyway
. Just not available in CA.

 

[5280tunage]

I was in -5 weather and mine froze again, even the front camera nozzle was frozen popped out. Just parked the care facing south in the sun, even though it was that cold, it defrosted the lines and ran the sprayers till I drained all of the old non-freeze resistant glass cleaner out, refilled with the -35 stuff. all good here.

but for real, is this the OP's first car? of course glass cleaner will freeze.

 

[Deadman]

I would assume you possibly have hoses and stuff ruptured from freezing and expanding. Get it thawed out and look for the leaks and hope you don't have many.

 

[SWEEDE]

Good advice about heated mall garage. I took it to a mall downtown and went for a stroll. Came back and let it idle for a few minutes with full defrost. And it worked!!! Squirting half of it out. I immediately went to dollar store and got some IPA and poured it in. Hopefully no more ice! Thanks all!!

 

[Fizzy]

Good advice about heated mall garage. I took it to a mall downtown and went for a stroll. Came back and let it idle for a few minutes with full defrost. And it worked!!! Squirting half of it out. I immediately went to dollar store and got some IPA and poured it in. Hopefully no more ice! Thanks all!!

Glad that worked for you!

Just remember that too high a concentration of IPA can be bad for the paintwork. Pure IPA needs to be diluted to about 10-20% to be safe for paintwork.

Now you’ve got it freeze-proofed, I would buy a few gallons of the good quality windshield fluid - the lowest freeze rating you can find, and pour a gallon into the reservoir bottle to dilute it down.

 

[Deadman]

Dollar store? omg and people wonder why they have car problems. lol.

 

[ROBERT BONNER]

I have had issues with both my 22 F150 and 20 Expedition freezing up in above zero F weather with adequate washer fluid anti-freeze under specific conditions: If the "frogs" (nozzels) get covered while parked outside with snow that melts and refreezes or they get coated with freezing rain, the moving parts in the frogs will freeze preventing the deicing fluid from reaching the ice in the frogs until it melts.

Now, if I'm anticipating those conditions, I'll run the washer the night before and throw a couple of rags over the frogs. No more freezing.

 

[JayB66]

I mix Walmart 70% Isopropyl with the blue stuff. I've never had a freeze up. I mix up a 5 gallon batch at the beginning of the season and refill all the cars from that. The 90% stuff makes a good fuel additive come emissions test time.

 

[fuzzmanmatt]

We buy our work washer solvent in 55 gallon drums from NAPA, and it's been freezing up around 0°F even though it's rated to -20°. It's kind of a bear when you've got a fleet of frozen equipment and stuff isn't working as advertised.

 

[Fizzy]

We buy our work washer solvent in 55 gallon drums from NAPA, and it's been freezing up around 0°F even though it's rated to -20°. It's kind of a bear when you've got a fleet of frozen equipment and stuff isn't working as advertised.

In a drum that large, it is probably separating and stratifying so the methanol/ethanol/isopropyl isn't mixed up any more.