What to do if the anti-freeze in the washer reservoir is frozen
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If one fine winter day, the air temperature outside dropped below 0 and you were not ready for this, for example, you had water in your washer reservoir and you did not have time to change it to an anti-freeze. If it is even worse, a severe frost has hit below -25 degrees, then many non-freezers already seize, especially low-quality or highly diluted ones.
In this article, we will look at ways to melt liquid in a washer reservoir and the main reasons for its freezing.
Why does the liquid in the washer reservoir freeze
There are several answers to this question, and they are all obvious:
- before the frost, water was poured into the tank, in which case it will freeze at a minimum negative temperature;
- not high-quality anti-freeze or diluted with water, or simply not corresponding to the temperature.
Many owners, while there is no severe frost, dilute the anti-freeze with water, and then forget to replace the liquid with a concentrated one at low temperatures. It must be remembered that the more water you add to the washer, the higher its freezing point. For example, if the declared freezing point is -30, then when diluted 50 to 50 with water, then the crystallization temperature will already be -15 (a conditional example).
How to defrost an anti-freeze in a washer reservoir
1 way. The simplest, less time-consuming option is to use a warm anti-freeze solution.
We take a canister, usually 5-6 liters, and put it in a bowl of hot water and keep it until the whole anti-freeze becomes warm. Until the liquid has cooled down, we go to the car and pour small portions into the washer reservoir. Repeat this procedure with the car running, as the heat from the engine will help melt the ice not only in the tank, but also in the feed pipes.
When you've filled in a decent amount of warm fluid, close the hood to keep more heat in the engine compartment.
This procedure can be done with ordinary water, but there is a risk that if the water does not have time to melt the ice before it cools down, then you will get even more frozen water in the tank. Therefore, it is better to use water at not very low temperatures, for example, down to -10 degrees.
Do not heat the liquid to a hot state, so as not to get a strong temperature difference for the plastic tank. In domestic cars, this is a common cause of a tank rupture. This is rare in foreign cars, but it's better to play it safe.
2 way. But what if there is no place for pouring warm liquid? Those. you had a full tank of water. In this case, you can resort to the cordinal method, namely, dismantle the tank and take it home, thereby melting the ice and pouring in an already high-quality non-freezing liquid.
3 way. If possible, you can put the car with a warm garage, and if there is none, you can use the underground heated car parking, for example, in one of the shopping centers. You will have to leave the car there for several hours. You can also go shopping. To speed up the process somewhat, you can go to the car wash, where the thawing process will be faster. But remember that after washing the car in cold weather, it is necessary to process the doors and a lock so that the doors open easily and do not have to be opened the next morning.
You can use a silicone car spray lubricant to treat the rubber door seals.
Questions and answers:
What to do if the fluid in the washer reservoir is frozen? In this case, you can pour a warm washer into the tank (you should not pour a very hot one so that the tank does not deform from a sharp temperature drop).
What needs to be done to prevent frostbite from freezing? Use a suitable liquid. Each of them is designed for its own frosts. The higher the resistance to crystallization, the more expensive the liquid is. Store the car in a garage or underground car park.
What to add to the washer so that it does not freeze? The most effective way is to add alcohol to the glass washer. Each liter of liquid requires about 300 ml. alcohol. The alcohol itself does not crystallize in extreme frosts, and will not allow the formation of ice in the liquid.
How to melt water in a washer fluid reservoir? The easiest way is to put the car in a warm room (water freezes not only in the tank, but also in the glass washer pipes). Other means: heating the line with a hairdryer, start the engine and wait until the engine compartment warms up, hot water at the car wash ...
