How to save on antifreeze in winter

An empty washer reservoir in the midst of a long trip in the middle of a winter storm is a familiar phenomenon for most drivers. The glass is dirty, there is nothing to wash it with, but the nearest signs of civilization are far away. What to do to prevent this from happening, the AvtoVzglyad portal figured out.

It hardly makes sense to once again remind drivers that when going on a “long-range” route in winter it is necessary to stock up on non-freezing liquid with a margin - it’s useless. It is easier to talk about how it can be saved while it is still splashing at the bottom of the coveted plastic tank. It's all about road safety after all.

Oddly enough, the fluid in the washer reservoir does not end immediately, and for many drivers this will be a real surprise. In addition, the modern auto industry has already taken care of us in this sense by installing appropriate sensors in some models that warn of a low level of anti-freeze.

Although a competent "carrier" will always determine the supply of washer by the intensity of the jet. In other words, if desired, it is almost always possible to recognize the minimum supply of precious liquid that can be rationally used on the remaining path to the nearest gas station or auto parts store.

Minimum dose

If the driver is not accustomed to economically using windshield wipers, he will have to immediately learn how to do this and carefully dose the anti-freeze supply to the windshield in the smallest quantities. After all, many are accustomed to giving him an unreasonably plentiful shower even at the slightest pollution, but in fact, with high-quality “wipers” of liquid, very little is required for the desired result.

Why you need a headlight washer

If you have a headlight washer function, it would be logical to disable it altogether, and the sooner you do this, the more anti-freeze you will save. Some machines are equipped with a special button for this. In other models, the headlight washer does not work if they are turned off, therefore, in order to economically wash the glass, you will have to turn off the dipped beam in advance. Another option involves automatically turning on this function every third or fifth fluid supply to the windshield. To paralyze this option, it is enough to remove the corresponding fuse from the block (the main thing is not to confuse it).

Snow on glass

The most common and relatively safe option is to throw a handful of snow on the windshield under the working wipers. Of course, this is a temporary way to solve the problem, and in dirty weather you will have to stop almost every two or three hundred meters. Meanwhile, stopping on the streets and avenues of the metropolis has become an unaffordable luxury, and finding pure white snow on the side of the city is also a big problem.

Water or vodka

If neither a gas station nor an auto parts store is foreseen along the way, then it is easier to find any grocery outlet in the nearest settlement and fork out for cheap vodka. But keep in mind that after leaving a parked car in frost below 22 degrees, there is a great chance that this drink will freeze in the washer reservoir. So pour the “little white” to a minimum into the fierce cold in order to use up everything along the way.

The same applies to water - at temperatures up to minus five, you can safely fill in a simple mineral water without gas, since it will not freeze with a hot running engine. But once the car is shut off, and after a while, the moisture inside the reservoir and hoses will turn into ice, so fill it in in limited quantities.

The grandfather's way

The effectiveness of this method is measured in a proportion of 50 to 50. That is, in half of the cases it may not work - it all depends on the degree and nature of the road pollution and the quality of the wipers. Many drivers prefer to turn on the windshield wipers at maximum speed and wait until the glass is clear. But when that will happen is an open question. In addition, wipers wear out faster from dry friction, which is harmful to the electric motor.

What not to do

Another far from the best way in terms of safety is to adapt to a truck or bus on the go in order to clean the glass with spray from under other people's wheels. This should not be done, because by reducing the distance with another road user, the risk of a collision increases significantly. And this is a direct violation of traffic rules, so you should not take risks in this way.